How GB Rugby Sevens are Revolutionizing Their Athlete Monitoring with Hudl
In this behind-the-scenes video, discover how GB Rugby Sevens are preventing injury, managing load and boosting performance with Hudl.
Speed and Efficiency: Making Every Second Count
For the GB7s coaching staff, the intensity of the on-field action is matched by their working environment. So, having quick, reliable information to make better decisions faster is critical.
“When we come into train we feel we have a small number of days but we need to get it right, we need to make sure everything is accurate, and we need to squeeze as much as we can out of every training session, every day,” explains GB7s’ Director of Rugby, Ciaran Beattie.
“WIMU gives us a competitive edge by the simple fact that the data we get back so quickly and so efficiently feeds exactly into the markers we’re looking for,” he continues. “The fact that we can tweak those markers and look at what we want and how seamlessly we can do it, is critical because of the time element and the demands on Sevens. It’s allowing us to work as coaches, as departments, as players, as efficiently as we can.”
No Data Points Missed: Accuracy of Monitoring Data
Given the fine margins, speed of play, and unpredictability of Rugby Sevens, having quick access to information alone isn’t enough - it needs to be accurate, trustworthy and consistent too.
“One of the key challenges for me in this role is just making sure I'm as accurate as possible,” explains Liney. “It’s so important to make our inferences correctly from the data, so we need to have consistency and reliability in our metrics.”
“WIMU ensures that we don’t miss this monitoring data, whether it be in person or working remotely, because it has so many metrics for us to delve into. Nothing ends up being missed.”
“We can see exactly how we’re performing, where we need to push and the standard that we need to be at in order to win these games. We need to make sure we know what load we’ve done, how we can apply this in competition and again we want to ensure that the intensity in training is at peak game intensity, if not above, so that by the time we go into competition we have a set threshold we know we need to reach and the end goal is to win games.”
Through the customisable visualisations in WIMU’s software, GB7s can tailor their athlete monitoring to specific rugby workflows and gain key insights in an easy-to-use way.
“Sometimes data again can bring in a lot of noise,” says Liney. “With the WIMU dashboards, we have that ability to filter metrics. I can zone in on just the two or three in particular, based on what the goals and intentions of the session are, we can jump between those. It’s just an easy way for me to quickly zone in on what I need to know.
“Everything Under One Roof”: An Integrated Ecosystem
From a sports science perspective, the ability to utilise athlete monitoring data with video provides GB7s staff with objective feedback and additional context that informs training sessions and team selections. And having it all seamlessly integrated under one single provider ensures a smoother experience.
“Having everything under one roof is critical for us,” explains Beattie. “Combining athlete performance and video is now critical in the modern game and it has been for a while, but it’s now growing at a faster and faster rate.”
The integration of WIMU data with multiple video angles in Hudl Sportscode enables sports scientists to translate human performance data into tactical and technical context, offering deeper insights into athlete performance and decision-making.
“Because of the load and amount we’re putting through players, we’re not necessarily on the pitch 24/7. So in order to get better, we’re using our off-field time better. That’s why Hudl and WIMU coming together is massive for us.”
Hudl is woven into the fabric of what we do now. It’s something players, staff, we all feel comfortable with and we feel it gives us best bang for our buck - and it’s super effective as well.
A Personal Touch: Unparalleled Onboarding and Support
Speaking about the motivations behind choosing WIMU, Beattie highlighted the onboarding process, ease of adoption, and, particularly, the level of support GB7s have received as they’ve adopted the technology:
“I’ve worked previously in my life as a player, analyst, coach, and now a Director of Rugby, Hudl has always been a part of that. The support we’ve had has been second to none.
“That personal touch has been fantastic and it gives us a lot of confidence moving forward with the product and gives us a lot of confidence that they’ve keen for us to grow.”
“Any questions I have, they are immediately answered,” Liney adds. “The support staff have been quick to get back to me. We’ll sit on a call and troubleshoot through things as soon as they arise. It all filters back to how intensive this sport is; we need these things quickly resolved and that’s been so great across this process. The support has been unbelievable.”
