Listen to the full podcast episode below, or listen on your favorite player.

Listen on your favorite platforms
In this episode of the Keiser Human Performance Podcast, Dr. Scott Goldman, performance psychologist for the Golden State Warriors, explores the concept of athlete intelligence and how it impacts performance. He introduces the Athletic Intelligence Quotient (AIQ), a cognitive assessment that measures key abilities such as spatial awareness, reaction time, decision-making, and learning efficiency. The conversation highlights how traditional evaluations often overemphasize physical traits while overlooking the cognitive skills that influence real-world success on the field. Dr. Goldman shares insights from his work across professional sports, demonstrating how AIQ can be used for talent identification, player development, and optimizing team performance. Ultimately, the episode emphasizes that elite performance is not just about physical ability, but about how effectively athletes process information, adapt, and make decisions in dynamic environments.
00:00:05.890 --> 00:00:08.200
Welcome to the Keiser Human Performance Podcast.
00:00:09.340 --> 00:00:12.960
The goal of this podcast. is to educate and inspire you to make the most of your
00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:14.470
journey in health and performance.
00:00:15.860 --> 00:00:21.130
Each episode will provide an in-depth discussion on a specific topic related to human performance.
00:00:22.060 --> 00:00:25.250
If you're a growth-minded individual seeking knowledge and better solutions,
00:00:25.970 --> 00:00:30.980
this podcast is for you. We're glad you're listening in, and we're excited to learn alongside
00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:44.880
you. My name is Gabe Durman, and I'm alongside my co-host,
00:00:45.080 --> 00:00:47.840
Todd Tooken. On this episode, we're joined by Dr.
00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:54.040
Scott Goldman. Scott currently serves as a performance. psychologist for the defending champion Golden State
00:00:54.100 --> 00:00:56.160
Warriors. For over 20 years
00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:58.000
professionally, he's provided mental
00:00:58.020 --> 00:00:59.070
health, wellness,
00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:03.120
and performance. optimization for professional athletes from all major sports,
00:01:03.760 --> 00:01:04.060
Olympic
00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:05.090
gold medalists, and
00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:13.040
world record holders. He's the creator of the Athletic Intelligence Quotient, known as AIQ, a mental analytics assessment used by
00:01:13.100 --> 00:01:17.300
sport organizations to identify performance-specific intellectual abilities
00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:19.460
and optimize player development.
00:01:20.360 --> 00:01:21.260
In this conversation,
00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.020
which includes some one-liners from Scott and maybe a couple
00:01:24.100 --> 00:01:27.330
movie quotes, we' discuss the inception and implementation
00:01:27.360 --> 00:01:29.110
of AIQ. Towards
00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:33.140
the end of the episode, Dr. Goldman. shares some exciting research related to AIQ
00:01:33.620 --> 00:01:35.420
and the correlation to on-field performance.
00:01:36.300 --> 00:01:38.000
To learn more about Scott and the AIQ,
00:01:38.580 --> 00:01:40.820
you can follow @athleticintelq
00:01:41.420 --> 00:01:41.560
on
00:01:41.600 --> 00:01:44.300
Twitter or visit athleticintel.com.
00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.200
We enjoyed our conversation and hope you will too.
00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:51.140
Scott,
00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:53.000
thank you for being with us here today.
00:01:53.940 --> 00:01:57.440
Uh, before we get into some of the things related to the AIQ,
00:01:58.660 --> 00:01:59.320
we heard
00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:06.340
through the grapevine that you spent some time last week in Albuquerque at a balloon festival.
00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:11.008
We got a lot to talk about today. We got a lot to talk about today,
00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:13.260
but before we start, we gotta know, how was the balloon
00:02:13.320 --> 00:02:16.239
festival? It, it... Honestly, it's an amazing
00:02:16.300 --> 00:02:20.000
thing. Um, being born and raised in, uh, Albuquerque,
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:24.040
New Mexico, uh, the Balloon Fiesta, which is the world's largest
00:02:24.420 --> 00:02:26.400
balloon festival, hot air balloon festival,
00:02:26.860 --> 00:02:28.120
it's just part of my DNA.
00:02:28.260 --> 00:02:33.010
So, you know, when people talk about comfort food or what, what it's like going home and all that,
00:02:33.100 --> 00:02:33.240
well,
00:02:33.340 --> 00:02:36.959
for me, going home is having a breakfast burrito with green chili
00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:37.700
from Hatch,
00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:42.890
uh, and watching some hot air balloons lift off. It was an amazing experience. The only other person that I
00:02:42.920 --> 00:02:49.240
really know well that comes from the Albuquerque Sport Hall of Fame would be Tommy Shepherd, the, the president
00:02:49.260 --> 00:02:52.140
for the Washington Wizards. So he and I will often exchange,
00:02:52.420 --> 00:02:55.980
you know, Hatch green chili stories and Balloon Fiesta
00:02:56.040 --> 00:02:58.020
experiences. Did you go up in a
00:02:58.040 --> 00:02:58.560
hot air balloon?
00:02:59.420 --> 00:03:00.040
Did I go
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:01.000
up in one? Yeah.
00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:05.940
Uh, yeah, I have gone up in hot air balloons on several occasions. I've got some buddies that pilot them
00:03:05.980 --> 00:03:11.220
and, you know, one of them, humble brag, one of my friends who's supremely talented, his name's Brad
00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:12.060
Rice, he
00:03:12.120 --> 00:03:17.980
can navigate and he'll have the gondola, the bottom part of the balloon, hit the Rio Grande
00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:21.960
River, and, and which is a really hard thing to do, because the Rio Grande River
00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:28.200
will kind of drag the balloon. So he touches down, splashes, and then goes up. It's, it's an amazing experience.
00:03:30.020 --> 00:03:31.080
Uh, Todd and I may have to join
00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:35.560
you next time. You know what? You're welcome. I would, I would be honored to share the experience with you
00:03:35.580 --> 00:03:40.080
and anyone else who's listening. Yeah, that sounds epic. We definitely need to make it down
00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:40.260
there.
00:03:41.040 --> 00:03:43.000
For sure. All right.
00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:47.920
Well, I'm excited to get into this today and, you know, your path to where you are now with the
00:03:47.940 --> 00:03:48.100
Golden
00:03:48.160 --> 00:03:54.070
State Warriors. is impressive and includes a number of stops among several collegiate and professional organizations.
00:03:54.820 --> 00:03:56.060
As you reflect on your journey,
00:03:56.740 --> 00:04:00.049
what are some of the significant moments or pivot points that stand out to you and
00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:07.780
helped you get to where you are today? Oof. That is a heavy question. Uh, we're, we're coming out of
00:04:07.820 --> 00:04:09.280
the gates running. Um,
00:04:10.980 --> 00:04:16.040
you know, I get contacted at least once or twice a week from folks saying like, "Hey, how do you
00:04:16.060 --> 00:04:20.060
get a job like yours?" kind of thing, and, and I'm very grateful and lucky and fortunate to
00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:21.019
have that kind
00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:24.040
of job. But one of the things that I say to a lot of
00:04:24.340 --> 00:04:27.960
people is, like, I, I don't know if I could replicate it. Like, I
00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.000
don't know... It, it's really weird. I'm not even sure I know what I did to get
00:04:32.060 --> 00:04:33.000
to the spots that I got
00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:35.990
to. So for example, um, the last five jobs
00:04:36.020 --> 00:04:36.800
that I've held,
00:04:37.180 --> 00:04:37.380
um...
00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:41.060
Let's see. Currently, Golden State Warriors, Chicago
00:04:41.200 --> 00:04:43.060
Cubs, Washington Wizards,
00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:45.140
um, Miami Dolphins, and Detroit Lions.
00:04:46.340 --> 00:04:49.060
All five of those teams created a position
00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:55.130
for me, and it was not like I applied for the job or it was a job that I was
00:04:55.200 --> 00:05:03.880
looking for. Um, and, and so it's interesting because in all of those situations, it was someone of influence like
00:05:04.140 --> 00:05:06.380
a general manager or a head coach or a president
00:05:06.520 --> 00:05:06.800
saying,
00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:08.950
um, "I really like what
00:05:09.020 --> 00:05:12.090
you're telling me, and I wanna bring you on board because I think
00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:14.840
you'll make us better." And I'll be honest with you,
00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:19.240
I can't even recall what it was that I said to each and every single one of those different
00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:22.020
teams, um, that had that kind of impact.
00:05:22.260 --> 00:05:23.960
So I, I, I
00:05:24.020 --> 00:05:28.600
wish I could re- I, I wish I could figure it out, and then I'd probably try to recreate it
00:05:28.640 --> 00:05:33.110
more often. But if you're asking for, like, what were some career highlights
00:05:33.140 --> 00:05:38.460
or touch points, um, I was one of the first embedded psychologists in an athletic department at the collegiate level
00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:39.040
at the University
00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:39.600
of Arizona.
00:05:40.440 --> 00:05:43.120
Um, and so that was kind of a rare space.
00:05:43.440 --> 00:05:44.240
And then
00:05:44.320 --> 00:05:44.620
Dr.,
00:05:45.020 --> 00:05:49.120
uh, Brian Hainline and, and Mary Wolford of the NCAA asked
00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:55.340
me to help contribute to the mental health, task force and really help start this movement on mental health and
00:05:55.400 --> 00:05:57.020
well-being at that level. So I
00:05:57.060 --> 00:06:00.260
helped co-author the best practices and,
00:06:00.320 --> 00:06:02.300
and guidelines for the NCAA,
00:06:02.960 --> 00:06:07.212
which, um, drew a lot of attentionAnd then the University of Michigan,
00:06:07.732 --> 00:06:10.112
uh, brought me out and asked me to be their director
00:06:10.152 --> 00:06:13.032
of their, uh, embedded program, and that
00:06:13.052 --> 00:06:15.112
was a real honor. And then like I mentioned,
00:06:15.512 --> 00:06:20.042
it started to go and I migrated about seven, eight years ago into the pro space across those
00:06:20.052 --> 00:06:23.092
different teams, oftentimes working for multiple teams at the
00:06:23.132 --> 00:06:23.572
same time.
00:06:27.052 --> 00:06:27.592
Yeah, so,
00:06:28.092 --> 00:06:29.992
uh, you're on
00:06:30.052 --> 00:06:31.932
your journey, you're making
00:06:32.012 --> 00:06:32.472
stops
00:06:33.052 --> 00:06:35.032
at different, uh, organizations as you
00:06:35.052 --> 00:06:41.642
had mentioned, and we're definitely excited to learn about the Athlete Intelligence Quotient, which we'll call AIQ for short today.
00:06:41.712 --> 00:06:44.002
Uh, before we dive into the specifics of it,
00:06:44.672 --> 00:06:47.032
tell us a story of the genesis behind
00:06:47.112 --> 00:06:49.172
that. Uh, what stop were you at?
00:06:49.632 --> 00:06:52.052
What was your inspiration for developing this assessment
00:06:52.112 --> 00:06:58.992
tool? Yeah. Oh, man. Cool question. Thank you. Um, and it's interesting 'cause it almost bleeds into the previous
00:06:59.032 --> 00:06:59.952
question, which
00:07:00.012 --> 00:07:02.772
is like the AIQ
00:07:03.232 --> 00:07:03.512
helped
00:07:03.832 --> 00:07:03.992
give
00:07:04.032 --> 00:07:04.932
me an audience
00:07:05.432 --> 00:07:08.152
with, with, uh, teams and organizations
00:07:08.452 --> 00:07:11.131
that then led to me becoming onboarded.
00:07:11.552 --> 00:07:16.352
But then there's also been other times where my relationship with an organization
00:07:16.392 --> 00:07:20.012
or a team was an opportunity to introduce the AIQ to them.
00:07:20.792 --> 00:07:24.172
Um, so the AIQ and its origin story really
00:07:24.252 --> 00:07:24.572
starts
00:07:24.572 --> 00:07:29.152
... So, um, I have two PhDs, one's in clinical psychology, one's in school psychology,
00:07:29.712 --> 00:07:32.032
and then in addition to that, I did some advanced training in
00:07:32.112 --> 00:07:35.252
performance psychology and exercise science kinesiology,
00:07:36.032 --> 00:07:41.102
which might make me the stupidest smart guy you've ever met, or the smartest dumb guy you've ever met,
00:07:41.172 --> 00:07:43.132
'cause that's just a lot- ... of training.
00:07:44.032 --> 00:07:44.252
Um,
00:07:44.932 --> 00:07:45.032
but
00:07:45.112 --> 00:07:47.712
while I was earning the two PhDs,
00:07:48.272 --> 00:07:53.012
when I was in school psychology, it was a lot of intelligence theory. So think like learning disabilities,
00:07:53.092 --> 00:08:01.312
think about, you know, best practices for teachers and teaching mechanisms and helping the scholastic setting, right? Like teachers and
00:08:01.372 --> 00:08:03.102
learners, teachers and students, that kind
00:08:03.132 --> 00:08:06.632
of thing, and that relationship.
00:08:06.712 --> 00:08:09.032
And so while I was studying some of that
00:08:09.172 --> 00:08:14.132
theory, it was, and this is gonna tell you how old I am, the big debate was between Peyton Manning
00:08:14.151 --> 00:08:14.252
and
00:08:14.292 --> 00:08:19.232
Ryan Leaf, and it was like, who's the better quarterback? And what was interesting was,
00:08:19.792 --> 00:08:24.002
genetically speaking, like, Ryan Leaf had this rocket of
00:08:24.032 --> 00:08:28.612
an arm. He' was big, he was strong, he was fast. He was like everything that you look for in
00:08:28.632 --> 00:08:30.252
a prototype quarterback,
00:08:31.112 --> 00:08:32.032
but he really only had like
00:08:32.111 --> 00:08:37.011
one year of data. You know, like, he, he did, he had a very short sort of
00:08:37.111 --> 00:08:39.011
collegiate career. By
00:08:39.072 --> 00:08:41.251
contrast, you had Peyton Manning,
00:08:41.812 --> 00:08:44.172
who some questioned his arm strength and other,
00:08:44.532 --> 00:08:48.381
these other kinds of physical attributes, but they went, "Man, this guy just keeps winning,
00:08:48.912 --> 00:08:52.941
and he comes from a, you know, a Hall of Fame family," like his dad was a, a
00:08:53.032 --> 00:08:58.232
legend in, you know, New Orleans, et cetera. And so I just started to go, gosh, this is a really
00:08:58.272 --> 00:09:02.292
interesting question. I wonder how people are evaluating,
00:09:02.972 --> 00:09:03.232
um,
00:09:03.972 --> 00:09:06.932
talent and, and developing talent. And
00:09:07.052 --> 00:09:13.572
so this is gonna be such an oversimplified way of describing it, but I kinda concluded I think there's four
00:09:13.592 --> 00:09:18.972
buckets, right? So the first bucket is the physical. Are you strong? Are you fast? Are you
00:09:19.092 --> 00:09:21.172
agile? The second
00:09:21.212 --> 00:09:21.652
bucket
00:09:22.352 --> 00:09:24.072
is, um, experience.
00:09:24.512 --> 00:09:28.932
Like for example, you know what kind of point guard you're getting from Arizona. You know what kind of
00:09:29.032 --> 00:09:35.472
linebacker you're getting from Alabama. You know, what kind of systems do they run? The third bucket was intelligence,
00:09:36.192 --> 00:09:37.102
and that's really like,
00:09:37.912 --> 00:09:40.272
if you define sports as an unsolvable
00:09:40.412 --> 00:09:45.411
puzzle, which is kind of how I see it, right? It's this ever-evolving chaos.
00:09:46.332 --> 00:09:50.971
If sports is an unsolvable puzzle, what are the cognitive abilities you need to, to,
00:09:51.012 --> 00:09:52.192
to navigate that?
00:09:52.492 --> 00:09:55.072
So, you know, just to kind of go down that rabbit hole
00:09:55.152 --> 00:09:57.272
for a sec, it's kind of like,
00:09:57.592 --> 00:09:57.791
um,
00:09:58.152 --> 00:09:59.532
imagine you're a firefighter
00:09:59.932 --> 00:10:05.072
who has to kick open a door and then quickly scan points of emphasis of where to put
00:10:05.092 --> 00:10:05.152
the
00:10:05.212 --> 00:10:10.672
fire out, who to save and all that. Like, that's really complicated, especially if you're in live time. It also
00:10:10.732 --> 00:10:17.032
happens to be a very similar cognitive skill to a quarterback who drops back and is now reading the
00:10:17.072 --> 00:10:19.092
defense and the defensive
00:10:19.172 --> 00:10:19.652
coverage.
00:10:20.672 --> 00:10:20.912
So,
00:10:21.352 --> 00:10:24.052
um, I'm going, oh, and then the final bucket
00:10:24.092 --> 00:10:24.941
is personality,
00:10:25.252 --> 00:10:26.992
right? Like, you know, is this person
00:10:27.011 --> 00:10:33.122
gonna be a, a locker room poison? Is he gonna be somebody who makes our, our culture better? And that
00:10:33.152 --> 00:10:37.252
kind of stuff. Like, what does he bring from a human interaction standpoint?
00:10:39.192 --> 00:10:39.372
So,
00:10:39.892 --> 00:10:40.272
um,
00:10:41.952 --> 00:10:42.212
so
00:10:42.772 --> 00:10:47.252
while I was kind of germinating on these four buckets, I'm like, well, I'm not gonna measure physical,
00:10:47.312 --> 00:10:49.272
like that's someone else's domain.
00:10:49.342 --> 00:10:51.212
Experience, I'm not a coach,
00:10:51.552 --> 00:10:53.132
so that's also not my
00:10:53.152 --> 00:10:58.142
domain. But these two buckets, the personality and intelligence, that's the area that I, I think I can
00:10:58.192 --> 00:10:59.832
play in. Um,
00:11:00.012 --> 00:11:02.992
so at the time, I was getting trained at a place called the Albert
00:11:03.002 --> 00:11:06.162
Ellis Institute, which is a, a world-renowned,
00:11:06.752 --> 00:11:06.932
um,
00:11:07.332 --> 00:11:11.172
training facility, and Albert Ellis is considered like the Bill Belichick,
00:11:11.632 --> 00:11:12.132
if you will,
00:11:12.492 --> 00:11:12.972
of, uh,
00:11:13.112 --> 00:11:15.132
psychology. Um,
00:11:15.212 --> 00:11:18.132
one of the definite pillars of the industry.
00:11:18.552 --> 00:11:19.012
It's funny
00:11:19.112 --> 00:11:25.552
'cause having been trained by someone as legendary as him, and then going to a field like sports psychology where
00:11:25.612 --> 00:11:30.172
not very many people know him has been really an interesting experience. 'Cause I'm like, "Hey, this guy's really
00:11:30.192 --> 00:11:32.072
sharp, and I'm really honored to have sat
00:11:32.092 --> 00:11:36.932
at his feet." But it was while I was at the Albert Ellis Institute that I met my partner,
00:11:37.072 --> 00:11:38.992
Jim Bowman, and
00:11:39.112 --> 00:11:43.072
Jim and I, I kind of talked to him about this Ryan Leaf, Peyton Manning
00:11:43.132 --> 00:11:45.012
dilemma, and I go, "I, I,
00:11:45.022 --> 00:11:48.092
I don't know how intelligence is really being measured." And
00:11:48.392 --> 00:11:49.012
he goes, "You know, it's
00:11:49.032 --> 00:11:52.112
funny, 'cause this is something I've been working on a lot,
00:11:52.692 --> 00:11:55.052
and I think we could collaborate on this." So we spent 15
00:11:55.112 --> 00:11:58.212
years, and the first question that we solved
00:11:58.532 --> 00:11:59.052
or attempted
00:11:59.092 --> 00:12:00.852
to solve was: How do we define
00:12:01.012 --> 00:12:02.952
sport? And we defined
00:12:03.092 --> 00:12:04.232
sport as,
00:12:04.312 --> 00:12:06.292
um, that ever-evolving,
00:12:06.672 --> 00:12:07.212
constantly
00:12:07.352 --> 00:12:13.677
changing mechanism.And so we said, "Okay, where are the domains that we can study in addition to sport where that
00:12:13.748 --> 00:12:15.408
exists?" So we looked at military,
00:12:15.728 --> 00:12:18.628
firefighters, first responders, police officers,
00:12:19.448 --> 00:12:19.458
um,
00:12:19.988 --> 00:12:20.738
astronauts,
00:12:21.388 --> 00:12:24.028
and then not just one sport like football, but all
00:12:24.088 --> 00:12:29.568
sports. And after spending about 15 years doing that kind of research and analysis,
00:12:30.328 --> 00:12:31.028
we came up
00:12:31.108 --> 00:12:36.168
with four broad abilities and 10 narrow cognitive abilities
00:12:36.568 --> 00:12:36.988
that we think
00:12:37.028 --> 00:12:39.148
are most necessary to navigate
00:12:39.228 --> 00:12:41.028
that space. And
00:12:41.128 --> 00:12:45.608
that, we brought that to, uh... We brought that to the NFL back in 2012,
00:12:46.808 --> 00:12:50.268
and, um, it was really an interesting experience because,
00:12:50.788 --> 00:12:51.068
um,
00:12:51.448 --> 00:12:54.248
at the time, no one was really doing anything like this.
00:12:55.048 --> 00:12:58.108
And so it was really kinda neat to be the first. It was also
00:12:58.508 --> 00:13:02.168
a fun challenge to try to educate, 'cause people are going like, "I don't
00:13:02.208 --> 00:13:02.548
get it."
00:13:03.308 --> 00:13:05.098
And I said, "Well, you know that
00:13:05.308 --> 00:13:05.688
kid
00:13:06.148 --> 00:13:11.148
that, um, it doesn't make sense why he's successful? Like, he just doesn't
00:13:11.508 --> 00:13:14.148
look like a player, but then he gets out there and
00:13:14.468 --> 00:13:15.048
somehow gets
00:13:15.088 --> 00:13:16.988
the job done?" And they go, "Yeah."
00:13:17.148 --> 00:13:21.168
I go, "Well, I think he's doing it in a way that you're not measuring."
00:13:22.168 --> 00:13:25.208
And they're like, "Really? Like what?" And- and so, you know, just to give you a concrete
00:13:25.248 --> 00:13:28.068
example, in that 2012 draft,
00:13:29.208 --> 00:13:31.008
it was the first year that we, we, um,
00:13:31.288 --> 00:13:34.168
tested people. We noticed
00:13:34.248 --> 00:13:34.848
a direct,
00:13:35.728 --> 00:13:35.868
uh,
00:13:36.188 --> 00:13:41.348
inverse correlation between when players were selected and their AIQ,
00:13:41.408 --> 00:13:46.028
scores. Which if I were to kinda say it in, in a more digestible
00:13:46.108 --> 00:13:48.048
way, the higher the AIQ
00:13:48.108 --> 00:13:50.088
score, the later these guys are getting
00:13:50.108 --> 00:13:55.208
drafted. And Jim and I looked at each other and we were like, "Shoot, did we miss it? Like,
00:13:55.268 --> 00:13:58.898
maybe..." 'Cause if you think about it, the best players are the ones that get drafted early,
00:13:59.008 --> 00:14:02.228
not drafted late. So we're like, "Shoot, I think we're missing
00:14:02.288 --> 00:14:06.268
this." Well, five years later, we revisited the data,
00:14:06.708 --> 00:14:07.048
and we
00:14:07.108 --> 00:14:10.148
found though there was an inverse correlation to when
00:14:10.188 --> 00:14:15.008
they were drafted, there was a direct correlation to when they got on
00:14:15.028 --> 00:14:18.288
the field. So they got on the field earlier in their career,
00:14:18.608 --> 00:14:20.128
they stayed on the field longer,
00:14:20.708 --> 00:14:24.078
and they also, um, were more productive. We started to find things like
00:14:24.708 --> 00:14:27.348
a statistically significant correlation with rushing yards
00:14:27.708 --> 00:14:33.288
and interceptions and quarterback performance. You know, things like big plays and quarterback rating,
00:14:33.808 --> 00:14:35.028
and I mean, like, really meaningful
00:14:35.128 --> 00:14:39.008
statistics. So I think what we discovered was
00:14:39.368 --> 00:14:42.108
that the league was over-attenuating
00:14:42.428 --> 00:14:43.468
to the physical
00:14:44.208 --> 00:14:46.308
and missing out on this sort of cognitive
00:14:46.408 --> 00:14:51.058
piece. A- a- and, you know, one- thing that I, I kind of point out, and I appreciate you
00:14:51.058 --> 00:14:52.008
letting me kinda ramble
00:14:52.048 --> 00:14:52.618
here for a while,
00:14:53.368 --> 00:14:56.248
is you have to be...
00:14:56.288 --> 00:14:59.998
Like, it's kinda like an amusement park, right? Like, you have to be tall enough to ride
00:15:00.028 --> 00:15:00.528
the ride,
00:15:01.328 --> 00:15:06.948
right? So you can't take somebody with a strong AIQ. profile
00:15:07.028 --> 00:15:11.028
if they're 5'6" with a surgically reconstructed knee, which is what I am,
00:15:11.968 --> 00:15:12.968
um, and have
00:15:13.008 --> 00:15:18.058
me be, you know, have me play center for the Golden State Warriors. Like, that just doesn't
00:15:18.128 --> 00:15:21.448
work. Like, you have to be sp- you have to be tall, you have to be strong, you have to
00:15:21.508 --> 00:15:24.028
be athletic. In, in other words, you have to have all
00:15:24.088 --> 00:15:24.888
four buckets.
00:15:25.648 --> 00:15:27.188
Um, it's just a matter of,
00:15:28.048 --> 00:15:29.208
uh, what we discovered
00:15:29.288 --> 00:15:31.108
was people were kinda
00:15:31.168 --> 00:15:33.988
measuring, you know, maybe three of the four or two of
00:15:34.028 --> 00:15:38.428
the four, and then they couldn't figure out why they were missing the mark.
00:15:39.568 --> 00:15:43.428
Um, like, one specific story I remember with one of the teams we were contracted
00:15:43.488 --> 00:15:49.008
with, they absolutely loved this wide receiver in college, and he was
00:15:49.868 --> 00:15:50.448
physically,
00:15:51.048 --> 00:15:51.228
like,
00:15:51.528 --> 00:15:54.218
fast, and he could jump, and I mean, he was amazing.
00:15:55.448 --> 00:15:56.988
But the game film showed he only ran
00:15:57.028 --> 00:16:01.957
three routes, and a lot of the coaches were just in love. They were like, "Wait till we get him
00:16:02.008 --> 00:16:03.068
in our system."
00:16:03.508 --> 00:16:05.208
We're... 'Cause they ran a multiple route
00:16:05.508 --> 00:16:06.618
option design,
00:16:07.288 --> 00:16:10.068
which really has a lot to do with, you know, the wide receiver and the quarterback having
00:16:10.088 --> 00:16:12.048
to be on the same page. You know, it's like, "Hey, we
00:16:12.168 --> 00:16:17.088
scan. We do a pre-snap read of the defense, what the defense is, is trying to show
00:16:17.188 --> 00:16:21.008
us, and then we make a decision of which route to run based off that." So they
00:16:21.028 --> 00:16:26.457
were like, "Wait till we get him in our offense, which is a lot more sophisticated and confusing, and his
00:16:26.468 --> 00:16:28.028
physical attributes, he'll be even more
00:16:28.108 --> 00:16:31.308
open." And so I,
00:16:31.948 --> 00:16:31.988
you
00:16:32.028 --> 00:16:34.048
know, said, "Look, so you got this
00:16:34.108 --> 00:16:39.208
bucket, but you don't have this experience bucket. You got the physical bucket, but you don't have the experience
00:16:39.268 --> 00:16:40.008
bucket 'cause you only have,
00:16:40.488 --> 00:16:40.728
um,
00:16:41.208 --> 00:16:41.988
three routes
00:16:42.228 --> 00:16:44.048
of film." You know, he ran basically
00:16:44.088 --> 00:16:46.188
a post, a skinny, and a go.
00:16:46.268 --> 00:16:46.888
That was it.
00:16:47.428 --> 00:16:50.508
And I said, "If we look at his intelligence score, his AIQ
00:16:50.568 --> 00:16:52.898
score, it shows that it's kinda
00:16:53.088 --> 00:16:55.048
low." And
00:16:56.188 --> 00:17:00.968
we said his personality was something that was kind of a push. Like, he wasn't a hard
00:17:01.048 --> 00:17:03.108
worker, but he also wasn't locker room
00:17:03.148 --> 00:17:05.088
poison. So we said this is
00:17:05.127 --> 00:17:08.468
a non-factor. This is an absolute bonus.
00:17:09.348 --> 00:17:11.108
This is also a mystery,
00:17:11.548 --> 00:17:12.147
the, the,
00:17:12.528 --> 00:17:13.048
you know, the
00:17:13.108 --> 00:17:15.268
experience bu- And the intelligence part
00:17:15.328 --> 00:17:16.867
is saying, yeah, he might
00:17:17.008 --> 00:17:22.048
struggle. So now this was a huge debate in the building. Do we take this guy
00:17:23.248 --> 00:17:24.917
hoping that he can understand this
00:17:25.008 --> 00:17:27.048
offense, or do we let him
00:17:27.167 --> 00:17:27.647
go
00:17:28.248 --> 00:17:36.108
because maybe he's only a three-route guy, and once he goes up against competition that's as big, strong, and fast
00:17:36.148 --> 00:17:36.268
as
00:17:36.368 --> 00:17:39.508
him, his biggest asset will now all of a sudden be negated?
00:17:40.488 --> 00:17:43.028
And that was our dilemma that we had to decide.
00:17:45.088 --> 00:17:46.018
What did they decide to
00:17:46.108 --> 00:17:47.948
do? Uh, they
00:17:48.008 --> 00:17:54.928
passed on him, and, uh, and there was a couple of coaches that were really disappointed and
00:17:55.048 --> 00:18:00.008
frustrated until he went to a team with a similar kinda scheme.
00:18:01.128 --> 00:18:01.388
And
00:18:01.468 --> 00:18:07.228
he was, unfortunately for him and the team that drafted him, he was pretty unsuccessful. So it was like, again,
00:18:07.728 --> 00:18:10.668
this missing bucket that not a lot of teams are measuring
00:18:11.508 --> 00:18:19.362
was where the answer lied.And he ended up not getting a second contract in the league and not really producing
00:18:19.472 --> 00:18:19.712
very
00:18:19.732 --> 00:18:25.852
well. Yeah, I like where you started at first when you just started with the overall zoom out and say,
00:18:25.882 --> 00:18:26.942
"Okay, what's the definition of
00:18:27.012 --> 00:18:31.912
sport?" Right? Like, okay, it's ... We, we agree that it's this ever-evolving unsolvable
00:18:32.012 --> 00:18:34.322
puzzle, and then from there, your four buckets.
00:18:34.972 --> 00:18:38.072
And I think when you would ask a lot of people, "Hey, what's important for a receiver, important
00:18:38.092 --> 00:18:43.432
for a football player?" You hear, like, power, speed, like, quickness, like... But you've identified these four buckets
00:18:44.032 --> 00:18:44.312
then
00:18:44.852 --> 00:18:46.252
after you've, uh, defined
00:18:46.912 --> 00:18:48.032
what sport is, and then
00:18:48.092 --> 00:18:50.052
from there, you get
00:18:50.112 --> 00:18:56.132
into the AIQ and some of the things that the AIQ is assessing. You had mentioned that you have these
00:18:56.212 --> 00:18:59.472
four broad abilities, uh, within AIQ,
00:18:59.632 --> 00:19:04.012
so as much as you're willing to share in terms of the broad abilities, and if you even
00:19:04.072 --> 00:19:06.052
wanted to dive into the narrow abilities, which I believe you
00:19:06.092 --> 00:19:11.282
said there's 10 of those, break it down for us. What is AIQ measuring, and how did you decide on
00:19:11.332 --> 00:19:16.912
those specific abilities? Yeah. Well, first and foremost, I give my, my partner, Jim Bowman, a
00:19:17.012 --> 00:19:17.692
ton of credit.
00:19:18.072 --> 00:19:24.372
You know, I mean, h-e-he-he if, if I'm the heart of the organization, he's the brains of the organization.
00:19:24.432 --> 00:19:28.092
I mean, what an incredible per-person to team up with with
00:19:28.192 --> 00:19:29.132
this. And,
00:19:29.532 --> 00:19:34.072
you know, another addition to, to our team that happened later on was a, a young
00:19:34.512 --> 00:19:37.272
profe- an early career professional named Alex Auerbach,
00:19:37.772 --> 00:19:44.092
who I met when he was a, a grad student. Um, no, sorry, an undergrad student. He was a GA
00:19:44.892 --> 00:19:48.692
football coach at Arizona who wanted to be a sports psychologist,
00:19:48.812 --> 00:19:52.152
and he helped contribute to the evolution of our test,
00:19:52.252 --> 00:19:57.212
of the AIQ, and he's now currently with the Toronto Raptors. He's their director of mental health and wellness.
00:19:57.292 --> 00:19:57.432
So,
00:19:58.172 --> 00:19:59.672
um, uh,
00:19:59.672 --> 00:20:04.192
you know, I'm happy to go into the details of the test, but I would be remiss to say
00:20:04.312 --> 00:20:11.292
I think one of the secrets of what makes the AIQ so successful is the people that have contributed
00:20:11.372 --> 00:20:11.712
to it
00:20:12.092 --> 00:20:16.042
are really talented people. Like, Jim Bowman and Alex Auerbach are
00:20:16.072 --> 00:20:19.412
just amazing, uh, people to, to, to collaborate
00:20:19.492 --> 00:20:23.212
with. Um, the four broad abilities are broken down like this,
00:20:23.472 --> 00:20:26.972
um, and sometimes the way I like to describe it or explain it to
00:20:27.052 --> 00:20:30.992
people is if you think about the 10 narrow abilities
00:20:31.012 --> 00:20:31.672
as being,
00:20:32.052 --> 00:20:34.552
um, houses in a community,
00:20:35.392 --> 00:20:39.292
and then you've got the four broad abilities as being neighborhoods,
00:20:39.892 --> 00:20:45.092
and then you have, um, the full scale score, which is the overarching community,
00:20:45.832 --> 00:20:46.012
um,
00:20:46.732 --> 00:20:49.092
that's kind of like a neat way to do it. Or sometimes I'll say it's
00:20:49.112 --> 00:20:52.312
kind of like the full scale score is like the United States of America.
00:20:53.021 --> 00:21:01.012
The four broad abilities are states, Alabama, California, Texas, Florida, and then the narrow abilities are cities.
00:21:01.652 --> 00:21:01.852
So
00:21:02.892 --> 00:21:03.932
i-in America, we
00:21:04.012 --> 00:21:07.412
all have, say, like, the same concept of pizza,
00:21:07.732 --> 00:21:08.992
and I might just be using this example
00:21:09.072 --> 00:21:12.432
because I'm hungry, but we all have the same example of pizza,
00:21:13.492 --> 00:21:19.532
but a slice of pizza in New York City is very, very different than a slice of pizza in California,
00:21:20.512 --> 00:21:25.202
but then there's also this unique variance. Like, for example, a slice of pizza in New York City,
00:21:25.812 --> 00:21:29.062
even though it's still New York, is very, very different than
00:21:29.092 --> 00:21:35.372
Buffalo. So the four broad abilities are visual-spatial processing,
00:21:35.872 --> 00:21:40.992
the ability to kind of like scan and know where you are and kind of process what's
00:21:41.032 --> 00:21:41.712
going on.
00:21:42.072 --> 00:21:48.932
Um, you know, that includes things like being able to see the flow of the game evolve as it does
00:21:48.992 --> 00:21:54.092
in live time, knowing where things are happening next, that kind of stuff, knowing where you are in relation
00:21:54.132 --> 00:21:57.112
to other people, and then finding an efficient route to get there.
00:21:58.092 --> 00:22:00.252
Uh, the second broad ability is reaction
00:22:00.332 --> 00:22:05.052
time, and reaction time is a stimulus response kind of thing. So think
00:22:05.392 --> 00:22:05.992
starter pistol
00:22:06.052 --> 00:22:08.332
goes off, and runner goes,
00:22:08.692 --> 00:22:08.972
or,
00:22:09.072 --> 00:22:11.152
um, you know, in football,
00:22:11.632 --> 00:22:11.772
it's
00:22:12.532 --> 00:22:12.752
the,
00:22:13.532 --> 00:22:15.072
the quarterback gives a hard count,
00:22:15.552 --> 00:22:17.032
and the defensive or
00:22:17.092 --> 00:22:22.252
the edge rusher, uh, goes after the quarterback. So our reaction time is broken
00:22:22.292 --> 00:22:27.912
down simple, bang, bang, but we also have a separate one where false information is
00:22:28.012 --> 00:22:31.092
present. So going back to the hard count
00:22:31.132 --> 00:22:33.172
example, um, if,
00:22:33.252 --> 00:22:36.342
if someone's more susceptible to jumping offsides,
00:22:36.912 --> 00:22:43.152
that can be an issue because when false information is present, their reaction time is significantly altered.
00:22:43.952 --> 00:22:47.032
We don't just measure speed of reaction time. The other thing that we do is we measure
00:22:47.152 --> 00:22:52.512
accuracy. Uh, I'm not aware of any other measure right now that's doing that, and I think that's an important
00:22:52.532 --> 00:22:59.852
distinction. So one of the things we discovered was a signifi- a statistically significant correlation with pre-snap penalties in offensive
00:22:59.892 --> 00:23:03.132
linemen regarding their reaction time accuracy,
00:23:04.192 --> 00:23:06.052
so false starts, for example, which makes
00:23:06.092 --> 00:23:08.012
sense. Uh, the third one
00:23:08.052 --> 00:23:11.032
is decision-making, the ability to make quick and accurate decisions,
00:23:11.832 --> 00:23:16.342
and then the fourth one is learning efficiency, the ability to download and recall information.
00:23:17.272 --> 00:23:18.032
So,
00:23:18.092 --> 00:23:19.992
you know, I wish that
00:23:20.052 --> 00:23:24.532
it was simple because then it would be easier to sort of explain,
00:23:25.612 --> 00:23:31.092
but cognitive functioning is really complicated. How people go about solving that puzzle
00:23:31.812 --> 00:23:33.012
is really difficult,
00:23:33.392 --> 00:23:33.512
and
00:23:33.652 --> 00:23:33.852
so,
00:23:34.212 --> 00:23:39.252
um, to really do it right and to provide the kind of depth and breadth
00:23:39.352 --> 00:23:39.772
of it,
00:23:40.812 --> 00:23:45.032
um, requires some deep dive explanation. But what's kind
00:23:45.072 --> 00:23:45.822
of nice is, um,
00:23:46.152 --> 00:23:51.332
with the AIQ, we talk about not just, um, sport-specific
00:23:52.092 --> 00:23:55.232
examples and terminology but also position-specific.
00:23:55.792 --> 00:23:58.072
So when we provide the analysis and recommendations on our
00:23:58.132 --> 00:24:04.172
report, we're saying like, "This is what spatial awareness means for a running back. This is what spatial awareness means
00:24:04.192 --> 00:24:07.032
for a linebacker, and this is what spatial awareness means for
00:24:07.112 --> 00:24:09.001
a quarterback." And
00:24:09.032 --> 00:24:10.072
those, those,
00:24:10.132 --> 00:24:11.672
um, definitions
00:24:12.092 --> 00:24:12.432
and,
00:24:12.532 --> 00:24:15.392
uh, and analysis and recommendations,
00:24:15.832 --> 00:24:22.132
they came from me working in the industry for 25 years-Alex working in the industry, you know, for
00:24:22.492 --> 00:24:26.052
how long he's been in, and also the, the coaches that I've worked with. So,
00:24:26.652 --> 00:24:31.092
uh, football coaches, basketball coaches, hockey coaches, soccer coaches, baseball
00:24:31.192 --> 00:24:31.672
coaches,
00:24:32.412 --> 00:24:37.042
uh, from the different places that I've worked, Arizona, Michigan, the NFL, Major
00:24:37.072 --> 00:24:37.752
League Baseball,
00:24:38.092 --> 00:24:40.092
NBA, have all helped contribute.
00:24:40.192 --> 00:24:40.372
So,
00:24:41.012 --> 00:24:41.992
um, something
00:24:42.012 --> 00:24:44.172
that I'm really proud of that we've
00:24:44.232 --> 00:24:52.051
done is we've been able to translate these complicated concepts into really easy and digestible
00:24:52.152 --> 00:24:57.292
ways. Because in addition to it being a talent identification tool,
00:24:58.272 --> 00:25:00.472
it's really meant to be a development
00:25:00.592 --> 00:25:04.112
tool. So it's like, okay, what do we do with this guy now that we
00:25:04.172 --> 00:25:08.302
have him? The same way we might not ask someone who's 5'6", myself,
00:25:08.812 --> 00:25:09.172
to play
00:25:09.232 --> 00:25:13.152
center, is the same way we might ask somebody with bad spatial
00:25:13.192 --> 00:25:14.952
awareness to be
00:25:15.032 --> 00:25:19.152
a winger. Yeah. I like
00:25:19.212 --> 00:25:22.192
the, uh, analogy of the US
00:25:22.632 --> 00:25:26.112
states and then cities within that. And then as you were talking, I was thinking about like, man,
00:25:26.152 --> 00:25:30.092
does Scott just, like, watch sports in a totally different way? Like, when there's a false start, he's like, "Yep,
00:25:30.252 --> 00:25:30.332
oh,
00:25:30.432 --> 00:25:34.112
I... You know." Yeah, saw that coming. We've test- yeah, we've tested that guy,
00:25:34.172 --> 00:25:36.992
like You know what's funny is it's actually
00:25:37.052 --> 00:25:39.972
the opposite. Uh, I actually will have coaches
00:25:40.072 --> 00:25:42.032
sometimes contact
00:25:42.072 --> 00:25:47.092
me describing AIQ moments within the game. So there was a Super
00:25:47.172 --> 00:25:51.072
Bowl where one of the defenses, um, their linebacking
00:25:51.152 --> 00:25:53.102
corps, as a collective,
00:25:53.452 --> 00:25:59.372
the AIQ data suggested for each of them, a- and again, as a collective, that they might be susceptible
00:25:59.392 --> 00:26:00.352
to misdirection.
00:26:01.072 --> 00:26:02.112
And the offense
00:26:02.432 --> 00:26:05.452
that was going against them in the Super Bowl did a misdirection
00:26:05.572 --> 00:26:11.072
play, a pretty well-known one. Again, I'm gonna keep it kind of vague just to honor, um,
00:26:11.472 --> 00:26:14.992
the integrity of, of the individuals who are participating, but it was a pretty well-known
00:26:15.032 --> 00:26:16.192
and significant one in the Super
00:26:16.272 --> 00:26:22.352
Bowl. And all of a sudden I got, like, two or three texts from coaches that were not in the
00:26:22.392 --> 00:26:23.112
game
00:26:23.172 --> 00:26:30.012
going, "That's the AIQ. They're making this- they're using misdirection on those line... That's exactly, like, you know, what the
00:26:30.032 --> 00:26:32.032
data said." And that was kind of a cool moment,
00:26:32.492 --> 00:26:36.072
you know? There's been a couple of cool AIQ moments, uh, throughout,
00:26:36.572 --> 00:26:36.712
uh,
00:26:37.152 --> 00:26:38.972
its inception that have been really
00:26:39.012 --> 00:26:42.392
neat, and that was one of them. You hit on the four,
00:26:43.852 --> 00:26:50.312
uh, broad abilities. Can you give us an example of one narrow ability? One or two. Sure. Um, so,
00:26:50.392 --> 00:26:51.192
uh, spatial awareness.
00:26:52.812 --> 00:26:54.942
Uh, spatial awareness is knowing where you are in
00:26:55.012 --> 00:26:57.032
relation to key
00:26:57.072 --> 00:27:00.392
landmarks, other people, teammates, opponents.
00:27:00.952 --> 00:27:01.132
So,
00:27:01.572 --> 00:27:05.072
you know, imagine... Sometimes I call it kind of like the piñata test.
00:27:05.452 --> 00:27:06.612
So it's kind of like imagine
00:27:06.992 --> 00:27:08.112
you're spun around,
00:27:08.532 --> 00:27:12.172
and then you gotta recalibrate where you are in relation to things and then,
00:27:12.212 --> 00:27:13.532
you know, kind of whack the piñata.
00:27:14.192 --> 00:27:20.192
That's what spatial awareness is, and I, I have found that to be incredibly valuable across all sports
00:27:20.252 --> 00:27:22.061
that we're involved and engaged in,
00:27:22.112 --> 00:27:25.052
whether it's, you know, y- y, you know, the English Premier League,
00:27:25.472 --> 00:27:27.452
or rugby in New Zealand,
00:27:27.812 --> 00:27:28.112
or,
00:27:28.272 --> 00:27:29.192
um, you know,
00:27:29.552 --> 00:27:31.112
uh, football in America,
00:27:31.212 --> 00:27:31.752
NFL,
00:27:32.152 --> 00:27:32.952
or NBA.
00:27:33.412 --> 00:27:34.992
Because, like, like, let's just use the
00:27:35.032 --> 00:27:38.052
NBA as an example. Spatial awareness is really about
00:27:38.092 --> 00:27:47.132
floor spacing. So let's just say hypothetically there's a team that has a really dominant player who's constantly in motion,
00:27:47.532 --> 00:27:49.032
creates a lot of chaos
00:27:49.512 --> 00:27:49.972
because of
00:27:50.032 --> 00:27:52.222
how, how he can shoot from anywhere
00:27:52.612 --> 00:27:56.212
and is really good at just running all over the place and getting open.
00:27:57.292 --> 00:27:59.512
That kind of chaos is hard to defend,
00:27:59.932 --> 00:28:01.032
but as a teammate,
00:28:01.512 --> 00:28:04.092
you've gotta make sure that you're not getting in his way,
00:28:05.112 --> 00:28:08.372
and you also have to be sure that you're available for a kick-out pass
00:28:08.912 --> 00:28:09.372
because
00:28:09.912 --> 00:28:12.992
y- it's important for you to find kind of like the holes and the gaps out there.
00:28:13.052 --> 00:28:14.552
So that floor spacing
00:28:15.152 --> 00:28:16.552
and that spatial awareness
00:28:16.912 --> 00:28:18.372
can be a really valuable
00:28:18.852 --> 00:28:25.092
component that complements a player who... 'Cause again, if you get lost as to where you are as he's
00:28:25.132 --> 00:28:26.032
running around, you could get
00:28:26.052 --> 00:28:30.652
in his way, or you could be in, in a, in a spot where you think you're open but you're
00:28:30.672 --> 00:28:31.292
really not.
00:28:33.152 --> 00:28:38.512
Yeah, totally. I, I love the appreciation, like, as you talk about this, the appreciation for, like, all of the
00:28:38.572 --> 00:28:44.032
small things that are involved in sport and all, and how all those things are affecting each other, and how
00:28:44.092 --> 00:28:46.192
all those are intertwined. It's really nice to hear and listen
00:28:46.232 --> 00:28:50.132
to. Um, our understanding is that the AIQ can be implemented
00:28:50.172 --> 00:28:55.102
any time. This can be something that's during the pre-draft process, which you've talked about a little bit, then
00:28:55.132 --> 00:29:00.202
you also just mentioned that it's really used for development, and then even beyond that, analytics.
00:29:01.212 --> 00:29:03.012
So two parts to this question. My first
00:29:03.112 --> 00:29:09.172
is how broad is AIQ in terms of the people that you're testing? Is this only athletics?
00:29:09.232 --> 00:29:15.412
Is this across all sports? Is there another, um, area and population that you're seeing with AIQ?
00:29:16.052 --> 00:29:16.132
And
00:29:16.172 --> 00:29:22.252
then how are you seeing it best implemented, like pre-draft process, development, analytics?
00:29:22.572 --> 00:29:25.892
Is any one of those, would you say, more important, or are they just kind of all
00:29:26.032 --> 00:29:28.032
used together? Whoo.
00:29:28.372 --> 00:29:28.872
Uh, all right.
00:29:29.092 --> 00:29:31.942
Good questions. Um, so we are in
00:29:32.032 --> 00:29:35.172
all five professional leagues in the United States.
00:29:36.492 --> 00:29:36.692
Um,
00:29:37.252 --> 00:29:41.272
we're with some teams in Europe. We're with some teams in New Zealand. We're with some teams in Australia.
00:29:42.272 --> 00:29:42.472
Um,
00:29:42.972 --> 00:29:48.092
but to your point, outside of sport, we've now migrated, like, there's a fire department in Colorado
00:29:48.132 --> 00:29:51.992
that's using us. There's a special forces unit in the military that's using us.
00:29:52.092 --> 00:29:54.152
There's, um, s- there's some
00:29:54.172 --> 00:29:54.672
pilots
00:29:55.072 --> 00:29:56.072
that are, that are,
00:29:56.312 --> 00:29:56.912
uh... There's a,
00:29:57.492 --> 00:29:59.092
a unit of
00:29:59.132 --> 00:30:00.872
air f- um, air,
00:30:01.092 --> 00:30:05.032
air... I gotta think how to say this, um, and still maintain some of their,
00:30:05.632 --> 00:30:06.212
uh, privacy.
00:30:06.232 --> 00:30:06.692
The, some,
00:30:07.172 --> 00:30:12.172
uh, pilot... I'll just use the word pilots. There's some, uh, fighter
00:30:12.252 --> 00:30:13.892
pilots that, uh,
00:30:14.112 --> 00:30:18.312
are using it. And, um, we've actually also been contacted by some medical schools,
00:30:18.712 --> 00:30:20.972
um, and so we're in discussions with, with some of them.
00:30:21.072 --> 00:30:27.084
So I think what's really kind of cool is-Once you say, "Hey, what are the cognitive abilities
00:30:27.744 --> 00:30:29.884
for tackling
00:30:30.024 --> 00:30:39.064
a unsolvable puzzle, mutating puzzle?" It can be used in a lot of different forums and formats. Um, the
00:30:39.124 --> 00:30:42.004
second part of your question is, you know, where is the best space
00:30:42.044 --> 00:30:43.964
for it? You know, we've
00:30:44.064 --> 00:30:53.034
always, um, focused on providing a high fidelity of information. You know, you can't really visually see intelligence the way
00:30:53.044 --> 00:30:55.414
you can visually see someone run a forty-yard
00:30:55.544 --> 00:31:00.074
dash. So we said, "Look, we just gotta make sure that what we're measuring is
00:31:00.184 --> 00:31:04.064
accurate, and then what teams wanna use it for can be up to
00:31:04.104 --> 00:31:13.024
them." What has been a pleasant surprise is talent identification, right? Like, does this person fit? Development, okay, now
00:31:13.044 --> 00:31:15.184
that we know who he is, how do we get the best
00:31:15.284 --> 00:31:17.364
out of him? Analytics,
00:31:17.584 --> 00:31:20.884
hey, you know, because intelligence is a genetically stable
00:31:21.004 --> 00:31:24.464
trait, it becomes a nice thing to factor into.
00:31:24.944 --> 00:31:29.343
In fact, um, you know, we've published a few academic white papers,
00:31:29.944 --> 00:31:33.094
which again, humble brag, I don't know any other measure that's done
00:31:33.184 --> 00:31:33.334
that,
00:31:34.284 --> 00:31:41.674
um, and shown statistically significant correlation with on-field performance. in not just one, but two major leagues, baseball, MLB, and
00:31:41.744 --> 00:31:51.824
NFL. But, uh, I've had several teams report to me that their analytics department has found more statistically significant
00:31:51.904 --> 00:31:54.104
correlation to performance
00:31:54.564 --> 00:32:00.254
than we found. 'Cause we just did the AIQ. What they did was is they combined the AIQ, with
00:32:00.364 --> 00:32:06.024
other measureables and came up with a more complicated formula, which I was like, "Oh, that's super cool that they'd
00:32:06.104 --> 00:32:06.304
found
00:32:06.364 --> 00:32:10.104
that." So I think all three of those domains are
00:32:10.204 --> 00:32:15.384
noteworthy. Going to the coaching domain for a second, the development domain,
00:32:16.084 --> 00:32:18.924
'cause I think that one's really exciting for me,
00:32:19.044 --> 00:32:23.944
um, it's twofold. One is, like, how do you teach them more efficiently? So
00:32:24.004 --> 00:32:27.084
just use a football, you know, in install
00:32:27.164 --> 00:32:30.224
meetings. Not everybody learns the same way,
00:32:30.844 --> 00:32:35.113
so one person might do much better at watching game film,
00:32:35.664 --> 00:32:38.224
and another person might do much better with walkthroughs.
00:32:39.124 --> 00:32:40.824
And so the AIQ can help us be
00:32:41.004 --> 00:32:44.134
more well-educated in designing
00:32:44.184 --> 00:32:47.044
how to teach each individual player most
00:32:47.084 --> 00:32:54.264
efficiently. And then the second development tool is making a decision about, you know, positional
00:32:54.304 --> 00:32:58.184
placement. So, uh, concrete example, when I was at the University
00:32:58.204 --> 00:32:58.924
of Michigan,
00:33:00.044 --> 00:33:03.324
Coach Fish, uh, Jed Fish, who's now the head coach at Arizona,
00:33:04.184 --> 00:33:07.004
super brilliant mind, great person to really... I really enjoyed
00:33:07.044 --> 00:33:07.774
working with him.
00:33:08.744 --> 00:33:15.884
Uh, he asked me about a wide receiver. He said, "We have this wide receiver who is amazingly fast,
00:33:16.164 --> 00:33:16.984
unbelievably physically
00:33:17.064 --> 00:33:23.044
gifted, but just can't quite do what I'm asking him to do in our passing game."
00:33:24.164 --> 00:33:26.124
So what... So we looked at the AIQ data,
00:33:26.504 --> 00:33:26.544
and
00:33:26.584 --> 00:33:31.264
I said, "Okay, here's what I think it would take to get him to comprehend the playbook."
00:33:32.824 --> 00:33:33.004
But it
00:33:33.064 --> 00:33:37.824
was effortful, and there was a debate where Coach Fish was like, "I don't know if I can put that
00:33:37.904 --> 00:33:41.884
kind of time in the individual. What else you got? 'Cause we don't wanna cut this guy. He's just too.
00:33:41.924 --> 00:33:42.064
much
00:33:42.084 --> 00:33:43.944
of an athlete." And I said,
00:33:44.024 --> 00:33:47.044
"Well, I think if you made him a defensive
00:33:47.144 --> 00:33:50.824
back and just had him be a cover cat,
00:33:51.084 --> 00:33:55.084
you know, just basically, you know, you're on eighty-nine, wherever eighty-nine goes,
00:33:55.124 --> 00:33:59.284
you go with him, then a lot of this cognitive stuff,
00:33:59.984 --> 00:34:00.944
um, won't slow
00:34:01.004 --> 00:34:05.024
him down." And so that's what they ended up doing. He ended up getting drafted in I think it
00:34:05.034 --> 00:34:07.464
was, like, the third or fourth round and had a pretty sustainable
00:34:07.524 --> 00:34:10.384
career. So the thing that I love
00:34:11.724 --> 00:34:14.083
about the application of the AIQ, when it's used
00:34:14.143 --> 00:34:14.664
that way is
00:34:15.524 --> 00:34:20.063
it, it eliminated the frustration that can happen. I've never met a coach that wants
00:34:20.103 --> 00:34:21.204
to mother F
00:34:21.264 --> 00:34:23.043
a player or enjoys it. I've
00:34:23.083 --> 00:34:26.004
never met a player who wants to be mother F'd
00:34:26.063 --> 00:34:26.704
and enjoys it.
00:34:27.184 --> 00:34:29.534
So with this kind of information,
00:34:30.004 --> 00:34:32.043
we eliminated that fight,
00:34:32.744 --> 00:34:37.984
because sometimes people will make the assumption that the guy is lazy or the guy doesn't work,
00:34:38.004 --> 00:34:38.994
when it's like, he's not
00:34:39.024 --> 00:34:43.143
lazy, he's just not able to process what you're telling him.
00:34:44.103 --> 00:34:44.204
So
00:34:44.224 --> 00:34:48.123
we eliminated that. The second thing that we did was is we found a better fit,
00:34:48.984 --> 00:34:49.964
which led to the
00:34:50.004 --> 00:34:51.984
head c- which led to the position coach,
00:34:52.143 --> 00:34:57.063
Coach Fish, being more successful, 'cause he can now focus more of his time and attention on those that could
00:34:57.143 --> 00:35:00.164
execute. And it also led to the player
00:35:00.684 --> 00:35:07.554
being in a situation where he could naturally grow and blossom. And ultimately, like, both of them have had successful
00:35:07.744 --> 00:35:08.504
careers.
00:35:08.954 --> 00:35:14.184
And I'm not saying that this moment was the catalyst of their individual successful careers. Like, there's way
00:35:14.264 --> 00:35:19.764
more that goes into all of that, and I wanna be respectful of all the different influences, like the strength
00:35:19.864 --> 00:35:22.134
coach and the nutritionist and everybody
00:35:22.184 --> 00:35:22.504
else.
00:35:23.024 --> 00:35:23.804
But I think,
00:35:24.224 --> 00:35:24.444
um,
00:35:25.084 --> 00:35:27.544
someone told me this, like, in the world of business,
00:35:28.384 --> 00:35:33.034
every business transaction is kind of a minor miracle, 'cause there's a thousand things that can go wrong,
00:35:33.164 --> 00:35:36.984
and you only need one to cause the deal to be broken. I think it's the same thing
00:35:37.024 --> 00:35:42.044
in sports, right? Like, there's just a thousand things that can go wrong, and it just takes one,
00:35:42.344 --> 00:35:43.104
an injury
00:35:43.404 --> 00:35:43.684
or
00:35:44.124 --> 00:35:45.044
a disagreement
00:35:45.164 --> 00:35:47.244
or, you know, a misalignment
00:35:47.304 --> 00:35:49.064
in attitude, like, all sorts of
00:35:49.104 --> 00:35:49.344
things.
00:35:50.164 --> 00:35:54.804
A- and you need to have everything be right in order to have that success. And so I think the
00:35:54.864 --> 00:35:58.284
AIQ really helps provide,
00:35:58.504 --> 00:36:03.324
um, an additional piece of information that helps ensure the success
00:36:03.824 --> 00:36:05.124
or a successful outcome.
00:36:06.984 --> 00:36:08.084
Absolutely. Appreciate
00:36:08.144 --> 00:36:09.004
that. And,
00:36:09.084 --> 00:36:13.984
um, a little bit interested about what it's like taking the assessment now. So let's give you a
00:36:14.004 --> 00:36:15.404
little bit of a hypothetical scenario.
00:36:16.044 --> 00:36:19.004
Uh, Todd and I are athletes going through the pre-draft process,
00:36:19.804 --> 00:36:22.164
and due to our unbelievably incredible physical
00:36:22.244 --> 00:36:25.014
gifts, uh, more so on Todd's end
00:36:25.044 --> 00:36:25.484
than mine
00:36:25.484 --> 00:36:28.004
- That sounds about right. Someone,
00:36:28.684 --> 00:36:33.464
someone in a front office has decided we might be a worthy investment. Uh, we're asked to take the AIQ,
00:36:33.624 --> 00:36:36.344
so we're ready to take it. What are we seeing?
00:36:36.704 --> 00:36:39.044
What are we doing? Help us understand what it's like
00:36:39.104 --> 00:36:41.008
taking the assessment. Well,
00:36:41.488 --> 00:36:42.028
again, so
00:36:42.088 --> 00:36:44.037
having been, you know, for
00:36:44.488 --> 00:36:45.188
well over 10
00:36:45.208 --> 00:36:48.068
years now helping teams identify
00:36:48.148 --> 00:36:54.728
talent in the draft, let me start, by saying the two of you clearly look like first-round picks regardless of
00:36:54.768 --> 00:36:57.468
what league we're talking about. I mean, it's a no-brainer-
00:36:57.468 --> 00:36:59.188
... why there's a debate.
00:37:00.048 --> 00:37:04.188
But let's kind of play this exercise out a little bit further and have a little bit of fun,
00:37:04.828 --> 00:37:10.128
'cause the Peyton Manning, Ryan Leaf example is not an outlier. You know? There is stats,
00:37:10.188 --> 00:37:16.098
I think it's only 47% or 51% of first-round quarterbacks end up not having successful
00:37:16.168 --> 00:37:21.968
careers, and so there's always this question mark of, like, okay, well, why did this one go and this one
00:37:22.028 --> 00:37:24.048
didn't? So let's say the
00:37:24.108 --> 00:37:25.988
two of you are now, in
00:37:26.028 --> 00:37:30.048
consideration, and we are... And we'll just make up a team,
00:37:30.088 --> 00:37:32.028
like the Albuquerque, Hot
00:37:32.068 --> 00:37:36.368
Air Balloonists- ... to bring it' full circle. The Albuquerque Hot Air Balloonists- Perfect
00:37:36.368 --> 00:37:40.008
... are an expansion program in the NFL, and they've been awarded the number one draft
00:37:40.048 --> 00:37:42.028
pick, and it's between Gabe and Todd.
00:37:43.248 --> 00:37:43.468
And
00:37:43.648 --> 00:37:43.948
so,
00:37:44.388 --> 00:37:44.548
uh,
00:37:45.167 --> 00:37:45.788
the dilemma
00:37:46.128 --> 00:37:52.048
is Gabe comes from a school that, has a long list of well-regarded
00:37:52.408 --> 00:37:55.128
quarterback and development of quarterbacks, and, I mean, it's
00:37:55.188 --> 00:37:58.088
just, that's a, just dominant quarterback school,
00:37:58.868 --> 00:38:00.028
and he looks great,
00:38:00.708 --> 00:38:03.068
and Todd actually comes from a place
00:38:03.428 --> 00:38:06.008
where no one's ever been really drafted very high
00:38:06.068 --> 00:38:08.998
before. But I mean, it's like he's just one
00:38:09.028 --> 00:38:09.788
of these guys, like,
00:38:10.748 --> 00:38:14.968
and see if you can figure out which quarterback I'm talking about right now. Maybe he comes from a
00:38:15.048 --> 00:38:18.108
small little town in California, a farm town.
00:38:18.568 --> 00:38:22.998
Ends up going to a university when no one else was interested in him, and now all
00:38:23.068 --> 00:38:25.978
of a sudden, you know, is one of the best quarterbacks in
00:38:26.008 --> 00:38:29.988
the league kinda thing. Um, so that's Todd's journey. So that's the
00:38:30.008 --> 00:38:30.568
comparable,
00:38:31.148 --> 00:38:31.348
right?
00:38:32.208 --> 00:38:34.008
Um, so to
00:38:34.068 --> 00:38:36.088
walk you through it, both of you would
00:38:36.168 --> 00:38:38.128
come in, and,
00:38:38.228 --> 00:38:39.988
uh, you'd each be given an
00:38:40.088 --> 00:38:46.048
iPad. You'd spend about 30 to 35 minutes taking the test. The AIQ is comprised of 10
00:38:46.088 --> 00:38:48.068
sub-tests. They take about two to three minutes in length
00:38:48.228 --> 00:38:48.508
each.
00:38:49.388 --> 00:38:53.168
And what I think both the players and the teams really
00:38:53.228 --> 00:38:53.928
appreciate
00:38:55.148 --> 00:38:55.688
is that
00:38:56.368 --> 00:39:01.948
the, that it's a series of games. It's a series of cognitive tasks. They look like Candy
00:39:02.028 --> 00:39:03.028
Crush, to
00:39:03.068 --> 00:39:07.908
be honest with you. Um, and I think the reason why both players and teams like that
00:39:08.028 --> 00:39:10.088
is it's not language-dependent,
00:39:10.468 --> 00:39:15.248
'cause if you think about sports, it isn't really language-dependent. It's not culturally dependent. So,
00:39:15.288 --> 00:39:19.048
you know, going back to those four buckets, the personality measures that exist
00:39:19.148 --> 00:39:22.288
out there, they are language-dependent, and they are culturally
00:39:22.308 --> 00:39:25.168
dependent, um, which, you know,
00:39:25.228 --> 00:39:31.188
is to say, like, how do you measure someone who might come from a small farm town in Iowa
00:39:32.028 --> 00:39:36.148
and also a, an inner city area of Miami
00:39:36.158 --> 00:39:40.448
in Florida? Like, those are two very different worlds, and so trying to capture
00:39:40.488 --> 00:39:42.048
that in a universal
00:39:42.068 --> 00:39:42.538
way. Mm-hmm.
00:39:43.128 --> 00:39:44.988
So, you know, when Jim and I were
00:39:45.048 --> 00:39:48.008
creating this thing, we made sure that we were
00:39:48.648 --> 00:39:52.028
robust or immune to socioeconomic status,
00:39:52.688 --> 00:39:53.068
race,
00:39:53.428 --> 00:39:54.128
religion,
00:39:54.488 --> 00:39:54.988
country of
00:39:55.168 --> 00:39:57.328
origin, ethnicity,
00:39:57.628 --> 00:40:01.268
I mean, all sorts of things that could be influential,
00:40:02.168 --> 00:40:05.108
uh, and contribute to miscaptures of data.
00:40:06.028 --> 00:40:06.228
Um,
00:40:06.448 --> 00:40:06.888
in fact,
00:40:07.368 --> 00:40:11.208
uh, I think it was either last year's draft or the 2021
00:40:11.268 --> 00:40:15.088
draft, 10 of the top 11 scorers were minorities,
00:40:15.928 --> 00:40:23.008
um, which is interesting because one of the criticisms in, in some forms of testing, not just
00:40:23.068 --> 00:40:29.908
in sports but others, is that they can be culturally biased, and they are. Um, like for example, uh, in
00:40:29.968 --> 00:40:36.768
a traditional intelligence test, one of the questions that's can be asked is what is a schooner? And that, I
00:40:36.808 --> 00:40:41.128
remember learning that and getting really frustrated because, again, coming from New Mexico,
00:40:42.238 --> 00:40:45.018
I've never come across a schooner. I don't know what a schooner is. And
00:40:45.068 --> 00:40:45.908
for those that don't know, a
00:40:46.008 --> 00:40:47.208
schooner is a, a boat.
00:40:48.348 --> 00:40:51.908
So you have a, you have a competitive advantage if you come from the coast,
00:40:52.168 --> 00:40:54.268
right? Because y- you've been exposed
00:40:54.308 --> 00:40:54.868
to schooners.
00:40:55.328 --> 00:40:59.288
I hadn't. So we took things like that, and we threw them out, and we said, "We're just gonna focus
00:40:59.408 --> 00:41:02.027
more on the cognitive abilities that
00:41:02.068 --> 00:41:04.328
we know we can measure without
00:41:04.368 --> 00:41:08.048
bias." Yeah, me, and Todd look
00:41:08.168 --> 00:41:11.138
HR like. We're both Midwesterners. Todd is from a farm
00:41:11.148 --> 00:41:14.008
in Iowa, so he's- Yeah, you described me perfectly ... from the middle
00:41:14.048 --> 00:41:17.008
of nowhere. Yeah, it sounds like, it sounds like he's Josh
00:41:17.048 --> 00:41:20.968
Allen, and I'm Tom Brady. It's possible, right? And, and that becomes an interesting
00:41:21.008 --> 00:41:26.028
question- Yep ... of these are two incredibly successful individuals at the top of their game, but they might
00:41:26.088 --> 00:41:26.928
be doing it in very
00:41:27.068 --> 00:41:29.248
different ways. And,
00:41:29.268 --> 00:41:33.178
and so, you know, it's funny because I, I've actually had GMs
00:41:33.268 --> 00:41:33.648
say,
00:41:34.168 --> 00:41:37.018
"Scott, who should I pick, this guy or that
00:41:37.048 --> 00:41:38.048
guy?" And I'll
00:41:38.128 --> 00:41:40.068
always say, like, I, I, I
00:41:40.248 --> 00:41:42.068
love the,
00:41:42.308 --> 00:41:45.348
um, the pressure and the intensity of the question,
00:41:45.988 --> 00:41:46.068
but
00:41:46.128 --> 00:41:46.848
I also say, like,
00:41:47.688 --> 00:41:51.988
um, "If I can answer that or if I can predict that for you, I would ask for a lot
00:41:52.008 --> 00:41:52.188
more
00:41:52.228 --> 00:41:55.988
money, and I would also probably- Yeah ... go to the owner and tell him that we can fire
00:41:56.128 --> 00:41:56.988
you and just put me
00:41:57.028 --> 00:42:00.008
in spot." Like, this is all just us trying
00:42:00.088 --> 00:42:05.118
to make, um, you know, like well-educated guess- I mean, it's the same thing, like,
00:42:05.888 --> 00:42:10.048
if my financial advisor's so brilliant at investing in the stock market, what does he need
00:42:10.108 --> 00:42:14.198
my money for? He should be a billionaire. Like, human behavior
00:42:14.708 --> 00:42:20.008
and human interaction is so complicated that all we can do is make well-educated guesses.
00:42:20.588 --> 00:42:22.108
What I think's interesting is
00:42:22.488 --> 00:42:23.968
the same way, if you ever watch,
00:42:24.008 --> 00:42:25.128
like, Poker,
00:42:25.448 --> 00:42:27.068
Poker Night on ESPN, which
00:42:27.108 --> 00:42:29.107
is a game of luck, but how
00:42:29.188 --> 00:42:33.118
come the five guys at the final table all seem to be the same dudes,
00:42:33.228 --> 00:42:33.448
right?
00:42:34.168 --> 00:42:39.388
So, uh, Louis Pasteur has that great line about how chance favors the prepared mind,
00:42:39.948 --> 00:42:43.328
and I think when you have really good information,
00:42:43.928 --> 00:42:46.428
you can make well-educated decisions.
00:42:46.818 --> 00:42:52.032
And so one of the things that happens is-Trying to figure out what
00:42:52.112 --> 00:43:00.312
is noise and false information versus what's a signal to what would make a Josh Allen or a Tom Brady
00:43:00.392 --> 00:43:07.972
is hard, but there are some teams and some individuals that are unbelievably good at finding that
00:43:08.052 --> 00:43:11.512
talent, and I think part of it is they're well-informed.
00:43:11.872 --> 00:43:16.002
Um, that's one of the things that I think's been really cool with the AIQ. Going back
00:43:16.052 --> 00:43:18.142
to the, "Hey, should I take this guy or that
00:43:18.152 --> 00:43:21.932
guy?" I said, "I can't answer that for you, but what I can tell
00:43:22.032 --> 00:43:29.082
you is this guy's AIQ profile suggests he's more of like a C ball, hit ball kinda guy,
00:43:29.632 --> 00:43:30.022
and this
00:43:30.052 --> 00:43:32.972
guy's AIQ is more of like a, hey, I
00:43:33.052 --> 00:43:35.152
can be clever and do
00:43:35.212 --> 00:43:36.892
things like, you know, delayed
00:43:37.012 --> 00:43:42.032
stunts and zone blitzes and a lot more complicated things. So you tell me, which do
00:43:42.072 --> 00:43:44.572
you think would be a better fit in your organization?"
00:43:45.252 --> 00:43:47.032
And that's, I think, part of how
00:43:47.052 --> 00:43:49.082
they, they led to their decision-making of
00:43:49.112 --> 00:43:56.812
which one they took. Yeah, that's a good distinction because I imagine you'd get a lot of general managers or
00:43:56.852 --> 00:44:00.032
head coaches coming to you and saying like, "Hey, Scott, we wanna make the best
00:44:00.092 --> 00:44:03.272
roster possible. We know technical skills are important,
00:44:04.592 --> 00:44:08.072
uh, but we want a roster that is intelligent and cohesive and fits together,
00:44:08.152 --> 00:44:10.012
right? Like, how do we do that?" So I imagine that comes up
00:44:10.022 --> 00:44:11.892
a lot for you, right? All the
00:44:12.012 --> 00:44:14.212
time. And, and it goes back to, like,
00:44:14.852 --> 00:44:16.372
you know, it's interesting because
00:44:18.032 --> 00:44:21.002
y- you have seen this, the quote unquote dream teams that just
00:44:21.002 --> 00:44:25.902
don't work. You know, whether it's like, oh, we're gonna put a bunch of star players together, but we've only
00:44:25.952 --> 00:44:30.992
got one ball in basketball, or, you know, again, you'll see this sometimes in the NFL
00:44:31.072 --> 00:44:34.972
where, oh, we've got everything in place, but we're just gonna add a quarterback at the, at the,
00:44:35.092 --> 00:44:36.152
as the final piece.
00:44:36.892 --> 00:44:36.992
And
00:44:37.032 --> 00:44:37.742
sort of it's like,
00:44:38.652 --> 00:44:38.832
so
00:44:39.252 --> 00:44:41.112
what, what comprises
00:44:41.792 --> 00:44:43.032
a winning team
00:44:43.612 --> 00:44:48.132
is not just, oh, we're gonna get the best individuals. It's really about, like, we need to get
00:44:48.172 --> 00:44:49.572
the best interaction.
00:44:50.272 --> 00:44:52.952
Um, one of the statements that I'll give to teams when I'm
00:44:53.012 --> 00:44:57.072
working with them is I'll say, "It's funny because we fall in love
00:44:57.112 --> 00:45:01.091
with players, but what we really desire is
00:45:01.132 --> 00:45:05.512
their production." It's production over person.
00:45:06.432 --> 00:45:09.212
And so what happens is you think when you grab
00:45:09.252 --> 00:45:13.412
player X, you're getting their production, but in reality,
00:45:13.512 --> 00:45:13.852
player
00:45:14.292 --> 00:45:19.192
X is a combination... Or sorry, in reality, the production
00:45:19.692 --> 00:45:21.072
is a combination of
00:45:21.092 --> 00:45:26.002
player X and some of the environment that that is currently happening, and
00:45:26.052 --> 00:45:32.062
that environment can be, you know, some of the other players. So for example, a wide receiver's only as good
00:45:32.112 --> 00:45:33.012
as the left tackle
00:45:33.052 --> 00:45:33.612
can block,
00:45:34.052 --> 00:45:37.052
right? 'Cause if a left tackle can't block, the wide receiver
00:45:37.092 --> 00:45:40.212
can't, you know, make long routes or deep routes.
00:45:40.952 --> 00:45:41.172
Um,
00:45:41.492 --> 00:45:45.092
that's one environment thing is just, you know, teammate capability. Another one
00:45:45.152 --> 00:45:49.752
is, like, you know, don't underestimate the value of, say, a nutritionist
00:45:50.472 --> 00:45:50.812
who
00:45:51.452 --> 00:45:51.692
is
00:45:52.212 --> 00:45:57.112
forged a meaningful relationship with a player in a way where the player goes, "I just don't wanna let
00:45:57.212 --> 00:45:58.052
that nutritionist
00:45:58.152 --> 00:45:58.472
down."
00:45:59.112 --> 00:46:05.842
Like, that kind of stuff happens, and so when we're looking for that production, I think we gotta measure these
00:46:05.872 --> 00:46:12.892
four buckets that we talked about and really kind of go, "Okay, if we grab this person, do we understand
00:46:12.972 --> 00:46:20.732
his or her success so that we can replicate it easily in our system? And if we can't replicate it
00:46:20.812 --> 00:46:22.172
easily, can we replicate
00:46:22.212 --> 00:46:22.292
it
00:46:22.672 --> 00:46:22.932
in a,
00:46:23.232 --> 00:46:26.952
in... Do we have the kind of resources and effort to replicate it in a more
00:46:27.012 --> 00:46:27.842
complicated way?"
00:46:29.472 --> 00:46:33.172
Absolutely. And when you're looking at athlete
00:46:33.192 --> 00:46:39.052
intelligence, you'd mentioned it in passing before a little bit, is this something that's fixed, or have you found
00:46:39.112 --> 00:46:42.022
that athletes can actually change on any of those buckets or any of
00:46:42.032 --> 00:46:44.212
the things that you're measuring? So
00:46:44.272 --> 00:46:48.252
that's that's one of the more complicated questions
00:46:48.332 --> 00:46:51.072
to answer, uh, but I'll do the best I can.
00:46:52.052 --> 00:46:55.012
I think that there's two paths to this answer. Path one is
00:46:55.052 --> 00:47:00.372
you just say yes. Neuroplasticity, which is kind of a new theory, and when I say new I mean the
00:47:00.412 --> 00:47:03.292
last 30, 40 years, neuroplasticity exists,
00:47:03.752 --> 00:47:08.011
and so what we can do is we can do all kinds of brain training mechanisms and
00:47:08.032 --> 00:47:12.352
things like that that can, that can change one's intelligence.
00:47:12.952 --> 00:47:16.992
So that's, one answer is yes. The other answer is
00:47:17.072 --> 00:47:21.052
no, that the idea is, and this is more consistent with the
00:47:21.132 --> 00:47:23.372
literature in intelligence theory,
00:47:23.872 --> 00:47:27.072
that intelligence is one of the most genetically stable traits that we
00:47:27.152 --> 00:47:31.012
have. The interesting thing is with the no, if you go the no
00:47:31.072 --> 00:47:33.312
route and you say intelligence is genetically
00:47:33.452 --> 00:47:33.912
stable,
00:47:34.372 --> 00:47:36.952
that doesn't mean a person is
00:47:37.032 --> 00:47:38.932
unable to execute a
00:47:39.012 --> 00:47:43.032
task. It just means you have to come up with compensatory
00:47:43.192 --> 00:47:47.212
strategies. So what do I mean by that? Going back to my height, being
00:47:47.272 --> 00:47:50.942
short, if the nature of the task is to grab something from the
00:47:51.052 --> 00:47:54.152
top shelf, I just need a ladder
00:47:54.192 --> 00:47:57.012
or a footstool. That's not about me
00:47:57.332 --> 00:47:58.212
making myself
00:47:58.272 --> 00:48:02.052
taller. It's about me coming up with a strategy to get to the top shelf.
00:48:02.592 --> 00:48:07.012
So similarly with the no route of no intelligence is stable, you can't change
00:48:07.092 --> 00:48:09.232
it, it's not you just go, "Okay,
00:48:09.652 --> 00:48:10.452
this person,"
00:48:11.552 --> 00:48:17.062
let's say this person struggles to, um, identify minute details in
00:48:17.072 --> 00:48:19.062
a crowded field, kind of like a Where's
00:48:19.092 --> 00:48:21.952
Waldo task. If someone struggles
00:48:22.012 --> 00:48:22.992
with that, what
00:48:23.032 --> 00:48:24.092
you might do,
00:48:24.512 --> 00:48:30.092
like in the NFL, for example, is you might have him go through progressive reads.
00:48:30.972 --> 00:48:35.072
Rather than identifying and trying to identify the mike or trying to do some pre-snap reads
00:48:35.092 --> 00:48:35.152
of
00:48:35.172 --> 00:48:35.772
what's going on, you go,
00:48:36.102 --> 00:48:39.092
"You know what? We're gonna simplify it. We're just gonna have you go to the first read.
00:48:39.592 --> 00:48:42.012
If it's open, make the throw. If it's not, tuck
00:48:42.052 --> 00:48:47.812
the ball and go." And that's the kind of thing that's an easy fix solution. Doesn't require any additional money
00:48:47.832 --> 00:48:52.972
or anything else. It just requires a game plan.But in the ever-evolving game
00:48:53.012 --> 00:48:57.602
of sports, uh, you know, it's all about like cops and robbers, once people start to figure out that that's
00:48:57.612 --> 00:48:59.891
what's happening, you're a one progressive read
00:49:00.072 --> 00:49:05.712
quarterback, they'll start to defend you in that manner. We know that if we cover the first one, he's gonna
00:49:05.752 --> 00:49:09.162
go. And so then you gotta come up with a different solution to that
00:49:09.192 --> 00:49:12.212
puzzle. If you go the yes route with the brain training
00:49:12.332 --> 00:49:16.152
stuff, well, there's a lot of products out there that, um,
00:49:16.732 --> 00:49:17.032
claim
00:49:17.072 --> 00:49:21.812
to do that, you know, claim to do just that. Like, "Oh, we can get those mirror neurons," or, "We
00:49:21.832 --> 00:49:25.132
get the neurons going, and we change the way people can process
00:49:25.172 --> 00:49:27.032
information." Um,
00:49:27.772 --> 00:49:29.052
what I would share with you
00:49:30.052 --> 00:49:30.432
is
00:49:31.412 --> 00:49:34.752
there have been several teams that have used the AiQ,
00:49:35.432 --> 00:49:40.002
then ran them through a gauntlet of brain training devices that were sold to them, and
00:49:40.032 --> 00:49:41.332
then they did an AiQ,
00:49:42.132 --> 00:49:42.142
uh,
00:49:42.412 --> 00:49:44.202
post- uh, treatment,
00:49:44.932 --> 00:49:48.412
and the AiQ scores didn't change.
00:49:48.712 --> 00:49:49.592
And, and so
00:49:50.012 --> 00:49:54.112
I, I think that's more consistent with the literature that's out there that says, "Hey, this is a genetically stable
00:49:54.192 --> 00:49:54.472
trait."
00:49:57.292 --> 00:50:02.252
And you mentioned that previously there had been some, uh, research and some white papers published related
00:50:02.292 --> 00:50:03.252
to AiQ and on-field
00:50:03.312 --> 00:50:08.932
performance. Is there anything new in terms of the research that you're looking at, or any layers that you're trying
00:50:08.952 --> 00:50:11.052
to peel back currently with AiQ that
00:50:11.092 --> 00:50:11.812
we can look forward to?
00:50:12.392 --> 00:50:13.992
Yeah. Um, we just
00:50:14.172 --> 00:50:17.212
finished writing one... So the first one was with the NFL,
00:50:18.072 --> 00:50:19.092
second one was with Major
00:50:19.132 --> 00:50:25.112
League Baseball. So with the NFL, we looked at things like I mentioned earlier, rushing yards, interceptions, sacks,
00:50:25.212 --> 00:50:26.032
tackles for loss. So like
00:50:26.092 --> 00:50:29.912
meaningful stuff. Um, the one with Major League Baseball was hitting and
00:50:30.012 --> 00:50:32.672
pitching. We found statistically significant,
00:50:33.272 --> 00:50:38.012
uh, correlation with things like batting averages and, you know, strike outs, ERAs,
00:50:38.112 --> 00:50:45.582
stuff like that. And then, um, what's coming next is we've got a, an NBA study that's gonna show some
00:50:45.632 --> 00:50:51.012
of that data, and then we also have, uh, the quarterback specific one, where we're gonna start to
00:50:51.332 --> 00:50:55.022
highlight and identify some of the things that we found with quarterbacks specifically. Those
00:50:55.052 --> 00:50:59.012
are coming next. Yeah, very cool. So
00:50:59.412 --> 00:51:00.192
for our listeners,
00:51:01.252 --> 00:51:07.092
where can people go to learn more about AiQ, and what resources would you recommend to our listeners
00:51:07.112 --> 00:51:08.952
related to anything in the scope of
00:51:09.012 --> 00:51:11.212
athlete intelligence? Sure. Um,
00:51:11.632 --> 00:51:17.152
so where I'd recommend is, uh, like our website is athleticintel.com.
00:51:18.612 --> 00:51:18.932
And,
00:51:19.012 --> 00:51:26.852
uh, and as far as resources about athletic intelligence, like it's interesting, there's not really a whole lot out there,
00:51:26.952 --> 00:51:29.112
um, doing it. So
00:51:29.332 --> 00:51:34.532
I, I think i- if someone wanted to explore it more, I would strongly encourage them to just, you know,
00:51:34.632 --> 00:51:35.052
reach out
00:51:35.092 --> 00:51:38.552
to us, you know, via that website. There's a contact,
00:51:39.012 --> 00:51:39.052
you
00:51:39.092 --> 00:51:46.362
know, page, and you can just email us. You can email us at info@athleticintel.com, or you can, you know,
00:51:46.392 --> 00:51:46.992
reach out to me
00:51:47.072 --> 00:51:52.192
specifically. M- my email address is goldman@athleticintel.com, or Twitter.
00:51:52.572 --> 00:51:52.732
Um,
00:51:53.072 --> 00:51:53.192
you're
00:51:53.232 --> 00:51:57.512
welcome to tweet at me. I, I'll be honest with you, I'm not much on social media, but I do
00:51:57.532 --> 00:52:00.632
get tweeted at a lot. I don't know if that's the right terminology.
00:52:01.232 --> 00:52:05.212
But I'm always happy to be a resource for people who are interested in this,
00:52:05.552 --> 00:52:06.212
in this area.
00:52:07.312 --> 00:52:11.422
Yeah. I think I follow maybe like 800 people on Twitter. You're definitely in my top 750,
00:52:11.552 --> 00:52:11.712
so.
00:52:12.332 --> 00:52:14.972
Yes. Made
00:52:15.152 --> 00:52:15.192
it.
00:52:15.202 --> 00:52:17.012
We did it. Top 750, here we
00:52:17.072 --> 00:52:20.061
go. Um- You're on the up. Yeah. He's
00:52:20.112 --> 00:52:21.132
climbing the ladder right now.
00:52:21.792 --> 00:52:23.192
So you're saying- Yeah ... there's a chance.
00:52:23.512 --> 00:52:25.032
Yeah, that's right. I knew you were good for one
00:52:25.072 --> 00:52:27.992
movie quote at least. There it is. Uh, um,
00:52:28.072 --> 00:52:31.121
so okay. We'll make sure that we share,
00:52:31.712 --> 00:52:37.192
uh, the things that you mentioned, the resources you mentioned in the published episodes. We appreciate that. Something
00:52:37.232 --> 00:52:39.472
we ask all of our guests on the podcast,
00:52:40.152 --> 00:52:42.192
and it's our fun little, uh, question to finish
00:52:42.232 --> 00:52:45.452
things off. is, what is your current training regimen
00:52:45.492 --> 00:52:52.112
like? So, um, I have always enjoyed the kindness
00:52:52.192 --> 00:52:52.892
of friends,
00:52:53.512 --> 00:52:57.212
and, uh, one of the strength and conditioning coaches
00:52:57.292 --> 00:52:57.912
that...
00:52:58.492 --> 00:53:00.032
Well, let me go back.
00:53:00.372 --> 00:53:05.072
I feel like every question I've got like a super long answer for, so I appreciate you letting us kind
00:53:05.112 --> 00:53:09.572
of expand. I hope people are, are enjoying the storytelling and the elaboration.
00:53:09.612 --> 00:53:14.132
I think sometimes this type of format allows us to go deep versus just a quick
00:53:14.252 --> 00:53:15.952
soundbite. But,
00:53:16.052 --> 00:53:20.302
um, I, I, I've always enjoyed working
00:53:20.302 --> 00:53:28.162
with others. So the nutritionist, the strength coach, the athletic trainer, like all, like the whole ecosystem around sports.
00:53:29.072 --> 00:53:30.072
And that brings us back
00:53:30.112 --> 00:53:37.172
to, so I am very fortunate to have befriended some strength and conditioning coaches that have agreed to help
00:53:37.212 --> 00:53:38.332
give me a workout.
00:53:38.652 --> 00:53:38.892
Um,
00:53:39.792 --> 00:53:44.012
and so I follow the workout. I, I, you know, I work out every day, and they give me,
00:53:44.072 --> 00:53:47.112
you know, every like, every month they give me a new, a new workout
00:53:47.172 --> 00:53:53.032
sheet. And, and I would love to give credit to the person who's helping me, the coach, uh, the,
00:53:53.172 --> 00:53:54.112
the strength and conditioning coach
00:53:54.152 --> 00:53:58.152
that's helping me, but I will politely not reveal his name
00:53:58.692 --> 00:54:01.992
because I don't know if he wants to take credit for the way this thing
00:54:02.092 --> 00:54:05.062
looks right now, so. Uh, I'm grateful for
00:54:05.092 --> 00:54:08.152
his help. That's
00:54:08.232 --> 00:54:11.072
awesome. So what are you doing? Just
00:54:11.112 --> 00:54:15.072
getting... What, what kind of, what kind of workouts are you doing? Yeah. So I, uh, I lift weights
00:54:15.152 --> 00:54:20.232
three times a week, and then I do cardio, uh, the other days, the other f- uh, the other four.
00:54:21.732 --> 00:54:25.052
And, and so, um, it's funny, like we go through cycles where
00:54:25.132 --> 00:54:25.752
we'll do like,
00:54:26.432 --> 00:54:29.172
uh, low, low weight, high volume
00:54:29.572 --> 00:54:29.892
kind of
00:54:30.092 --> 00:54:32.062
stuff and then the other
00:54:32.112 --> 00:54:32.792
one is we'll go
00:54:33.232 --> 00:54:35.012
high weight, l- uh, low
00:54:35.092 --> 00:54:37.262
reps. Uh, what's nice is,
00:54:38.252 --> 00:54:43.672
you know, as a guy who's getting older and having his injuries, being a former athlete himself, like
00:54:44.452 --> 00:54:50.002
I, I, I'm grateful because he's, he's folded in some things that just... He's, like he always asks me, "What
00:54:50.012 --> 00:54:51.992
do you wanna accomplish?" I'm like, "I just wanna be able to run
00:54:52.032 --> 00:54:57.032
around with my kids while they're still willing to let me run around with them." And so a lot of
00:54:57.072 --> 00:55:03.026
it is like, you know, core. You know, like-It's definitely not designed for the beach. You know, it's, I'm not
00:55:03.056 --> 00:55:04.976
there to, to, "Which way to
00:55:05.016 --> 00:55:10.116
the beach?" You know, kind of thing. But it, it is one of these things where, uh, I can go
00:55:10.156 --> 00:55:11.036
and play baseball with
00:55:11.116 --> 00:55:13.986
my son at one of his practices, and some of
00:55:14.036 --> 00:55:16.076
the parents are 10 or 15 years
00:55:16.136 --> 00:55:18.536
younger than me, and I can hold my own.
00:55:18.616 --> 00:55:23.056
Uh, that, so I, I give the strength coach who set me up a lot of credit for
00:55:23.576 --> 00:55:24.096
being able to do
00:55:24.136 --> 00:55:24.356
that.
00:55:25.136 --> 00:55:27.216
Yeah, that's awesome. Making more out of the years
00:55:27.276 --> 00:55:31.955
you have. Well- That's good you have all those relationships and, you know, being consistent in your training. It sounds
00:55:31.976 --> 00:55:33.376
like, yeah, you're, you're a beast.
00:55:34.166 --> 00:55:34.816
I don't know about a
00:55:35.036 --> 00:55:38.056
beast, but- Hey, if you're doing it every day, that's legit,
00:55:38.596 --> 00:55:38.856
so.
00:55:39.276 --> 00:55:39.465
Well,
00:55:39.816 --> 00:55:40.316
we try.
00:55:42.316 --> 00:55:45.006
Yeah. I mean, just basically set up the training so you can continue to eat
00:55:45.016 --> 00:55:46.296
green chili burritos. That'd be great.
00:55:49.396 --> 00:55:50.016
Well, um,
00:55:50.396 --> 00:55:52.936
that's awesome, Scott. We really, really appreciate, uh, you
00:55:53.016 --> 00:55:58.096
coming on with us today and talking about AIQ, and like I said, we'll make sure to share all those
00:55:58.136 --> 00:55:59.096
resources that you had
00:55:59.156 --> 00:56:04.046
mentioned, and it was a fantastic talk. We're definitely looking forward to learning more about it and seeing how
00:56:04.076 --> 00:56:08.036
it continues to evolve and kinda monitoring. And I know at least this Sunday when I watch the
00:56:08.076 --> 00:56:09.956
NFL, I'm gonna be watching it through a little bit of
00:56:10.016 --> 00:56:13.056
a different lens. Uh, so we're excited about that. So thank you
00:56:13.076 --> 00:56:19.296
for your time. You know, one of the things is, uh, we have a, an early career professional who has
00:56:19.356 --> 00:56:20.996
been... who has access
00:56:21.036 --> 00:56:25.176
to our database and has taken over our, our
00:56:25.216 --> 00:56:30.476
Twitter account, and one of the things that she's doing is every Sunday she's watching
00:56:31.056 --> 00:56:31.196
and
00:56:31.856 --> 00:56:34.516
matching AIQ events.
00:56:35.056 --> 00:56:35.256
So,
00:56:35.516 --> 00:56:35.736
you know,
00:56:37.456 --> 00:56:40.156
s- player X just made this amazing catch,
00:56:40.536 --> 00:56:41.416
and it's consistent
00:56:41.476 --> 00:56:42.876
with his ability
00:56:43.096 --> 00:56:43.716
regarding this,
00:56:44.176 --> 00:56:47.056
and, and there's been a lot of people who've been having
00:56:47.256 --> 00:56:47.576
fun,
00:56:48.116 --> 00:56:54.056
um, following that. 'Cause I think, uh, like you said, it's, it is, it's just a different way to watch
00:56:54.096 --> 00:56:54.166
the
00:56:54.236 --> 00:56:59.436
sport. Yeah, I saw, like, uh, Garrett Wilson will make a catch, right? And then his, like, spatial awareness.
00:56:59.816 --> 00:57:03.216
I've been following the account, and I've been watching that too, so I'm kinda scrolling through as I'm watching
00:57:03.256 --> 00:57:05.146
all the games, and I saw that, so that was very
00:57:05.176 --> 00:57:06.186
cool. I like
00:57:06.186 --> 00:57:06.776
that. Is that one of the top
00:57:07.276 --> 00:57:10.135
750? Yeah. S. Uh,
00:57:10.176 --> 00:57:10.716
it just made,
00:57:11.136 --> 00:57:14.016
just made it. But now I know two of
00:57:14.076 --> 00:57:15.166
your 750.
00:57:15.526 --> 00:57:16.016
That's fantastic.
00:57:16.616 --> 00:57:20.016
Keep, keep up the great content, and, uh, you might, you might make it into the 600s.
00:57:20.496 --> 00:57:20.776
Woof.
00:57:22.076 --> 00:57:23.316
You know, a young company
00:57:23.416 --> 00:57:27.016
can dream. So anyway,
00:57:27.256 --> 00:57:30.096
really appreciate it. It was, it was great to, to be on here with you today, so
00:57:30.136 --> 00:57:32.096
thank you. Oh, thanks for the opportunity.
00:57:33.056 --> 00:57:34.716
Yeah, thanks for your time.
00:57:39.116 --> 00:57:43.406
We appreciate you tuning in to this episode of the Keiser Human Performance Podcast.
00:57:44.036 --> 00:57:44.996
To stay up to date on
00:57:45.036 --> 00:57:48.016
all things Keiser, follow us @Keiserfitness
00:57:48.056 --> 00:57:50.116
on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
00:57:50.956 --> 00:57:53.166
For more content, you can visit our Keiser Fitness
00:57:53.236 --> 00:57:57.616
YouTube page and at our website, www.keiser.com.
00:57:58.256 --> 00:57:58.416
Thank
00:57:58.476 --> 00:57:59.026
you, and
00:57:59.056 --> 00:57:59.816
have a great day.
Related Related Articles
Explore articles on similar themes and topics

A Guide to Power Training for All Levels: Benefits, Techniques, and Tips
Power is a critical component in many athletic and daily activities, serving as the bridge between strength and speed. Whether you're an elite athlete, a weekend warrior, or an older adult aiming to maintain independence, developing power can significantly enhance your performance and quality of life. In this article, we delve into the science of power and explore its importance across different demographics, outlining how Keiser equipment can be used to effectively train for maximal power.

Turning Force into Speed: Master the Transfer of Rotational Power
Rotational power is the primary driver of performance in nearly every dynamic sport, from the golf course to the pitcher's mound. It is the ability to generate and control force through the transverse plane. Modern athletic research emphasizes that training the body to transfer rotational power effectively requires an integrated, movement-based approach rather than isolated exercises.
© 2026 Keiser Corporation | 2470 S. Cherry Ave | Fresno CA 93706






