In fairness, if a team tells you they can’t climb while pit scouting - that is going to be accurate.
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The where do you shoot from question can be very important this year because if they are shooting from the same spot as you during auto or the match you will need to work things out with them if you are on an alliance with them.
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Why didn’t you do this in Google Forms, it would send the data to Sheets and the data can then be easily analyzed.
Can’t speak to the OP, but there’s lots of reasons to do paper scouting. I won’t go into all of them here but just a few notes:
- It makes pit scouting more personal. Looking/typing on your phone while having a conversation may be off-putting to some.
- Paper often leads to more accurate data in my experience. It is harder to make up data if you have to actually write it. I know this sounds silly, but I’ve sifted through lots of data and have noticed a pattern.
- Paper comes with a paper trail, increased accountability, and fewer opportunities for “technical difficulties” - real or imaginary. Similarly, it eliminates excuses like “I have no data” or “my battery is dead” from unmotivated scouts.
There are also many benefits to collecting data digitally: no need for data entry, saves time, no cost of materials, instant availability of data…just to name a few.
It’s really a team/personal decision. What works for some won’t work for all. For years, we did paper forms and saw much improved results. But the time and resource cost of doing so became increasingly burdensome and the risks of digital scouting (such as people without phones/data/battery) lessened. All that to say, it’s up to you - great arguments/pros and cons for both.
I agree scouting without a paper component leaves out data that can be collected at the speed of a brain to hand synapse as well a “unplanned” data collection. An app for app sake is limited. Where apps can help is to pull up data from paper scouting and work with paper scouting. We are attempting to do that this year.
In the past I have been a huge fan of paper scouting and still am, I am opening up the possibilities that an app/digital google form can pull out more information than thumbing through sheets can…I believe a combination of both is likely best. I will let you know the results next year.
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