Template A2

Device selection matrix

Compare your options criterion by criterion, so that you can show a board, a parent or a federation why you chose what you chose.

How to use it

Write the coaching question first. A device that does not help to answer it is unlikely to change your practice.
Set how much each criterion matters to you, from 0 to 5. Add your own criteria if you need them.
Score each option on each criterion, from 0 to 5.
Multiply each score by the weight of its criterion and add them up: that is the weighted score.
Read the trade-off of the winner before you decide. The point of the matrix is not the winner, it is the reasoning.

The coaching question the device should help you answer

Sport, level and number of athletes

Example: Youth football, twenty players aged 12 to 16.

Budget for the season

Example: €1,200

Example
Criterion	Weight (0-5)
Fits the budget	5
Accuracy in your sport	4
Athlete comfort and compliance	3
Staff time to run it	3
Data you can export	2

One row for each option. Score each criterion from 0 to 5, in the order of the table above. For the category, use the device categories of Module 1.

Example
Option	Scores	Weighted score	Trade-off
Paper sRPE logs	5, 3, 4, 4, 3	67	Free and always available; depends entirely on honest daily reporting.
20 chest-strap HR monitors at €60	4, 5, 2, 3, 4	63	Accurate in dynamic work; some youth athletes dislike the strap.
One shared GPS pod, rotated weekly	4, 4, 4, 2, 4	62	Good outdoor data for one player at a time; scheduling overhead.
Consumer watches, athlete-owned	5, 2, 5, 2, 1	56	No purchase cost, but mixed models, mixed accuracy and export limits.
GPS team vests for the full squad	0, 5, 3, 2, 5	45	Best data by far, and roughly fifteen times the available budget.

Ask the vendor for a peer-reviewed study and look for four things.

The example is Mehmet's choice from Module 1, with the default weights of the exercise.