At OLIVER Sports, we continue to develop tools that help coaching staffs, physical trainers, and academies transform data into real decisions.
That’s why we present Player Value (PV) — a new global metric that summarizes a player’s physical and athletic contribution in a single number, combining performance, participation, and evolution over time.
What Is Player Value?
Player Value (PV) is an index ranging from 0 to 100 that reflects how much athletic value a player brings to the team today.
This metric combines two complementary dimensions:
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Athletic Index: Measures the player’s current physical quality.
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PlayTime Index: Evaluates effective usage, considering match minutes and training load.
In addition, PV includes a temporal trend — to track progress week by week — and a confidence factor (r) that adjusts the score depending on the amount of data available.
In other words, PV doesn’t just show how well someone is performing right now — it also reveals how much they’re contributing and how consistent that performance is over time.
What Data Does Player Value Use?
The PV calculation is based on information recorded during both training sessions and matches, by the coaching staff or the player themselves.
Some of the most relevant variables include:
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Match minutes played and weekly participation.
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Type and intensity of training sessions.
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Total accumulated load (volume and intensity).
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Participation frequency (starter, rotation, partial appearances).
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Complementary data such as weight, height, or position (optional).
Thanks to this combination of variables, PV balances performance and participation, providing a comprehensive view of each player’s contribution to their team or category.
How Player Value Is Calculated
Athletic Index (0–100)
Evaluates a player’s current physical quality based on two main components: intensity and volume.
➡️Intensity (per minute):
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Locomotor: distance/min, sprints/min, high-intensity distance.
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Metabolic: HMPD/min, % of time in HMP.
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Neuromuscular: accelerations/decelerations, changes of direction, jumps/min, and max speed (95th percentile).
➡️Volume (per session):
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Totals for minutes, distance, sprints, accelerations, TME, jumps, and CODs.
All metrics are normalized by age and position, producing a standardized score (0–100) against a comparable cohort.
PlayTime Index (0–100)
Measures how much a player plays and trains compared to teammates and professional standards.
It combines:
➡️Match minutes.
➡️Weekly training hours or loads.
It’s also weighted by selection frequency (S):
➡️If the player participates little → training carries more weight.
➡️If they’re a regular starter → matches carry more weight.
The Final Result: Player Value (PV)
The Player Value is derived from the geometric mean between the Athletic Index and PlayTime Index, penalizing imbalances between performance and real usage.
Additionally, PV:
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Adjusts for age and player development stage.
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Reduces its value if there’s limited data (confidence factor r).
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Displays a temporal trend to visualize performance evolution over time.
How to Use Player Value in Professional Teams
Minute and rotation management:
🟢 High Athletic Index + Low PlayTime → Player deserving more minutes or a call-up.
🟠 Low Athletic Index + High PlayTime → Player who needs recovery or higher-quality sessions.
Load planning:
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If metabolic block is low → include more HMP work.
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If neuromuscular block is low → prioritize CODs, jumps, and check max speed.
Performance tracking:
PV trends help avoid impulsive decisions based on one-off sessions or matches.
How to Use It in Academies
- Talent identification and development:
PV helps detect who stands out physically and who earns minutes through consistency. - Physical development by sub-blocks:
Makes it easier to identify improvement areas by age and position (locomotor, metabolic, neuromuscular). - Fair playtime:
PlayTime Index ensures every player’s exposure matches their performance.
Other Applications: Recruitment and Market Use
Player Value can also be a strategic tool for clubs and sporting directors.
It allows comparison between internal performance and professional benchmarks — useful for:
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Contract renewals.
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Internal promotions.
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Scouting and market decisions.
Does Player Value Replace the Coach’s Eye?
No. PV complements technical observation with objective, comparable signals — adding context and precision to decision-making.
Best Practices:
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Always analyze PV along with its trend and confidence level (r).
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In pro teams: use automated alerts to adjust loads or minutes.
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In academies: compare by age and position, reviewing PlayTime for balanced exposure.
Conclusion
Player Value represents a major step forward in the evolution of sports analytics.
A single number that summarizes performance, participation, and trend, offering clubs, trainers, and academies a powerful tool to make decisions based on evidence, not intuition.
With OLIVER PRO, data stops being just records — it becomes actionable knowledge.
📊 A simple, modern, and powerful metric created for one purpose:
Helping every player and team reach their best version.
➡️ Learn more about OLIVER PRO by clicking here