Film has been used by football coaches for decades as a way to get a leg up on the competition. Armed with digital technology, Duke's athletic teams are using video to analysize opponents and break down their own skills.
After “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” relied on high-definition digital video instead of film in its production, many experts thought cinema would be revolutionized forever. The advancement in digital video has affected the film industry, but its use in the world of sports might be more profound.
With new digital technology, Duke athletic teams are turning to video to enhance their game preparation. Almost every program is now using “DV” (digital video) to analyze opponents, and athletes are using it to critique their skills. The technology is not only giving coaches and players new insight, but also helping them maximize valuable time.
Since the days of cellulite and then in the era of VHS, football teams have been on the cutting edge film technology. With a six days between games, Duke coaches spend at least 10 hours week analyzing upcoming opponents with their players. The players also use the time to learn from previous mistakes and work on their individual skills.
Deonto McCormick, switching from cornerback to wide receiver this season, has especially found watching tape beneficial to his game. The sophomore said reviewing practice and game footage helps him better his footwork and running patterns.
“For a receiver, everything has to be precise,” he said. “You think you’re doing something right, then you watch the film and it’s a whole different story.”
The football team received a significant upgrade in its video equipment when the Yoh Football Center opened in 2002. The building currently contains over $1 million of video equipment.
“Technology is in football,” Roof said. “This is a wonderful facility. The video stuff, that saves you time and let’s you prepare your team better. That let’s you be more thorough. We’re very fortunate to have that here.”
Mitch Wilkins, the team’s full-time video coordinator, organizes the footage for the coaches. With the help of students, Wilkins tapes every game and practice from multiple angles. After each practice and game, Wilkins immediately edits the footage on the Windows-based program Pinnacle Team Sports.
Wilkins splices film from the two different angles and organizes the clips for coaches. The clips are downloaded onto the Yoh building’s network, allowing coaches to download clips as soon as Wilkins finishes. The coaches, also trained to use the software, can adjust the clips to optimize their players’ time.
This type of editing would take weeks to do with traditional film, but with digital video and nonlinear editing, Wilkins finishes his work a few hours after a game.
The women’s basketball team also uses video technology extensively, although the team lack a full-time coordinator like Wilkins. Shaeeta Williams, who also works in the team’s marketing department, edits most of the video footage.
The system allows Williams to organize different plays very specifically.
“Say we’re playing Tennessee,” she said. “[The coaches] may look through 10 tapes of Tennessee. To make it easier for our kids, they pull out clips of the games and they’ll give it to me to put all the offenses in order, get all the defenses... individual breakdowns. After games, we also do player breakdowns. [Recent graduate] Alana [Beard] would come in and say, ‘Can you show me every time I did such and such?’”
Both the football team and the women’s basketball team do not find it hard to obtain footage of opponents. Most schools are very cooperative in exchanging tapes, and every football team in the ACC has agreed to exchange computer disks with game footage.
Video technology is also used by athletes competing individually. Men’s assistant tennis coach Jon Neeter said watching tape helps his players improve the technical aspects of their games. Recording matches also allows the coaches to see every match.
“You can see a lot of patterns on video that you can’t see just watching the matches,” Neeter said. “We have only two coaches and there’s six matches going on at once. Video really helps with that.”
With new technologies, teams can now observe many game and practice details than could ever be seen before. The University’s athletic department has invested heavily in these new technologies, and teams have taken as much advantage of the video as they can.
“Everybody has been really receptive to video,” Neeter said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.