# Sports teams watching tape **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2007, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281 "2007-11-30T05:07:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281/1 "2007-11-30T05:07:05Z")
When sports teams watch tape together do they get the feed as shown on the networks with the commentatory and all? Or is there a special tape for teams where that is removed? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281/2 "2007-11-30T05:40:16Z")
I believe it’s a mixture of both. Football teams want plays shot from certain angles, so they use their own crews. I think basketball teams use the network feeds because there are fewer players to watch and the normal camera angle provides the correct perspective. ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281/3 "2007-11-30T05:48:38Z")
They absolutely get their own tape in football. I can’t find a specific quote, but I have seen the good folks at [Football Outsiders](http://www.footballoutsiders.com/) gripe a couple of times about the fact that they can’t get access to the same tape that teams get to watch. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281/4 "2007-11-30T06:09:09Z")
Network feeds are not that valuable because they tend to focus too tightly on the ball. In order to analyze the game you need a wider view of every player on the field so that the action and reaction of each player can be analyzed. A wide angle camera is much more valuable for coaching purposes. The network stuff just satisfies the viewing audience. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281/5 "2007-11-30T06:29:28Z")
And I gotta believe that these days there isn’t much actual tape involved. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281/6 "2007-11-30T12:39:53Z")
Football teams don’t use tape anymore, it’s all digital. That’s what Jack Del Rio, coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars said on the radio yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281/7 "2007-11-30T15:46:22Z")
They still call it “watching tape”. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281/8 "2007-11-30T16:34:37Z")
Makes me nostalgic for one of my high school jobs. Filming the football team’s games. Every week, rain, snow, or shine. Real film, which needed to be changed about 3 times per game. It’s tough to change a reel of film at 20F in the wind, on top of the press box. Great job though, $25 tax free bucks per game, and a ride back & forth. Want an uncomfortable Tuesday morning? Miss the quarterback/receiver/fat guy’s big play due to a film change. (The team watched the developed films on Monday afternoon). They ended up getting a video camera in my senior year, the defeated 0-10 season of 1997-98. We should have won the Thanksgiving game though, the ref blew the call in the last 10 seconds of the game. ---
**Author:** ![mckall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@mckall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mckall)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281/9 "2007-11-30T16:38:10Z")
Teams also have player specific film as well. Compilation film for the skill positions, to find weaknesses, tendencies and the like. If you want to feel like a player, here’s a step by step on watching tape at home: > **[Top 10 Reasons to Play Football](https://www.sportsrec.com/8319026/top-10-reasons-to-play-football)** > > American football conjures many conflicting images: school spirit and team brotherhood on the one hand, trash talk and debilitating injuries on the other. This explains why the sport remains controversial despite its widespread popularity. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-teams-watching-tape/428281/10 "2007-11-30T19:45:04Z")
The NFL teams all have staffs that slice and dice game footage, typically called “quality control assistants.” Some teams give players a well-menued DVD that let’s them watch specific types of plays (3rd & 5, runs by player X, screen passes, etc.). Most (all?) teams have viewing stations at their training facilities with massive databases of film clips. And the beauty of doing this all digitally is that the turnaround is almost immediate. Some MLB teams (maybe all) also film every pitch, and slice it up the same way. It’s a great way for teams to keep tabs on how their minor league players are doing, too. Most NFL teams also film their practices, and one of the teams that I have covered also films workouts/weight lifting sessions.