
Move the Needle: The Human Performance Podcast Jordan Pennella: In-Season Athlete Monitoring
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Dec 3, 2025 Jordan Pennella, Director of Sport Science and Return to Play Associate Coordinator for LSU Football, shares his expertise in athlete monitoring. He discusses his innovative 'sonar vision' approach that integrates multiple data streams to optimize player availability. Jordan breaks down his five key monitoring categories and explains how he weighs and interprets various metrics. He emphasizes the importance of minimizing testing burden on athletes while ensuring effective interventions. Real-life case studies illustrate the success of his strategies in maintaining peak player performance.
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Data Streams Interact, Don’t Act Alone
- Athletes are organisms, so interactions across workload, weakness and asymmetry determine risk, not single streams.
- The model multiplies flags when combined deficits (e.g., workload spike plus weak/asymmetrical hamstrings) increase vulnerability.
Automate Data Flow And Reporting
- Automate the AMS by coding data pulls and flagging in R and visualizing in Power BI to run reports in minutes.
- Build APIs from Catapult/Smartabase so the system scales without manual spreadsheets.
Why ISO30 Anchors Soft-Tissue Robustness
- ISO30 (long-lever hamstring isometric) is chosen because it’s simple, non-soreness inducing, sprint-specific and actionable.
- Rotating ISO tests (adduction/abduction, plantarflexion) lets you intervene and retest across weeks.
