The Guide to Developing an Analytics Strategy in Volleyball

Data analytics is rapidly growing in the sport of volleyball. This is the use of raw data to notice patterns, make predictions, and make changes based on the results to gain a competitive advantage. Conducting data analytics does not have to be complicated or expensive, but the benefits of finding trends and changing behaviors based on those trends can be greatly beneficial. At the University of Indianapolis, we use data analytics in all parts of the sport such as determining play time between our athletes, what defense to use against an opponent, and how to allocate practice time effectively. This article will go over the basic steps of creating analytics strategy by discussing how to identify a purpose behind the analysis, select which variables to measure and how to do so, and interpret the results to make actionable change.