A particularly good build-up pass in the development of the attack, a failed face-off with an immediate threat to your own goal, a noticeably good or bad positional game, the situation before the decisive goal, a controversial scene: with the video analysis tool Dartfish you can avoid it DEBCoaches do nothing and national coach Toni Söderholm and Co. have access to key moments of a game in almost real time. “Dartfish includes everything,” reports DEB-Interim sports director Christian Künast, “from the live cut during games to the presentation or sharing of the content. Dartfish has a very, very high standard.”
Essential information is also easily available to players. The coach can also send the link to specific game situations to the smartphone so that video sequences are mobile and can be accessed at any time. “This then runs via Dartfish TV and the association’s own cloud, which we define and content based on the desired content Parameters,” says Künast. Dartfish is now also used in trainer training, not least because of the presentation options that the software contains.
He has been working since 2018 DEB with the Swiss company, which is represented in many areas of top-class sport and has cooperated with over 70 percent of the Olympic medalists in Pyeongchang. “We have a very good exchange,” says Künast, “Dartfish works hard and is sometimes there for us almost around the clock. They are a very, very reliable partner in a very important area.” About the DEB Interested clubs can also contact Dartfish.
The Friborg-based company itself also emphasizes the importance of cooperation with the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund and the advantages that arise from it. “The partnership with the DEB is another important step in our commitment to ice hockey,” says CEO Jean-Sebastien Merieux: “The conversations with the various DEBTeams will contribute significantly to the development of the Dartfish hockey ecosystem. This is a testament to our commitment to meeting the needs of hockey teams, clubs, players and Fans at the heart of our strategy.”
The implementation is fully designed for practicality. The video coach or analyst has an antenna on his laptop in the stands that receives and transports the signal. He is connected to the bank via a radio system and can communicate via short commands, mark scenes almost immediately, save them and make them available to the trainer for assessment, who can then draw their conclusions and make tactical adjustments if necessary. “The easiest way is for the video trainer to record as directed by the head coach. The next step is the live collaboration from the analyst to the bench, where the scenes are sent, the coach can show the material to the player, color in it, fast forward and rewind,” explains Künast.
The DEB worked a lot with these options at the U20 World Cup, for example. “We had an extra channel and stored the games in it. Each player then had the opportunity to watch the respective game again if they wanted. Highlights, entire games, scenes, tactics training,” explains Künast. The system was also used at the women's international matches in Switzerland in February. Each DEB-Team has its own channel, plus the DEB-Trainer, Karl Schwarzenbrunner (Federal Trainer for Science and Training) used a channel for trainer training that was also used for the video exam for the B trainer.
And finally, the operation isn't a big hurdle either. “It's like with a lot of new things,” says Künast, “you have to get your head around it. If you deal with it, you will get better, but a certain feeling for technology helps.” Especially since technologies like Dartfish have long been indispensable and have become an important piece of the puzzle for top performance.