1. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 1 Athlete Response to Using a Real-Time Optical Navigation Feedback System Richard Kirby

2. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 2 Introduction  Today, athletes in many sports benefit from real-time quantitative feedback about their performance during training and racing  Feedback is critical as it is the brain’s link to the body. (Shea et al., 1993)  Quantitative feedback in alpine skiing generally comes well after the performance  Technique improvement often comes through video analysis that is qualitative and comes hours after the training

3. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 3 Aim of this study  Verify if alpine ski racers perceive a benefit from using real time audio feedback related to lateral displacement to improve their carving technique  Evaluate the “distraction” effect of audio feedback while training  Evaluate if the skiers detect a change in the characteristics of their skis due to the apparatus

4. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 4 Apparatus Click to view Video

5. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 5 Technology Y X

6. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 6 Feedback  One beep per 0.5 mm slip at most sensitive level  Actual delay between slip and feedback 0.125 seconds

7. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 7  Randomly selected young racers training at Mount Hood as part of summer race camps  Familiarized the racers with the meaning of the feedback  Racers trained 2 hours with device in gates  Racers filled out survey  Racers were interviewed for subjective comments

8. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 8 Subjects  12 club level racers (5 years to 15 years racing)  13 – 18 years old except one 43 year old master  Average age 18.9 years old  5 girls, 7 boys  11 out of 12 had never used real time feedback prior to test

9. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 9 Familiarization  Skiers must understand what the feedback is telling them  Sensitivity/threshold must be set to the skill level of the skier and snow conditions

10. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 10 Garland Click to view video

11. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 11 Drifted initiation Click to view video

12. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 12 Single carved arc Click to view video

13. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 13 Linked carved turns Click to view video

14. advancedracingcomputers.com Survey Results

15. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 15 Did having the device attached to your skis affect your skiing?

16. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 16 Did the real time feedback help you better understand your carving skills?

17. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 17 Did the real time feedback help you improve your carving skills?

18. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 18 How often would you like to use real time feedback in training? N = 9

19. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 19 How satisfied were you using real time feedback for training?

20. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 20  It is like watching a video of yourself while you are skiing  I’ve been racing for 10 years and I didn’t know I slipped that badly at the initiation of my turn  It really helped me understand the issues I have with the timing of my turns  The audio feedback was distracting at first  It tells me I’m doing something wrong, but not what to do to correct it Comments from Interview

21. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 21 Discussion  While we did not evaluate if performance actually improved, we interviewed several of the coaches who believed that they saw improvements in their skiers after the two hour test  Some skiers adapted to the feedback much quicker than others  Those that were more technologically savvy  Those that play computer games  Importance of familiarization process

22. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 22  Evaluate performance improvement  Evaluate different types of feedback and different familiarization exercises  Evaluate the effect of a coaching program based around using real-time feedback (coaches device)

23. advancedracingcomputers.com Thank you for your attention

24. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 24 Conditions  Hard snow  Slope gradual enough to carve cleanly all gates  Mixture of GS and SL gates, stubies and brushes

25. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 25 Survey Results  Did real time feedback help you better understand your carving skills.  83% definitely  17% probably  Did real time feedback help you improve your carving skills  50% definitely  33% probably  17% not sure

26. advancedracingcomputers.com richard@advancedracingcomputers.com 26 Survey Results (continued)  How often would you like to use real time feedback in training?  11% > 70% of the time  78%30% to 70% of the time  11%< 30%  3 no-answer  Satisfaction with real time feedback as training tool in gates  58% Very satisfied  33% Somewhat satisfied  8 % Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied