Real-time Training Guidance and Better Athlete Relationships – With Jaime Fernandez, University of Arizona Women’s Basketball – Ep. 16

Welcome to the Firstbeat Sports Podcast where we talk with coaches and sports scientists to explore the latest in performance monitoring and how it is making a difference in NCAA and pro sports alike. We’re going to connect you with practical advice from the best in the business to help you take your athletes to the next level.

On the line today is Jaime Fernandez. Jaime is the Assistant Director of Olympic Sports at the University of Arizona where he works specifically with the Wildcats Women’s Basketball program.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Importance of being persistent
• Role of technology in S&C
• Return to play protocol with Firstbeat Sports
• Team’s historical NCAA tournament
• Matching the intensity from games in drills

Timestamps:

• Jaime’s background (1:16)
• Recruiting processes for Wildcats Women’s Basketball (9:11)
• Role of sports technology in strength & conditioning (11:50)
• How did the pandemic influence the current season? (13:50)
• Did being in the bubble make coaching easier or more difficult? (17:40)
• Playing Stanford in the NCAA Championship (19:46)
• Dealing with several canceled games back-to-back (20:34)
• Quickfire questions (22:38)
• What made Wildcats choose Firstbeat? (24:23)
• Most important Firstbeat Sports data points and features (25:20)
• Training load differences between positions on the court (28:12)
• How did athletes accept tracking training data? (29:21)
• Best advice for upcoming S&C coaches (30:25)

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Transcript available here (.pdf).

Catch up on all previous Firstbeat Sports Podcast episodes here!