You have undoubtedly seen them at work. The diligent assistant coaches who diligently note down all the actions of the volleyball players at the side of the court and quickly pass them on to their coach. The period of working with pluses - after a good action - and minuses - after a failed phase - is over. Time for artificial intelligence (AI).

Anyone who thought that by purchasing a 'radar gun' (speed meter behind the court to register the power of the serves) or a small 'Vert' device in the waistband or chest strap (where the jump height and the number of jumps during a training or match are neatly added up) assumed that one would be completely up to date with the current developments with the integration of these devices, is suddenly overtaken by new technologies.

Not only the time of drawing lines is over. Scouting programs such as Broadcom, Volleytrack, Virtuvolley, Datavolley, Volleymetrics, Volleystation or Balltime will also slowly disappear into the history books. Because something exciting and fascinating is coming. Groundbreaking and Belgian.

Two compatriots have started working on integrating the technology of 'Computer Vision' (a branch of AI) into the scouting program and volleyball sport - regardless of the level. With a touch of magic, they use tools to register everything at lightning speed and they even make the collected information work for you. All notes are taken to a higher level.

SmashVision

Emma Van Doren (26 years old - Velvoc Veltem-Beisem) and Arnor Van Leemputten (30 - Feniks Haacht) are passionate volleyball players. They are very active both indoors and on the sand. In addition to their many volleyball activities, they are working hard on a revolutionary program SmashVision. From now on, they make 'real-time data analysis' in volleyball possible with their application. Emma and Arnor use their intelligent systems and 'machine learning algorithms' to analyze minuscule all volleyball actions. Every movement of every player is registered via smart camera images. Defense systems are identified. The scouting of every attack, block or service is automatic. Speeds, heights and even technical executions are mapped. SmashVision also recognizes patterns – such as choice of play distribution – within the accumulated data. The integration of this program offers unprecedented possibilities for improving the performance of the players and the tactical insights of the coaches.

This is innovative, even groundbreaking. This is the future, which is why you have set up this new platform.

Emma Van Doren: “You are really getting a scoop. Because the signing for the establishment of our company will not take place until next week. However, interested parties can already contact us via info@smashvision.ai . The ink on the signature is not yet dry and the subsidies have only just been applied for, but I assume that many trainers and coaches want to be informed now. They can always submit new ideas, because our program is of course in full development.

Traditional methods of data analysis are time-consuming and require manual input. Errors sometimes creep in. The coaches and their assistants know this all too well, so we want to help them. Our system, automatically controlled by AI, increases efficiency, saves time and is also accurate. In terms of injury prevention, it monitors overload or identifies risky movements.”

In plain language, how is all this going to be applied?
 
Arnor Van Leemputten: “With our SmashVision program, we can recognize players at any time, discover ball trajectories and detect the field. You can see where everyone is moving to and you can also discover what actions the players are doing. Emma and I then convert this output into numbers and a 'scouting file' from which the same visualizations (attack directions and so on) will eventually follow. These are comparable to other scouting programs, but more detailed. With a cost-efficient 'pay as you go' model, Smashvision makes data analysis accessible to all clubs.

We deliberately keep it accessible. We offer various options. One for after the match, where an upload of the video and the match sheet is processed by our program and all data is forwarded. We are also building a 'real time' version, during the match. Our licenses are accessible to all levels. They are affordable and can be purchased per match or for an entire volleyball year - so all matches.”

Emma, ​​you are an AI engineer, you did your thesis on Computer Vision and Arnor, you are responsible for the business part of this project.

Emma: “I have been working on linking artificial intelligence to images for a number of years. That is the main characteristic of Computer Vision. We can recognize patterns from the video. We are now applying that specifically to volleyball, which is why our project is called SmashVision.

With regular scouting programs, you could always follow one action of one player. Artificial intelligence can analyze everyone simultaneously during all volleyball actions. The more examples AI can collect, the smarter the system becomes due to the ever-increasing input that is collected during each match. So, in the future, block options can also be analyzed, attack combinations and defense systems can be discovered and studied, in which different players work together. When both coaches work with Smashvision, AI can even suggest a number of strategic counteractions during the match based on the current tactics of team A or team B.”

Arnor: Our company will offer 'early access', for coaches who want to get started quickly. SmashVision will be completely ready within three to four months. We are already receiving proposals and other angles from top coaches such as Kris Vansnick and Robin De Bondt. Maarten Deroey (brother of libero Dennis Deroey of Knack Roeselare) is responsible for the business management. It will be a fascinating story. Interested coaches and trainers can contact us at info@smashvision.ai .”

Text and photos: Walter Vereeck