The virtual reality technology being used by Ødegaard and Tchouaméni, as well as top LaLiga club
Andreas Olsen, CEO of Be Your Best, spoke to AS USA about the technology, which was also analysed by RCD Espanyol.
Be Your Best is a technology that incorporates Virtual Reality systems into the players’ training and recovery, allowing them to literally see the game in a different way.
Placing the headset over their eyes, players are transported into the virtual world, with actual past football matches playing out in front of them. RCD Espanyol, as they currently fight for a place in the European spots in LaLiga, are keen users.
Edu Gasol, head of player development, says specific match training is one of the key reasons the club decided to adopt this platform.
“The most interesting part for us is that we can upload our own match situations. We take video from our games, upload it to the platform, and it becomes an interactive scenario. Players can relive that exact situation.
“We can pause the action, analyse what was happening on the pitch, and the player can experience the situation again in a 360-degree environment.”
It helps to, in his words, “reinforce the playing model we want across the entire club, from the first team” led by Manolo González, “down to the academy.”
The Be Your Best technology was founded by Odd Skarheim, but Andreas Olsen, a Norwegian ex-semi-pro footballer for Viking FK who had also studied engineering at Trondheim, was soon asked to join the company. “Maths, physics and technology always fascinated me,” he says, “it was necessary to have someone who had both a strong football background and a strong interest in technology.”
From his sunny Oslo office he explains he “always noticed that some players seemed to have eyes in the back of their heads, able to “understand the game in a way that I simply couldn’t.”
It was, in his words, “just different” to how he could do it as a semi-pro.
“As I grew older, I realised that this ability is not purely something you are born with. More and more research began to show that cognitive football skills can actually be trained.”
“Our goal is to help players prepare their decision before the ball arrives”
The company now works with more than 100 clubs across the world, says Olsen, with clubs now contacting the company directly as word spreads of its success. “What has changed is the mindset of the people we speak to. Clubs now understand concepts like VR and AI much better.”
As for what Be Your Best actually does, Olsen explains it’s not a replacement for anything a manager can do, but an aid for players to develop specific skills: “We don’t measure technical ability or physical attributes. Those are obviously very important, but they’re not our focus.
“We focus on what happens before the player receives the ball. Does the player scan the field? Do they understand where the pressure is coming from? Do they recognise patterns in the game? Elite players often make their decisions before they even receive the ball. That’s what allows them to play at the highest level.
“Our goal is to help players prepare their decision before the ball arrives.”
Edu from Espanyol explains specifically: “There are things that are absolutely essential and will never change: daily training, physical preparation, and video analysis. Collective video sessions, group analysis and individual video work are already well established. None of that changes.
“If we can find even a one-per-cent improvement in performance, that can help a player reach his full potential”
“What we are looking for is that small extra percentage of improvement. In elite football the margins are very small. If we can find even a one-per-cent improvement in performance, that can help a player reach his full potential.”
Back in Norway, Olsen explains players like Martin Ødegaard and Aurelien Tchouaméni are fans of the goggles: “they have used the system for years. They didn’t just try it once and stop. Training cognitive skills is like training a muscle. You need to do it consistently.”
He compares it to the FIFA videogame, which is something Edu also brings up. For younger players, adapting to the new technology only comes with a little dizziness, there is no hesitation to the virtual world.
“We actually ask the players if they enjoy gaming before trying it,” he reveals. “Many young players like video games, so for them this type of system can feel natural. For players who don’t usually play games, the entry point might be a bit harder.”
And the overall reaction to these sessions, which last no longer than 15 minutes, has been “very positive”: “once we show them how it connects to real match situations, they start to see the value.”
Real-world scenarios playing out around the player in 360º vision of a previous league match that is being relived through the glasses is bringing visible benefits, says Gasol. “We analysed the players’ last four matches before starting the programme,” he explains. “Then, after six to eight weeks of work, we analysed the same parameters in the next four matches.” The improvement, he says, was “quite significant."
“The software itself already shows progress through its own metrics. But what matters most to us is whether the player makes better decisions on the pitch. And we saw improvements there as well.”
Players can also be sent the virtual match to watch on their phones or laptops, to be used at home. At Espanyol, players with long term injuries are using Be Your Best to feel connected to the play while out action: “In those situations we work with the medical staff to plan what type of work the player will do during the recovery period. That might include the software, individual video sessions, or other types of work.
“It encourages self-analysis and self-learning. Ultimately, each player has his own objectives and areas for improvement, so this process has to become quite autonomous. The goal is to make things as simple as possible for the player. Their attention span is limited, so the message has to be very clear and concise.”
And it seems to be working. “We want to build AI systems that truly understand football,” says Olsen when the inevitable question of what comes next is brought up. “There is an enormous amount of data available in football, but using that data effectively is still a challenge.”
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