Hull City’s began working with Zone7 in March of 2020 in what is known as a ‘validation period’, where a retrospective analysis of injury propensity until that point is presented to the club as part of a case study.
Hull’s team were suitably impressed with the product and brought Zone7 on board for the remainder of the 19/20 season, which had been interrupted and ultimately condensed as a result of the coronavirus lockdown, before being retained for the full 2020/21 season in England’s League One.
Overall, the injury incidence per 1000 hours dropped from 35.31 recorded in the 19/20 season to only 16.09 in 20/21 and Hull achieved promotion, returning to the Championship at the first time of asking.
They recorded 89 points to finish as champions, winning 58% of their league matches, the highest in the division.
Balderston adds: “[2020/21 was] a very compressed season; 24 games (42%) have been played within three days [of the last match] and 19 games (33%) have been played within four days.
“This has meant that for 75% of the season, our players have been having to perform under some form of acute or cumulative fatigue, making these incidence figures even more impressive.
“From our perspective, to be able to call upon the data science expertise of Zone7 has been invaluable this season and has given us some insights that we previously haven’t been able to access.”
