The future of sports science and the sports scientist in professional sport

Joining Rob this week on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Jose Fernandez, leader of Sports Science at the Mahd Academy in Saudi Arabia. The Academy is part of the Ministry of Sport and has been tasked with developing athletic potential in the country. Previously, Jose was Head of Sports Science at Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros and earned his post-graduate degree in sports science at the University of Madrid. He also has Strength and Conditioning coaching experience within a variety of performance environments and sports, including European Football Leagues, FIBA and CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) clubs.

Jose talks about his five-year journey, and how he’s moved from Major League Baseball to his current role. This has given him insight on how sports science in baseball differs from other sports, and how he built trust with the technical coaches at the Astros. From his experience at the Mahd Academy, he also shares his views on athlete profiling and how training can be customised through data. As an addition, he discusses athlete profiling specific to baseball.

We also talk about what Jose believes will be the next technological advance in sports science, whether wearables still have a future in data analysis, and the importance of biomechanics. There’s also some discussion on the ever more overlapping roles within professional sports, such as the crossover between data scientist, sports scientist, strength and conditioning, and recruitment of talent. For all this and much more, hit the play button now.

On this week’s podcast:
• Jose’s five-year journey
• How sports science in baseball differs from other sports
• How Jose built trust with the Houston Astros technical coaches
• Examples of how to save coaches’ time
• Athlete profiling and customising training through data
• Athlete profiling specific to baseball
• What Jose believes will be the next technological advance in sports science
• The future of wearables in the field
• Data analysis and the importance of biomechanics
• Transitioning between roles of data scientist, sports scientist and strength and conditioning coach
• Jose’s views on sports scientists infiltrating other areas of a team, e.g., recruitment