Welcome to Part 2 of this series looking at the ASM Clermont Auvergne Performance Analysis processes for the Top 14 French rugby team. In Part 1, we introduced you to Joe Larkin and Franck Vuilbert, performance analysts at ASM.
Joe gave us details of how Nacsport and KlipDraw were used by the analysts, coaches and players to review the variety of training footage collected, including drones, tablets and normal cameras. We also learnt how the footage and analysis are distributed to the different machines at the impressive ASM training complex and how the Presentation Window was used to great effect by everybody in their Previews (looking at upcoming opponents).
Read on to hear from Joe about the Matchday and Review performance analysis processes used by Clermont and how they have found moving over to Nacsport this season.
Matchday
On a match day, we want to maximise the effective feedback we can provide to the team, so it is important for us to capture and analyse footage live and distribute that to the coaches and players during the game. We have Avermedia devices with SD cards capturing 4 angles from the TV Trucks for us to work with after the game, but during the game, we need a feed capturing into my Nacsport Elite.
With real-time register, we capture either an HDMI or SDI feed through another Avermedia device to do a live capture into Nacsport. I use my buttons template, including Panel Flows, Button Clusters, Activation and Deactivation links to gather as much information as I can during the game in the most efficient way possible. This template and data updates a live Dashboard of statistics that are tailored to our Key Performance Indicators.
The coaches next to me in the stand use Nacsport Coach Station to independently review the video I am capturing on their own machine, either simply scrubbing through the video or going to specific moments with the actions in the play by play table and interactive Dashboard. This helps them to make informed decisions during the match.
We use AP Wireless to send the footage and data down to a Nacsport Coach Station on the touch-line for our Director of Rugby Franck Azema, who can then also review the footage, codes and Dashboard statistics. This Coach Station is then used at halftime in the changing room, to communicate themes to coaches and players as a team, individually and as units.
At the end of the match, the coaches are given 4 synced angles of the game along with the team codes to take away on their own machines to start reviewing with Nacsport. The video and XML of the analysis are also exported for sharing to portable devices.
A separate buttons template is then used by me and Franck V to code Attack, Defence and Work Rate codes for players. These codes drive statistics throughout our season and allow players and coaches to review performance.
Review
We use our 12 Nacsport Viewer licences to enable the players to individually review the game. This large number of licences means we can all review efficiently. The coaches and us analysts create review presentation windows for team units and individual review. The ease of use with Nacsport gives both our coaches and our players complete autonomy when creating presentations, enhanced by KlipDraw animations.
The coaches utilise KlipDraw Animate telestrations to emphasise their coaching points and create learning moments for players. This has proved an invaluable tool to our analysis process. We also import PowerPoint presentations into our presentation window lists to have a smoother and completely integrated presentation.
Being able to import presentations created by the coaches and players into one single presentation window really helps with our whole team review. We have multiple lists in one place, so coaches and players can take it in turns to present their area without a change of windows or equipment (which would waste valuable time).
A fantastic insight into the way that performance analysis at Clermont shows how it is integrated into the different parts of a professional team’s week! I asked Joe what differences the team has experienced this year by moving to Nacsport and how they found that process:
With the Nacsport live capture using the Avermedia devices, we have a much-improved quality of footage as we can capture MP4 files in 1080, meaning our training and match footage is of a better standard. Using the AP Wireless on match day means that we can now share the live footage and analysis down to the touchline too, enhancing our in-game analysis and feedback. We had live capture, analysis and sharing before, but it’s now a lot more comprehensive due to the ease of use of Nacsport and AP Wireless means we can share over distances we couldn’t do before.
Straight after the game, we can quickly get our 4 angles from the SD cards on the Avermedia devices and sync these up with the analysis, so our coaches are able to leave with as much detail as possible. The ease of exporting XML files means we can share to our external applications too. Something that the Nacsport team are developing (and is nearly ready) that will really help us is a CSV export based on real-world time, which will integrate with our GPS data and statistical analysis.
Using Nacsport Tag&go during our training sessions has saved a lot of time. Straight after the session, we can bring the different video angles together and already have training review clips made in Tag&go that are synced up with them.
Our meetings this year are much cleaner and more stable. Having different presentations all in one window means we don’t have to bounce between PowerPoint and videos, or different coaches video equipment like we did last year, which wasted time. PowerPoint slides imported into our presentation windows helps to add extra detail and keep the presentation flowing and being able to change video angles during the playback means we can quickly provide the views that players and coaches want right at the moment.
KlipDraw Animate has made a huge difference to how our coaches explain their points and provide detailed feedback. The variety of tools available means that we can also export clips with these animations to share with the players and referees, helping us to highlight our points more clearly.
Presentation windows have empowered our players to become more interactive with the analysis and have had a really big effect for us, as it allows the players to share their opinions and makes use of a vast amount of experience we have within the squad.
Moving over to a new software can always be a bit daunting but working with AnalysisPro made this a smooth process. They are always available to provide backup and answer any questions we have (both in the senior team and the Academy) and helped during our pre-season to implement Nacsport into our full processes and requirements, along with enabling more processes. Their understanding of different environments, practical applications, workflows required, and budget restraints of a team means that they can find us the most cost-effective and efficient solutions to any potential requests that arise.
With AnalysisPro working alongside the Nacsport team, any issues that do arise are quickly fixed, which is key for any professional team. Nacsport constantly advances the software with new feature updates and having our feedback listened to and implemented in these developments really helps us to continue to evolve too.
We would like to thank Joe and all the ASM team for providing us with these fascinating insights into the ASM Clermont Auvergne Performance Analysis workflows used throughout the season. We’re really pleased to see Nacsport, KlipDraw and AP Wireless in such constant use in the Top 14 and want to wish the team the best of luck for the remainder of the season!!