India has a lot of potential to become a global leader in sports analytics, and the country can also enhance the performance of its sportspersons using data-driven training practices, according to leading players in the sports technology space.
“India is currently the poster boy of business analytics and the country has a great chance to be a global leader in sports analytics as well. To achieve that, all we need to do is to set up a pipeline in place so that quality and authentic data across sports comes in,” said Ramky S, Promoter, Sports Mechanics.
He was speaking at a panel discussion titled ‘Technology Powering Sports Revolution’ at the Sportstar South Sports Conclave in Chennai on Tuesday.
Sports Mechanics is a strategic consulting, technology and analytics partner for the global sports ecosystem. On data availability, Ramky said there is an explosion of data around athletes alone, but there are not many systems or resources to capture that data and use them for correlation.
“There is so much happening in the world of sports and if you don’t collect those data, you will lose a big opportunity there,” Ramky added.
Vasanth Bhardwaj, Promoter, Tenvic, said application of technology in sports can be broadly segmented athlete, spectator and sports administrators and that the technology experience is still nascent in each of these stages.
Bhardwaj said players depend on technology for skill development and competition analysis, but it can be used to strategise against particular opposition or improve certain limitations in techniques. From a spectator perspective, technology can be used to offer convenience like hassle-free parking options in stadiums to food and beverage management to bring immersive experience. Sports administrators can use technology for transparency and integrity in the way of functioning.