This is the translation of the interview article published at original article.
Performance analysis using data and video is now nothing special.
Today Bi Rod team visited a college American Football Team in Tokyo and interviewed with the coach, Mr. Nagano.
The team uses Bi Rod for recording the training and match to analyze their performance.
What made you use Bi Rod for your team?
When making a strategy for the games, having bird's-eye viewpoint is important.
If you look at the players behind the goal, for example, you can catch the lateral distance between players or ball, but it is difficult to grasp the whole scene - whether the players are distanced properly for offense & defense position.
These can be checked if you look at the field from the high point.
This is very important and must-do.
So we used to put up a scaffolding (a tower) for shooting, but it was too high (about 5m) and banned for the safety reasons.
Left:These are used for scaffolding. / Right: Stepladder was not an option considering the safety.
While we were looking for something that would work as a scaffolding or stepladder, we found this Bi Rod.
We thought Bi Rod would clear all the concerns we have for the shooting without experiencing any dangers.
Why did you choose Bi Rod?
It is light and easy to carry. These are the great advantages.
When we go on expeditions for away games, Bi Rod in a portable case can be put in a car easily, not like bringing scaffold or stepladder.
Also the continuous run time is just 30 minutes at the longest.
Bi Rod, on the other hand, is very easy to use and anyone even students can use them without any special knowledge.
Camera's automatic shake correction may also be working.
What camera do you use?
We use GoPro HERO7. Connecting it to a smartphone or tablet via Wi-Fi and operate the camera with smartphone/tablet.
This camera has a wide angle and waterproof, so it's very convenient to use, except for one point - it doesn't have a zoom function.
Now we are thinking of using handheld camcorder instead of action camera to attach to the top of the Bi Rod.
This is the actual movie that was taken using Bi Rod. Each player's movement is easy to see from above.
Below chart shows the basic position of the camera (Bi Rod).
During the training session, the camera is set at the back of the offense side.
Bi Rod is light so easy to carry when the position has to be changed.
Bi Rod is very useful for tactical analysis, so I would recommend it to sports teams such as American football teams or soccer teams.
Many schools/colleges use scaffolding but if you have to move it, you need to put everything in a truck and have to wear a safety belt and hard hat when building up a scaffold.
This may cause unexpected injury and there have been an opposition for letting students do this work.
By using Bi Rod now, we don't have to worry about the fall accident and can record the games easily and safely.
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Editorial Note
High angle shooting sometimes accompanies with danger.
As a result of considering the safety of players and staff as the first priority, and also taking into account the efficiency of the shooting, "Shooting with Bi Rod" should have been the best choice.
Operation of the camera using smartphone, sharing the movies with coach and players using a video sharing application, etc. - it was impressive that students were using the latest digital tools to the fullest.
Mr. Nagano and team members, thank you for your cooperation!
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