The importance of supplementing objective with subjective athlete performance data
While objective athlete performance and data have become increasingly prevalent in elite sports, supporting these data sets with sound subjective data and collaborative decision making systems can improve athlete performance and injury outcomes.
What is subjective athlete performance data?
Subjective athlete performance data can be used to provide an important indication of an athlete’s readiness to perform. It is normally collected verbally or. electronically through a questionnaire that asks an athlete to self-report with regard to parameters such as training intensity, readiness to train, general motivation, fatigue, sleep, pain, and soreness. These Subjective data sets can provide important insight/s that supplements objective data sets, providing important context to changes in objective data. For example, subjective reports of fatigue and/or unilateral soreness in the absence of any measurable change in-game or training load require careful review by the coaching, performance and medical teams.
Requiring athletes to report subjectively on key parameters can assist their understanding of the relationship between subjective and objective data sets and game day performance. In doing so, they become better placed to assist in their own monitoring and the individualisation of their program. The process promotes more frequent and in-depth discussions between athletes and key stakeholders responsible for their health and performance.
To improve athlete care and outcomes, KangaTech provides not only access to accurate and reliable data with regards to neuromuscular strength, control, endurance and pain, but also the ability to incorporate any of a suite of patient-reported outcome measures (e.g. HAGOS, VISA tendon and SF36 questionnaires) that provide an understanding of the health, well-being and function of an athlete. Moreover, these questionnaires are not only specific to the most common injuries and issues that compromise performance but able to be pushed electronically to the athlete’s iPhone or android device to maximise data collection and reporting efficiency.
To understand how to better measure and quantify athlete performance, get in touch with a KangaTech Customer Success Manager for a free consultation.