Coach's Eye - What is it?
 

Coach’s Eye has revolutionised the way we give feedback at SkivoAcademy. In the past we often just used video cameras to film skiers, playing back the footage to analyse it at the end of the ski day. To a large extent this is the system that is still used by a lot of instructors.

 

However, we have now changed the way we give video feedback. We are now able to analyse our footage quickly and easily on the hill. Our setup is now HD video camera to allow good zoom capabilities, a tablet and Coach’s Eye.

Our skiers perform their run - we video.

They take the lift back up - we put the video onto the tablet.

They ski back to the coach - we analyse their video using Coach’s Eye on the hill, instantly.

 

The Analysis Process

We look at the video on the tablet through the app Coach’s Eye. It allows us to easily scroll through the video footage frame by frame, with no jerky jumps between still shots. It also allows us to draw lines on the images to explain more clearly what we want, whether this be a desired line on a race course or a specific body movement. This allows us to clearly explain with images rather than words.

 

Another feature that we often use and love is the compare function. Here we take a model performance on the same terrain, performing the same task, and we simply ask our trainees to play spot the difference. This is a great way to improve understanding and a fantastic way to make the trainee take more responsibility for their learning.

 

Why do we bother?

We believe that the value of instant video feedback is the equivalent of more than 10 runs of simply being told what to do by a coach. If the trainee can see what they are doing wrong and instantly have a chance to get back on the lift and try again with a true understanding of what they’re aiming for, then that is worth much more than easily forgotten video footage.