This site was originally published in 2010 to provide analysis of the Colorado economy. Economic analysis for Colorado is now available at Colorado-based Business and Economic Research (cber.co).
For a variety of reasons the emphasis of this site was changed in mid-2011 to its current focus – the business of sports, sports in our society, and the coaching of sports. The focus has gradually shifted to the coaching of sports.
Highlights
This section highlights popular documents, websites, and articles. They may be written for one sport, but the concepts apply to multiple sports.
Analysis and Mini-Studies
Optimizing Meaningful Contacts in Tennis Practice (2017)
Teaching professionals and coaches should strive to maximize the number of meaningful contacts in a practices by maintaining a balance of random, blocked, and other activity (water breaks, picking up balls, etc.).
Observations and Analysis of Colorado High School Tennis (2016) Thoughts about meeting the needs of high school tennis players in Colorado.
33 Touches in 45 Minutes (2011)
Short series of photographs for a recreation program. The skill most frequently taught was standing in line.
The Importance of Optimizing Meaningful Touches (2014)
Analysis of volleyball club practices to determine how many times the athletes touch the ball during the practice.
Your Mission Should you Choose to Accept it is to be Coach (2015)
Follow up thoughts to Optimizing Meaningful Touches paper. It discusses relevant training and how coaches can get more meaningful touches in volleyball practices.
USA WNT Wins World Cup of Volleyball (2015)
The USA Women’s National Team won the World Cup of Volleyball by the slimmest of margins (point probability).
Best Coaching Website
Growing the Game Together by John Kessel, USA Volleyball
Articles
What’s the Point of it All? (1996)
Markovian chains and point probability
Grilling on the Paddle Courts This Summer (2015)
Try grilling on the paddle courts, Grills = Drills + Games.
Don’t be Misled by Randomness. (2015)
The ups and downs in sports can be attributed to “regression to the mean”. (The editor of PTM apologizes for the typo in the title).
The Value of Two Points – Every Shot Counts. This article shows the relationship between points won, sets won, and matches won for platform tennis. They also apply to tennis.