{"id":1334,"date":"2018-10-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/reports\/how-can-academies-produce-better-footballers-and-better-coaches\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:12:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:12:39","slug":"playermaker","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can Academies Produce Better Footballers and Better Coaches?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n\t
\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t
\n \n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n Oct 29, 2018 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

How Can Academies Produce Better Footballers and Better Coaches?<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
Category<\/div>\n Coaching & Development<\/a>, Data & Innovation<\/a> <\/div>\n
\n
Share<\/div>\n Facebook<\/a>\n Twitter<\/a>\n Email<\/a>\n Copy Link<\/a>\n
https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

PlayerMaker developed new technology-based platform that is already making inroads in the world of European football.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the first challenge that coaches face is that they only have two eyes and a finite memory.\u201d The Leaders Performance Institute is talking to Dr Erez Morag, the Chief Innovation Officer at PlayerMaker, a sports technology startup that has over the past two years created a footwear-based sensor platform to deliver integrated physical, technical and tactical data that improves coaching standards, training effectiveness, and ultimately, he says, produces better players.<\/h4>\n
\n

\u201cWe are providing coaches with the tools to become better coaches through additional \u2018eyes\u2019 and greater memory.\u201d PlayerMaker is looking to provide these eyes and memory assistance through its motion sensor technology and cloud-based platform. \u201cThe suite provides instant performance intelligence that, enables immediate decision-making and assessment of training session effectiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Morag is a sports scientist who during a 13-year tenure at Nike collaborated with the coaches and players of a number of the world\u2019s best football teams, including FC Barcelona, Juventus FC and the Brazil men\u2019s national team. He also co-contributed 25 footwear patents for the sportswear giant.<\/p>\n

Today, the topic is PlayerMaker and Dr Morag has been joined by the startup\u2019s Chief Operating Officer Yuval Odem, who proceeds to give the Leaders Performance Institute a preview on his iPad. \u201cYour homepage is like a newsfeed,\u201d he comments once we have logged on. \u201cFrom our position, the clean, unfussy graphics are easy to interpret and, within moments, a coach, or indeed any academy or staff member, could call up head-to-head comparisons on players or summon the progress chart of a particular player in terms of such aspects as number of touches, pass completion, time on the ball or distance covered and many other significant KPIs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working on the next generation football technology by making an effective, accurate and affordable platform,\u201d says Dr Morag, who observes this demonstration from across the table. \u201cEvery coach at any level of the game will be able to benefit from similar information such as the interaction between players and the ball, their involvement, their tempo, how quickly they receive and release the ball, how accurate they are, their pass completion percentage; then moving into tactical elements like how quickly a team regains possession of the ball, the passing matrix of the team. This all stems from our immediate and accurate technology, through PlayerMaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Every coach at any level of the game will be able to benefit from similar information such as the interaction between players and the ball, their involvement, their tempo, how quickly they receive and release the ball, how accurate they are, their pass completion percentage; then moving into tactical elements like how quickly a team regains possession of the ball, the passing matrix of the team.<\/em><\/h3>\n

Dr Morag<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In developing a tool for the coach, The PlayerMaker platform development faced two key challenges.\u00a0 \u201cThe first challenge was to identify the most critical elements and data points most relevant for coaches that affect their decision-making on how they plan their next session,\u201d Dr Morag explains. \u201cThe second challenge was to work to ensure a very detailed R&D process of getting that critical accuracy. We took time and engaged with our beta users, academy and senior player development coaches at some of Europe\u2019s top clubs; we also took the technology, addressed the insights we\u2019ve gained from within the game, then combined that with evidence from science to generate the data most relevant for coaches. Most excitingly, in working with teams and coaches, we were able to create and generate information that we, initially, didn\u2019t think we could.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story is taken up by Odem: \u201cTactical KPIs were not in our minds – that was a breakthrough from someone sitting in a room and asking why we wouldn\u2019t connect the sensors more usefully in that regard. \u201d This breakthrough, he says, came about because PlayerMaker aligns with the training, playing and coaching philosophies of a user partner. \u201cWe work with a club to design a user-interface that will benefit them the most. Each academy has its own coaching philosophy and it\u2019s a significant part of their daily routine – we don\u2019t want them to change their philosophy, drills, or training sessions. Philosophies can differ, so it\u2019s about working with the clubs to make the product most valuable for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

PlayerMaker\u2019s growing list of partner academies have access to account managers in each country of operation and coaches will be provided with direct access. \u201cWe are designing the ultimate user experience, meeting at least every two weeks; the coaches and staff members provide their feedback on current features, and we take it in consideration for our next features or innovations and seek their opinion not only on what they\u2019ve already experienced but also on the next feature on deck in order to deliver the most innovative and relevant product.\u201d<\/p>\n

Odem explains that feedback or user experience differs from club to club, depending on their philosophy. \u201cWe see different PM usage methodologies in the academies; some use it as a direct influence on the player by exposing them to the data and delivering instant feedback to the player. It\u2019s generated awareness, which generates immediate improvement. Other clubs use the huge database that the system generates to generate improve coaching and to evaluate players\u2019 skills over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plug \u2018n\u2019 Play solution<\/strong><\/p>\n

PlayerMaker is a plug \u2018n\u2019 play solution that is extremely easy to deploy, learn and operate. Earlier stages of effort have been invested in converting highly complex data into an elegantly simple solution. Utilising footwear sensors, PlayerMaker requires no infrastructure or installation. With intuitive and simple interfaces, it has a quick learning curve. Designed with the coach in mind, PlayerMaker is easily operated by the academy\u2019s coaches and other staff members<\/p>\n

Odem also explains that PlayerMaker can assist with longer-term player evaluation. \u201cThe elite clubs work in syllabuses of six weeks. Then they stop and debrief player\u2019s performance and define targets for the next six weeks. PlayerMaker offers a tool to review those six weeks to allow coaches to generate more relevant individual targets, and to decide if players need more individual sessions in order to improve certain skillsets. In addition, a triallist, can be compared to other players in the same age group or position.\u00a0 It allows coaches and professional teams to track, monitor, and build a huge database that enables them to make decisions on different levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond player-coach communication, PlayerMaker can also assess the effectiveness of a coaching session and the development of coaches as much as players. Odem continues: \u201cIf you consider it from the point of view of an academy manager, head of coaching, head of performance, you can also see how they can use PlayerMaker for coach development because we can measure training session effectiveness and other aspects where the coach can improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is, however, quick to emphasise that it is still early days: \u201cIt\u2019s important to say that there are clubs that are only at the stage of collecting data. They can use it for daily routines but once they have enough data they can make broader coaching decisions. For all that, they already see the value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Morag adds: \u201cIn the next few years I want to see PlayerMaker develop as a common tool for academies and amateur users alike. It\u2019ll allow coaches to be better and standardise players\u2019 assessment based on objective information. I envision it as a platform on which we can build additional tools to help coaches become better, especially in the area of talent development.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n

\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PlayerMaker developed new technology-based platform that is already making inroads in the world of European football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1335,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[22,23],"pathway":[],"topic":[],"sport":[],"class_list":["post-1334","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coaching-development-performance","category-data-innovation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Can Academies Produce Better Footballers and Better Coaches? - Performance Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Can Academies Produce Better Footballers and Better Coaches? - Performance Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PlayerMaker developed new technology-based platform that is already making inroads in the world of European football.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Performance Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-15T05:12:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Insights-Saner-Hasan-Featured-Image.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"375\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/\",\"name\":\"How Can Academies Produce Better Footballers and Better Coaches? - Performance Institute\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Insights-Saner-Hasan-Featured-Image.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-29T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-15T05:12:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Insights-Saner-Hasan-Featured-Image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Insights-Saner-Hasan-Featured-Image.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":375},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Can Academies Produce Better Footballers and Better Coaches?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/\",\"name\":\"Performance Institute\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Can Academies Produce Better Footballers and Better Coaches? - Performance Institute","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Can Academies Produce Better Footballers and Better Coaches? - Performance Institute","og_description":"PlayerMaker developed new technology-based platform that is already making inroads in the world of European football.","og_url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/","og_site_name":"Performance Institute","article_modified_time":"2025-12-15T05:12:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":375,"url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Insights-Saner-Hasan-Featured-Image.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/","name":"How Can Academies Produce Better Footballers and Better Coaches? - Performance Institute","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Insights-Saner-Hasan-Featured-Image.jpg","datePublished":"2018-10-29T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-15T05:12:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Insights-Saner-Hasan-Featured-Image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Insights-Saner-Hasan-Featured-Image.jpg","width":700,"height":375},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/playermaker\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Can Academies Produce Better Footballers and Better Coaches?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/","name":"Performance Institute","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32435,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1334\/revisions\/32435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1334"},{"taxonomy":"pathway","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pathway?post=1334"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=1334"},{"taxonomy":"sport","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sport?post=1334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}