Pose tracking can estimate what players see before receiving
04 May 2026
Scanning is no longer just a head-count metric. A pose-tracking model estimates what space a player was likely able to see before the ball arrived, then tests whether those visual-access features predict clear changes in his imminent pitch value.
The next step beyond counting scans
Most scan analysis starts with a simple event: did the player move his head before receiving? In the work summarized by The xG Football Club, Bekkers operationalizes traditional Visual Exploratory Action features as rapid head movements where head angular velocity exceeds 125°/s.
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