Jake Yono 

JY Journalism

11/5/25

How Watching Film Can Transcend One’s Performance In The World Of Sports

Watching film has always been present at the highest levels of sports; it started when games were first televised, mainly in team sports, to gain knowledge on an opponent’s strengths, weaknesses, or tactics. Although this is effective in sports, I believe watching film from a more individual standpoint to improve one's performance is more beneficial. In team sports, watching one player or one position on the playing surface is more valuable than focusing on the whole team. In this article, I will be explaining this not just in team sports but in individual sports and how it can impact one’s performance as they see competition from a whole different lens, and how I've taken this approach into my journey.

People tend to only look at where the action is happening because sports networks are going to do the obvious thing and show that in which I’m not complaining about, and cannot be changed; what can be changed is how athletes watch film in sports. In team sports, rather than just looking at the playing object and camera, athletes should look at their positions on the playing surface, and this sounds obvious, but it is not as easy as it seems in some circumstances. For example, in an NFL gam, if a young wide receiver wanted to watch film in this day in age can’t because on passing downs NFL network focuses on the ball, and that’s it, and when the ball is thrown, therefore, we only see the result of the route and not how the route develops. This is not the end, though, as if a younger receiver wanted to watch film, they could purchase the NFL subscription, which has an all-22 viewing mode from the sideline and end zone, making receivers and defensive backs manageable to watch film, which are the toughest positions to watch film on (NFL). In all other circumstances, for baseball athletes wanting to enrich themselves at their position, MLBStatcast + allows for game-day tracking at a premium price to track players who aren’t the pitcher or catcher. This is beneficial for positioning on players, and there are routine defensive movements to achieve an out. For example, they only see a shortstop when the ball is present, and again, this is not the broadcast's fault, but my argument is that it's beneficial to watch every movement possible of a position player in team sports. In all other team sports, such as soccer, basketball, hockey, rugby, and lacrosse, the viewing points are good enough that each position can be seen in its entirety, making athletes at the younger level available to watch and gain knowledge from a different lens to further help their competition and decision-making.

I have applied this to my career in the realm of distance running in the sport of athletics, where I watch races from levels ahead to improve my understanding of the sport, and watching track and field from a different lens has helped me so much. First of all, my mechanics and foot striking have improved by watching high-caliber races. I used to heel strike when I run which slows you down substantially and leads to all sorts of injuries and with my arms too high in not a relaxed mode, but watching film of some of the best athletes in the world has completely changed my form and the perspective to keep my body as relaxed as possible and the illusion of being “springy” off your feet rather than stomping has helped a ton. Other than running form, I’ve been paying attention to pace when watching competitive races. Questions I often ask myself are will this runner who’s at the front of the pack hold this pace, is a runner who’s faster then all the other runners taking it from the gun or letting the race develop in front of him or her depending on the circumstances m, and how fast runners splits are from the beginning of the race to the final laps and who is closing hard and who isn’t. This contextualization helps me in my races in all of the facets I just mentioned 

Watching film is something all athletes should do you some extent at all levels, as it’s beneficial to them after the contest from a different point of view, and this is not just limited to team sports in individual sports, this is definitely possible even though there are no positions involved, and I believe those can help fall athletes reach full potential.