Data can be overwhelming, big data can be down right ridiculous. However, data does allow you to see big, to see the bigger picture. As a coach, you want to focus on the athlete in front of you. This is great and I totally agree. Although, the athlete in front of you is the result of whatever their body and brain have been through in the last 24,48,72+ hours.
It is often the case that the athlete in front of you, is not the same beast you had programmed your session for. They may have had a terrible nights sleep, perhaps their coach ran them extra distances last night, they may even have set a PB in a session the day before. Yes, a conversation with them may highlight all of this, but how great would it be to foresee some of these factors and adapt your session beforehand, not on the fly.
Data allows us to do exactly this. I'm not saying it is the be all and end all and you must take every piece of data as absolute fact. I would actually advise you against this! The point is that having a overview of what kind of state the athlete may be entering your session in, gives you the time to adapt accordingly and provide the right stimulus for them.
This is even more important within a team setting. Imagine you have 20 athletes turn up, some are tired, some fresh and some injured?! Your perfect programme of a 5 station circuit has just gone up in flames. Now imagine this scenario: Each athlete has provided wellness data each morning, including mood, motivation, soreness, tiredness and areas of soreness. They have also completed performance logs and stated their RPE (rate of perceived exertion) for all of the prior sessions that week. A quick look over this information would allow you to separate the group into smaller sub groups and provide 3 different options to fit their specific needs.
Keep the Big Picture Simple
I could go into a whole other blog post with this section... And I most probably will. So, to keep with the sub heading, I'll keep it simple. In my option, the best way to see this picture is through graphs and chart. Simple traffic light systems and data visualisation allow all your big overwhelming data to be presented in easily digestible chunks. Possibly more importantly, they allow coaches, players, and medical teams to easy digest and understand the data.
Keep the big picture simple and use it as a guide. Recognise trends, highs, lows, and highlight when you may need to push or pull. Ultimately, it will save you time and allow you to coach! Less time thinking on the spot of how to adapt your session and less time on a laptop adjusting your programmes afterwards.