Until recently I had not heard of siliconCOACH, but in a very short period of time I have become extremely interested in this amazing package. Ritchie Tamalie, a former close combat student of mine in Dunners, who is now living in Sweden where he works as a tennis coach, informed me about siliconCOACH’s inventor Joe Morrison.
I have always been into research and development in regards to close combat training equipment but nothing as sophisticated yet as simple to use as siliconCOACH. When Joe offered me an opportunity to assist with utilizing his program for close combat and combat sports training the opportunity was simply too good to turn down.
Joe arrived at the Todd Group and set up his laptop, digital video camera, and projector and the kickboxing and wrestling classes were exposed to this new concept in skills evaluation for the first time.
The wrestling coach, Alan Rolton, and the kickboxing coach Girish Rae were extremely impressed with siliconCOACH and would have been there all night evaluating assessing and critiquing their competitors skills if time had permitted.
Being innovative coaches they could immediately recognize the extreme value this new training aid provided. I personally found my mind working overtime with uses for the siliconCOACH package for CQB training armed and unarmed.
I could see how it could be utilized for drills practise like technique to command as well as checking individual skills employments. The uses for it with armed modules were immediately apparent and for perfecting combat shooting siliconCOACH would be a very effective means to not only identify faults but also prove correct aspects of combat shooting.
I very quickly realized the multiple uses for this state of the art training aid for the fighter, combatant and martial artist. For traditional martial artists wishing to perfect kata or compare it to the masters kata or kumite competitors working on improving their technique the benefits would immense.
I have spoken with Mr Martial Arts in New Zealand, Terry Hill, and with his expertise in Chinese, Japanese and European fighting arts he has considerable interest in siliconCOACH and a lot to offer in input in regards to applications for siliconCOACH for the fighting arts.
I next asked Joe if I could feature his amazing package in Fight Times and I am committed to assisting him both with any developments to the package for combative applications and also to promote siliconCOACH through Fight Times and the Todd Group. Joe agreed to the following interview and also for us to include his technical and promotional information on siliconCOACH.
Girish Rae demonstrating a kick, shown below in the screenshot
Screenshot of siliconCOACH timeWARP package
Girish Rae and Joe Morrison review the kick using siliconCOACH timeWARP
Interview
Fight Times: Joe, where were you born and raised?
I was born on a farm in the Taranaki and then moved to Fielding where I remained until I finished high school. I left Fielding to join the Army and spent six years in the infantry before enrolling in Phys Ed School where I completed a degree in Phys Ed and then a masters degree in Biomechanics. It was during this time that I began developing software to help biomechanics move out of the lab and become practical for everyday coaching.
Joe, were you actively involved in playing sports yourself?
I was an average frustrated sports man. I played rugby through school and when I was in the Army but when I went to Phys Ed School my focus was on running marathons.
Joe, tell us about your work and early days developing siliconCOACH?
I began working on it about ten years ago when I was doing my masters, writing the base codes. For the first six years I developed it more for myself and used it with elite sporting groups and then decided to begin to sell the product.
In 2000 I began hiring staff and we funded ourselves from our own sales. We now have distributors in over twelve countries around the world and deals with major clients that are ongoing and increasing annually.
Joe, could you basically describe siliconCOACH and its functions?
siliconCOACH as a company makes a range of software products to help coaches analyse and communicate with their athletes. What we have been trialling here at the Todd Group is a program called timeWARP. When we started developing timeWARP we wanted a powerful tool for everyday coaching that was simple to use, that is exactly what we ended up with. Coaches can use timeWARP almost instantly and with both the athletes and the coaches enjoying using it and seeing the benefits it accelerates their development.
Basically the soft ware allows you to film an activity and pass it through a computer and delay the displaying of the action on a screen by a set amount of seconds. This allows the athlete to perform a skill, then instantly review it with feedback from their coach.
The software can also do a lot of other things like saving movies over a training session so you can see how people’s technique changes as they become fatigued or stressed, drawing over the athlete to highlight points of interest and play the movement at different speeds so you can pick up on the details of high speed actions.
Can the package be used to compare the athlete’s technique to say the master’s technique?
Yes, part of what we brought in recently is called exemplars (examples of ideal techniques). Which is a facility to load up a small movie file with an elite athlete’s footage and play it so you can then compare your performance to that and visualise the changes you need to make to get to the level of the elite athlete in technique.
Your perception of your movements are from looking outwards from your body but people are actually judging you externally, you need to see what they are seeing in relation to your technique. You need to know exactly where your limbs are not where you think they are. It’s also a great motivational tool that accelerates development and that always excites people.
Joe, are their other aspects to the package?
Yes, there is a more advanced package called siliconCOACH Pro that can take a bit of footage and measure velocity acceleration and also measure angles. You have a function on screen where you have you on one side and an elite competitor on the other and you can go through it at fifty frames per second and start looking at the differences and identifying flaws in your own technique.
This programme allows you to save footage and compare it over the months to gauge progress or lack of it. Through this you can focus on training techniques to correct any faults and you can see what training techniques are the most efficient.
To date where has siliconCOACH been used?
It is used all over the world in more that 50 different sports, we are continually discovering new markets that surprise us.
All the NZ athletes that won medals the last Olympics in Athens were influenced by siliconCOACH either through using it or by someone evaluating their technique with it.
There is so much to be gained by the use of video in sport and combine this with computers you would be foolish to ignore the advantages it provides in technique based activity.
Joe do you also have applications with manufacturers and suppliers of sports gear?
Yes, especially with running we have our software in shoe outlets and have a deal with NIKE in the UK and in Europe providing them with the means to identify aspects of the running shoes and why they are better for them than another model.
Joe in regards to martial arts and combat sports training do you think this software would also be good for sparring where you can compare your performance against an actual opponent?
It’s early days in our exploration in this huge field but every thing we have seen so far and the reaction of the coaches and athletes tells me this is going to have a huge impact on the martial arts and combat sports training. We need to spend more time with coaches to find out how we can apply or modify this technology to get 100% out of it in this area.
These applications have to be practical and simple and not interfere with training. It has to be a positive experience for the coach and the athlete and not one that causes a hassle.
This is why we want to be involved with organizations like the Todd Group and Fight Times and to develop such programs and get exposure to not only elite practitioners and competitors around New Zealand and the world but to anyone who is serious about self improvement.
Joe is this package suitable for judging sports?
Yes, because so much happens so quickly people have different perspectives of what it is and the replay allows for actual checking. It is already being used in gymnastics for judging purposes.
It is also very useful for after a fight for the coach and fighter to be able to visually go over the fight and both be on the same wavelength with understanding aspects of performance that attributed to the outcome. There is a lot less room for confusion or speculation that is often related to solely verbal recollections.
Coaches and athletes who use siliconCOACH will be on the same wavelength and talking about the same thing.
How do you see siliconCOACH being used in weight training and gyms in general?
Already a reasonable number of weight training gyms use the package so you can perform a lift put it down and review it on screen. I think as soon as we have got the package right for fight gyms it will be used in combat sports training as well.
The package has been used in Olympic weight training programmes in a lot of countries already and recently it has been used by Super Twelve teams and the All Blacks.
In weight training it not only ensures you can get your technique right but also assists with reducing injuries by performing techniques correctly. Lots of personal trainers overseas are already using siliconCOACH for weight training and we in the near future intend to expand the package to also include instructions on how to do exercises correctly.
How do you see siliconCOACH applications for the military?
Actually I am off to Waiouru next week to a PTI conference for general training and the like but I think there are flow on effects for unarmed combat and weapons drills as well as team skills for teams like mortar crews where the team work and rhythm are essential and by using the package finding ways to shave valuable seconds off of applications. These seconds saved will be valuable in making them more efficient at what they do and it’s an exciting field to get into.
Joe, you have obviously spent thousands of hours with developing siliconCOACH and where do you want to go from here?
We are right up there with our programs and next need to work on marketing and sales globally. It’s really easier to make a bit of software that is complex than one that is simple and so what we are doing is taking the benefits of complex software and refining them into a nice simple user friendly package.
Joe, what other applications is siliconCOACH being used for?
There are too many to name all the uses but some uses are general strength and conditioning, rugby goal kicking, track and field for sprint starts and general running, and in clinical settings for recovering from injuries.
People are only now waking up and seeing what video and computers can bring into the different areas. It will take time as like any change in philosophy and the like it won’t happen over night although there is a major shift that is starting to happen.
Joe do you find that coaches see the value of siliconCOACH right away and are receptive to it?
Mostly but some people simply want to carry on with the ways they have been doing things and that is always going to be the case and they should not be forced in any way to change or be criticised because coaches put a huge amount of time into sport and get little or nothing for it.
Working here with Alan the wrestling coach was a hugely positive experience because he saw and instantly understood what it could bring to his group of wrestlers. He modified his training a little bit but not greatly and then just got into using it with the kids and you could see how much the kids were enjoying it and so was Alan and how much the wrestlers’ technique was changing and how quickly they could understand what Alan was talking about.
The package has been also used for judo in New Zealand, Scotland and parts of Europe with good results. The software can provide the ability to gain a small advantage over someone you may have fought against several times before in sports like judo and wrestling. When you come up against another elite athlete it may mean slightly changing your technique to give you that slight advantage against them.
Joe, can you change the software to facilitate the needs of specific sports?
timeWARP is reasonably generic but we are always asking coaches for feedback so we can improve how they interact with it the trick is to add new functionality without making it complicated. We want to keep it simple but powerful and with different levels in it.
Joe, is siliconCOACH available to coaches now?
Yes siliconCOACH Pro has been a commercial product for 5 years and is now on its sixth version, timeWARP is about 6 months old and version 2 will be available in about 2 months. Everyone that purchases Version 1 of timeWARP will get a free update to Version 2 as this is part of our policy.
Joe, how much does siliconCOACH cost and what do you need to run it?
The timeWARP package is under five hundred dollars and all you need to operate it is a computer of some sort running Windows XP and a digital video camera and a means to project it. You can either have a data projector or an LCD screen or simply use the screen on your laptop or PC. Basically you can carry around a laptop and a digital video camera and a couple of cables and you have everything you need.
I think timeWARP is the place for coaches to start, it is simple to use, cheap and has a major impact on the athletes. Later on if they require more flexibility and want to learn some new skills they can get the Pro software.
Joe, thank you for your time and revealing to us your excellent training aid I look forward to assisting you with the development and promotion of siliconCOACH.
