Collecting data can be trial and error, but by building a solid foundation prior to data collection and putting the appropriate people and procedures in place, the tactical facilitator can minimize errors while optimizing effort, money, and time.

From the 2019 Tactical Annual Training, Rob Hartman reminds coaches that with all the technology out there, coaching the moment can still provide all the data you need. Hartman discusses how to use the data to understand the population, the individual, yourself, and coaching efforts.

From the 2020 NSCA Coaches Conference, Brian Buck, Director of Sports, and Bryce Patterson, Director of Education at Sparta Science, discuss how to understand data, create a repeatable and scalable system to address goals, and create a feedback loop to assess the effectiveness of a program.

Understand the relationships between different testing variables and what they mean. In this session from the NSCA’s 2017 Coaches Conference, Bryan Mann explains how to use various equations from research to garner deeper insights into commonly collected data.

Learn about processes of data collection and presentation, and how to use the data to individualize athletes’ training. In this session from the NSCA’s 2016 National Conference, Kevin Paxton demonstrates an age-specific long-term athletic development (LTAD) syllabus for soccer players.

This excerpt from the NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science, discusses some of the benefits and validity of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) data.

This course is an introduction to force plates and performance testing. This course covers the basics of setup and calibration of force plates, and then walks through several fundamental performance tests including squat jumps, countermovement jumps, drop jumps and loaded jumps. Two versions of the isometric mid-thigh pull as well as an isometric squat are also covered in the course. Real-time data collection from the software is also shown as the athletes are performing the tests. A module on data analysis rounds out the course, which includes five metrics collected from the force plate, as well as calculations from this data, including relative strength index - modified, and dynamic strength index.

In this session from the NSCA’s 2018 TSAC Conference, Josh Hagen explains the importance of having an understanding metrics and how to implement monitoring for tactical athletes to influence training for optimal performance.

Recently, the court made a ruling on summary judgment motions filed by both NSCA and CrossFit. The rulings are not a final decision about the outcome of the case. Nor do they reflect a decision by the judge, that either CrossFit or NSCA won the case. The judge was asked by both CrossFit and NSCA to decide certain issues in advance of a trial by a jury.

This article aims to describe the development of the sport scientist role and clarify the common qualifications and responsibilities therein.