How Kaoru Mitoma's Research Led Him to High-Level Success

The power of personal research in athletic performance

Japanese footballer Kaoru Mitoma is an English Premier League star… but it wasn’t always that way. He didn’t even turn professional until age 21, after graduating college with a degree in Physical Education. His rise is a great story of turning research into practice… and involving attaching cameras to his teammate’s heads.

Background

Mitoma struggled to break into the university's starting line-up in his first two years. His coach Masaaki Koido said his progress wasn't smooth:

"He had very good technical skills but he didn't give the impression that he was going to create or score a lot of goals. He was lightweight, he didn't have a very powerful shot and he didn't go past players very often. But he had a lot of skill."

Studying His Craft

Mitoma decided to write his thesis on dribbling. Mitoma had 10 players who were recognized as good dribblers and 10 who were not.

“I put cameras on the heads of my teammates to study where and what they were looking at and how their opponents were looking at them.