Heatmaps - how to draw arrows faster?

As you probably know, if you want to use heat maps in your analysis, you need to mark directions on the court image that you can see on the match screen. 

You can drag the mouse and draw an arrow or mark the end of the play if you have a starting zone marked in the code, or you can get the starting zone by coding the starting zone or attack combination and then mark only the ending zone on the court. You can do it live, during scouting, or after the game. Of course, you can also do it while scouting the game from the video file while preparing for the next opponent.

I. Search function

The fastest way to do this would be to set the match screen layout in "show" mode and use the "search" function. To start searching, select the “Search” option from the side menu on the scouting screen.

Advanced search:

You will see an advanced switch at the top when entering the search pop-up. This will allow you to enter a new text search mode. This new search uses the same search syntax as video analysis and spreadsheets. It’s a more complex option for finding codes but also much more robust. Here are some example queries you can use in it:

• *X5# – All X5 kills
• *X5#;Z1 – All X5 kills when home team was in rotation 1
• VSAND("*A=","*R#;B-0") – All attack errors following a perfect reception

After you are done with your search, you can clear it by selecting the clear option from the match side menu.

II. Creating Macro

Then, you can use Shift+ArrowUp/ArrowDown to move up and down this list and then draw arrows. If you use the mouse with the buttons on the side, you can record the macro for the mouse, allowing you to go between the actions faster.

When you install this mouse into your laptop using the software for this mouse, you will have an option to record macros. We will show you how it works using the example of the Logitech mouse.

1. Launch Macro Recorder in the mouse software.

2. Press the "Create New Macro" button in the main program window.

You can choose the "No Repeat" option here.

3.  Now, you can record your macro. For mapping in VolleyStation Pro, you would need to assign the Shift+ArrowUp/ArrowDown shortcuts to move smoothly between the actions.

4. Press the "Stop Recording" button to stop recording the macro.

5. Then, you need to assign the mouse button to the macro that you just recorded.

Now, when you open VolleyStation and use the search option in the match screen, you can use the mouse buttons that you assign your macros to and go through the plays and mark directions without the need to manipulate between mouse and keyboard, which makes the process lot faster and easier.

III. Mark directions

One of the effective ways to search plays in a specific order and draw all arrows fast is:

1. Search and mark the services of the home team (*S) - while watching and drawing directions, you can also check/see how the serve tactic looked like and how it was working
2. Search and mark the attacks of the home team (*A) - you can see which attacks were most effective
3. Search and mark the services of the opponent's team (aS) - while drawing, you can also analyze how the home team players passed the ball in particular zones.
4. Search and mark the attacks of the away team (aA) - you can see which attacks were most effective and in which zones the home team defended the ball better.
5. Search and mark the sets of the home team (*E) - while watching, you can also see the quality of the balls set by the setter.
6. Search and mark the sets of the away team (aE) - while watching, you can also see the quality of the balls set by the setter.

While you have services and sets marked, the precise coordinates for the reception will appear automatically.

When you do this and mark all the plays that you need, you can, for example, use the attached spreadsheets to analyze the game.