WHOOP MLB

Performance Study

During the 2016 season, WHOOP conducted a study in collaboration

with Major League Baseball, monitoring the relationship between
physiological status and performance with 230 minor league players.
The study was designed to gain quantifiable data on physiological
stress on athletes, and the bodys response to stress.

WHOOP Coach Operating System

WHOOP provides athletes and coaches with a continuous understanding of Strain,
Recovery and Sleep to optimize performance.

WHOOP Coach Operating System

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is the measure of the naturally occurring irregularity
of your heartbeat. WHOOP measures HRV during slow wave sleep and uses the
metric RMSSD (Root Mean Square of Successive Differences).

WHOOP Coach Operating System

WHOOP allowed teams to:

Analyze pre-game Recovery

Accurately monitor sleep efficiency of athletes

Correlate Sleep and Recovery to performance

Monitor the effects of travel on Sleep and Recovery

Understand individual response to Strain

Identify positive behavioral changes

Correlate WHOOP data alongside reported injuries

Dataset Overview
28 Minor League teams from 9 organizations participated in the study
Worn by 230 athletes across all positions
Recorded:
3,321 workouts
4,407 sleeps
over 350,000,000 heart beats

High Compliance
Compliance among
players and coaches
was very high.
67% of players were
Daily Active Users.
Coaches spent 5-28
minutes per day looking
at dashboard.

Introduction
Position Analysis
Fitness Improvements
& Behavior Change
The Effects of Travel
Recovery & Performance
Conclusion &
Future Studies
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Position Analysis
Pitchers are the most cardiovascularly fit and have more
time between performances (rest days) than other positions.
Resting
Heart Rate

Heart Rate
Variability

Infielders

53.3 bpm

73.6 ms

Outfielders

53.5 bpm

84.7 ms

Pitchers

52.4 bpm

92.7 ms

Position Analysis: Pitchers

Starting pitchers require 3 full days to fully recover after performance.

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Injury Analysis
There were 12 reported non contact injuries over the course of the study.
The Average Recovery of injured players before injury was substantially lower.

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Introduction
Position Analysis
Fitness Improvements
& Behavior Change
The Effects of Travel
Recovery & Performance
Conclusion &
Future Studies
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Fitness Improvements on WHOOP

Over the course of the

season, players saw a
25 millisecond
increase in their HRV,
indicating greater
cardiovascular fitness.

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Behavior Changes
WHOOP Users become more keenly aware of how all their choices, training,
and recovery affect their bodys ability to perform.
One athlete quit drinking
alcohol and subsequently
saw decrease in Resting
Heart Rate, increase in HRV,
and improvement in Sleep
Performance while
subjectively feeling better in
the time period after he quit.

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Introduction
Position Analysis
Fitness Improvements
& Behavior Change
The Effects of Travel
Recovery & Performance
Conclusion &
Future Studies
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Time in Bed Following Travel Days vs Non-Travel Days

Players spent significantly more time in bed after Non-Travel Days.

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Hours of Sleep After Travel Days vs Non-Travel Days

Players got more sleep after Non-Travel Days.

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Recovery After Travel Days vs Non-Travel Days

Players had higher Recovery after Non-Travel Days.

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The Effect of Travel: Before, During, After Travel

It takes upwards of 2 days for players to recover to their before-travel baselines.

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The Effect of Travel: Before, During, After Travel

It takes upwards of 2 days for players to recover to their before-travel baselines.

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Introduction
Position Analysis
Fitness Improvements
& Behavior Change
The Effects of Travel
Recovery & Performance
Conclusion &
Future Studies
21

Every individual athlete showed a positive

relationship with performance and recovery.

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Higher Recovery = Higher Adjusted Fastball Velocity

All individual athletes shows a positive trend for Recovery and Fastball Velocity.

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Higher Recovery = Higher Adjusted Exit Velocity

All individual athletes shows a positive trend for Recovery and Ball Exit Velocity.

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Introduction
Position Analysis
Fitness Improvements
& Behavior Change
The Effects of Travel
Recovery & Performance
Conclusion &
Future Studies
25

Summary
Compliance among players and coaches was very high.
Pitchers are the most cardiovascularly fit.
Starting pitchers require 3 full days to fully recover after performance.
The Average Recovery of injured players before injury was substantially lower
than that of players that were not injured.
Players on WHOOP saw an increase in their HRV, indicating improved
cardiovascular fitness.
WHOOP Users become more keenly aware of how all their choices, training,
and recovery affect their bodys ability to perform.
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Summary (continued)
Players spent significantly more time in bed, got more hours of sleep and had
higher recoveries after Non-Travel Days.
It takes upwards of 2 days for players to recover to their before-travel baselines.
Every individual athlete showed a positive relationship with performance and
recovery.
All individual athletes shows a positive trend for Recovery and Fastball Velocity.
All individual athletes shows a positive trend for Recovery and Ball Exit Velocity.

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Future Studies
Have injured athletes wear WHOOP to measure returns to baseline
Individualized pitcher Recovery between games
Optimize travel for MLB teams
Injury Risk model

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How to use this data?

Be mindful of the need for privacy and sensitivity around data
Athletes may become more aware of their bodies and positively change behavior
Anticipate challenges associated with travel
Begin forming models looking at substitutions base on physiological data

You, the coaches and trainers, determine how to use the data.

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Thank you. Questions?

Contact
will@whoop.com
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