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Analytics: Sports Stats and More
was indeed over-swinging his tee shots and second shots. By
cutting back on that, his game immediately improved. He tied
the 36-hole British Open scoring record and went on to finish
third. Later that season, he won the Tour Championship and the
FedEx Cup. Once the thirty-fifth-ranked player in the world,
Snedeker soared to number four, a surge that began with a
discussion about statistics.
The future for sports analytics is incrediblybright. Snedeker
is living proof. Thanks to the stats-driven improvement in his
game, he earned nearly $12 million from 2012 through 2014.
Talk about impact!
The Future
While some baseball teams more than others have embraced the
industry for years, other sports are looking for that “competitive
edge” that can help their franchise to gain that advantage.
The NFL remains the elephant in the room. Some football
teams are beginning to have their practices analyzed, to see if they
are spending their time working on the plays that most impact a
game. For example, are teams spending only five percent of their
practice time on special teams plays when those events actually
make up 13 percent of the game action?