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3 Pro Tips: How to Start Using Performance Data

Investing in and using performance data will provide you with the comprehensive insights you need to plan, forecast, and execute a winning strategy. We caught up with the Head of Physical Performance for Women’s Soccer Canada, Dr. Cesar Meylan, who recently helped earn the team a gold medal in Tokyo. 

Here are the top three tips for getting started with performance data:

#1 Adopt technology as early as possible.

“We started back in 2012 and so we’ve been able to collect a significant amount of historical data. We can assess past performance data, establish benchmarks, and set accurate and progressive targets for the whole team and individual players.”

#2 Use the same technology used by those at your players’ clubs

“Catapult works with more than 3,200 teams and so a number of our athletes’ club teams are using the same technology. They share data with us before the lead-up to our international camps – for example, Bayern Munich is great in that sense. This collaboration is key for understanding where your players are at pre-camp.

“The beauty of Catapult is that you can bulk download and get all the data transferred. Recently, one of our players was injured and the club showed us the data and stages they had been through in their rehab. We picked up their recovery right from where the player needed us to be.”

#3 Harness new live monitoring

According to Meylan, “live monitoring is one of the best advancements in technology over recent years. We break down matches into nine-minute live segments, as that is 10% of the game time. This enables us to analyse and evaluate key parts of the game and detect even the smallest drip and/or change in our performance levels. 

“Also, it gives us a good indication of where we are within the training session. This is helpful for us and the coaches because we can make decisions in the best interest of our players’ development. 

“We can talk with the coaches to suggest if we’re going to have another 10, 12, or 15 minutes, adjusting before it is too late (injury). Whilst also looking at player rotation, we can rotate the players in and out of an activity and ensure they hit the levels they need to in each session.”

Click here to learn more about live monitoring and other key features in wearable technology – download our free brochure, Catapult Vector, today.

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More about Head of Physical Performance for Women’s Soccer Canada, Dr. Cesar Meylan:

Head of Physical Performance for Women’s Soccer Canada, Dr. Cesar Meylan

Dr. Meylan is the head of physical performance for Canada Soccer. In his role, he leads the performance services and staff of the Women’s and Men’s Excel programs and delivers services in camp to the WNT and MNT. He has supported the WNT who recently clinched a gold medal in Tokyo, and two Olympic bronze medals (2012 and 2016) and a gold medal at the Pan-American Games (2011) prior to that. Since 2018, he has brought his expertise to the men’s side to support the team in the campaign to qualify for Qatar 2022.

Prior to moving to Canada, he completed is PhD at AUT University and held a scholarship with New Zealand Football in the area of youth development and worked with the Football Ferns at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011. Dr. Meylan has supervised various PhD and Master’s students and authored over 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications, a book chapter and numerous conference abstracts, applying research at the forefront of pitch performance.

View Dr. Cesar Meylan’s football education series webinar:

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