Sport Performance Analysis
Sport performance analysis is a professional discipline that uses data, video, and statistical methods to understand and improve athletic performance. It has grown rapidly over the last two decades as professional sports organisations have come to rely on analytical insight as a routine part of coaching and performance management. Performance analysts collect and process data from matches, training sessions, and physical assessments, then translate that data into insight that coaches and athletes can act on, informing tactical decisions, identifying opponents' patterns, monitoring training loads, and tracking the progress of individual players over time.
At the University of Suffolk this part-time programme prepares you for the roles and responsibilities of the contemporary performance analyst, teaching you from the fundamental principles of the career through to the most advanced, research-informed practice currently used in professional sport. You will develop skills in video analysis, data collection and management, statistical interpretation, and the communication of findings to technical and non-technical audiences. You will engage with the methodological and scientific principles that underpin evidence-based analysis, and you will develop an understanding of how performance analysis integrates with coaching, sports science, and player development across a range of sports and performance contexts.
Graduates from sport performance analysis programmes work in professional sports clubs, national governing bodies, elite academies, and sports science and medicine teams. The field has expanded significantly beyond elite football and cricket to encompass rugby, basketball, cycling, rowing, athletics, and many other sports. Some graduates also move into sports technology, data science applied to sport, or academic research in performance analysis and sports science.
The analytical and data skills developed on the degree also have transferable value in other data-intensive professional contexts.