How Yale Basketball is Innovating with Dr. Dish

When Yale University purchased a basketball shooting machine from Dr. Dish Basketball, the features they were most excited about were the analytical capabilities.  We recently sat down with the Men's Head Basketball Coach, James Jones, and talked about how he uses their Dr. Dish All-Star to take those analytics and innovate how they train on the hardwood. 

Innovation through Heart Rate Monitoring 

Heart rate monitors have been around for a while now, but they have typically been used by individuals or professional teams to track the intensity of a workout. Yale is now utilizing the heart rate tracker that comes with every Dr. Dish Smart Machine, to track how hard their players are going while they shoot on Dr. Dish. As Coach Jones says:

"Using the heart rate monitor while guys are working on the Dish has proven to be a great motivation tool. I can see a player's heart-rate in real time since it's displayed on the front of the Dish. And I can make sure players are staying in that game-like state throughout their workout. The player can see it too, so there's an aspect of self-motivation as well."

 

Accountability in Real Time and After Practice

While real time feedback is certainly advantageous, coaches can't keep their attention on all their players at all times.  The Dr. Dish Database is able to store this data and allow a coach to review the data at a later date. And as Coach Jones states, this can make a coach's life a little bit less hectic:

"My staff and I are not always going to be able to keep tabs on every player's heart rate while they train. The database is helpful to me because I can review the data when I get back to the office or home for the evening. I can see which heart rate zones player's were in and how long they spent time in each zone."

 

Innovation through Insights

Being able to see this data can give coaches an insight into not only how hard a player is working, but also how hard a player should be working. What I mean by that is, by looking at a player's heart rate, a coach can also determine how fit a player is. If they notice that many of the players' heart rates are higher than they should be during a certain activity, a coach can work more conditioning drills into practice if it he/she feels that the players are out of shape.  

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We would like to thank Coach Jones for sitting down with us and sharing his story with us and we wish the Bulldogs the best of luck this season! If you have your own story of how you utilize your Dr. Dish for game-like training we'd love to hear from you. 

And if you're looking for inspiration on how to further incorporate your basketball shooting machine into your practices, Coach Mason has been busy in the #DishLab creating drills you can try out. Just take a look at our Drill Video Library!

 Want to see how more coaches are utilizing their Dr. Dish? Learn why this Legendary High School Coach chose Dr. Dish!