The Future of AI in Sports: Next Level Analytics

Photo: AI technology is set to boost player performance

With the emergence of high level AI, we’re about to see a massive change in the sports world. Analytics has already revolutionized sports, as any casual fan can attest.

In the movie Moneyball, Jonah Hill’s character Peter Brand (based on the real-life baseball executive Paul DePodesta) comes in to the Oakland A’s as the stats wiz and introduces the sabermetric method - analysis of baseball using statistics that uses in-game activity - which was never used on a large scale prior to that. DePodesta’s significant success on a limited budget ultimately paved the way for modern advanced sports analytics and changed the way sports management is run.

Similarly, AI will cause an exponential leap in the world of sports analytics. Sports commentators will be armed with a multitude of additional objective statistics and instant technique analysis insights. AI sports technologies will be able to analyze an athlete’s form and technique in relation to an ideal. This might lead to John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova on Eurosport arguing about the grip and spin Novak Djokovic applies to his forehand shots and how that affects his win rate on clay courts. Coaches and athletes will also benefit from these new technologies by conducting objective real-time performance reviews to help plan personalized training practices for the coming days or weeks. A golf coach could use AI to find useful comparisons betweens his client’s swing and Rory McIlroy’s. Athletes could use AI apps and available SaaS tools to find out how to optimize their current tennis backhand or slice. Even referees could use AI tech to resolve in-game disputes more accurately and efficiently.

People might worry that all these technologies could dehumanize sports, but to the contrary, AI will heighten the human element of intuition. In the realm of “mind-sports,” 5-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has notably harnessed the power of AI-driven chess analysis tools to elevate his intuitive decision-making in games. This will certainly apply to physical sports, as well. AI analysis can help a tennis player understand the optimal moment to execute a serve-and-volley strategy, enhancing their natural anticipation and intuition on the court. In a similar way, AI could complement or even elevate the “gut feelings” that talent scouting and recruiters rely on. They will use powerful algorithms to analyze athletic technique and give athletes and coaches highly accurate predictions, such as how athletes might perform on a particular team.

At SportAI, we believe that artificial intelligence will be a key factor for improving sports performance at all levels, professional and amateur alike. That is why our company’s mission is to advance sports technique with the help of AI, making technique analysis and feedback objective and accessible to all. Our goal is to quantify movement technique, offering new insights and a deeper understanding that enhances performance for every athlete. 

Reach out to SportAI Team if you have any specific questions:
contact@sportai.no