A central midfielder in Millwall F.C.’s youth development program was favoring his right foot to an extreme. While coaches could explain that to him, having data better illustrated the magnitude of his right dominance.
All of Millwall’s academy players now affix PlayerMaker to the outside of each shoe. The device tracks a slew of technical, tactical, and physical metrics, including recording touches with the right foot compared to the left. The right-dominant youth player started at 90 percent right, 10 percent left, but was given a target from Millwall’s lead youth development coach, Dan Mlinar, to improve that ratio by 10 percent every eight weeks.