A Live Bench View for Substitution Decisions

Most stats arrive too late to use. You find out on Sunday night that your outside passed a 1.2 in the second set, long after you could have done anything about it.

The bench view is SpikeLedger's answer. While a stat keeper scores the match, the coach opens the bench view on their own phone and sees the numbers as they happen.

What it shows

One card per player, with the players on the court first.

• Passing: number of passes and the average on the 0 to 3 scale.
• Attacking: kills, attack errors, and hitting efficiency once a player has at least five attacks in a match where swings kept in play were recorded.
• Serving: aces and serve errors.
• Defence: blocks, digs and dig errors.
• Errors: the total.
• Bank Account: the position-fair balance.

A switch at the top changes every card between This set and This match. A player can be having a good match and a bad set, and the set is what you are deciding on.

Highlights, when there is enough to say

At the top the view names three things: who is passing best, who is scoring, and who is making the most errors. A player is only named once they have done enough for the name to mean something. One pass graded 3 does not make someone the best passer in the set.

Bench players

For a player who has not been on the court, there is nothing from this match to show. Their card shows their usual numbers from earlier matches instead: kills, errors, aces, digs and blocks per match, and their passing average. That is what you need when you are deciding who comes in.

It updates by itself

Each tap by the scorer reaches the bench view within a second or two. If the live connection drops, the view checks for changes every few seconds on its own. It also names who is scoring, so you know the numbers are still coming.

Coach only

The bench view is for coaches. A stat keeper cannot open it and neither can a parent. That is checked on the server, not by hiding a button.

Using it well

The bench view supports a decision. It does not make one.

• Look at the set, then the match. A passer at 1.3 this set and 2.1 for the match is having a bad stretch. One at 1.3 for both is having a bad day.
• Count before you conclude. Two attack errors on two swings is not a trend. The view shows the count beside every rate for this reason.
• Use the errors card to ask a question, not to pull a player. Most errors often belongs to the player with the most touches.
• Check your eyes. If the numbers disagree with what you think you saw, one of the two is worth a second look.

What you need

A stat keeper to do the scoring, which takes a QR code and fifteen seconds (see letting an assistant keep stats), and your own phone. The rest is on the features page.