Game Film

One of my sports idols growing up was Tony Gwynn. Although never physically in the best shape, Tony Gwynn was a baseball player with one of the sweetest swings you've ever seen. When being interviewed on ESPN Radio shortly after his Hall of Fame induction a few years back, he credited his technique to constant breakdown of his mechanics, including feeling that he was one of the first people to truly utilize game film to the fullest of its potential.

Bob Vilsoet is the head coach at Harper College, and I was lucky enough to have played USAV with him for two years before coming to Newbury. He brought his camera to a few of our tournaments, and this was the first experience I had with game film, and I've never looked back. He would constantly rewind and pause frame by frame, breaking down every little detail, showing me aspects of the game I had never really thought of before.

Fast forward to today, and I've recorded almost every collegiate match I've played in the last two years. I feel that a lot of my improvement has came from the ability to look at past performances and see exactly what I'm doing. Whether its after a good game and watching what to keep doing, or after a weaker perfomance where I have to see what exactly went wrong, I feel that game film is one of the most under-utilized tools athletes have to better themselves. It never ceases to amaze me how many people have never seen themselves play.

Why don't coaches use game film more? I suppose it's not for everyone. I've watched film with a lot of people and all they want to do is watch it like a highlight film, not focusing on any room for improvement, although that too does have its benefits. Sometimes when I'm in a slump, I'll watch some film from a good match, as I feel it's a good confidence builder.

Anyways, no real direction with this blog post. Just discussed game film with someone today and it was still fresh in my mind. If you play and haven't ever had the chance to see yourself play, find someone with a camera and give it a shot!

Last double session tomorrow. Feeling somewhat sore still, going to stretch and head to bed.