When it comes to high-performance sports, the tiniest details can carry the greatest weight. Advanced data analytic tools can harness the power of AI to pinpoint these crucial details by analyzing video recordings of a practice session.
At the forefront of developing data analytic tools for elite javelin throwers is SPH-B Ph.D. student Perry Battles, who was recently awarded the Dr. Mel Ramey Sport Science Award for 2025 by USA Track & Field (USATF). Battles played a key role in developing out the markerless motion capture program called JavBuddy, which analyzes video of elite USA javelin throwers to help them refine their performance. according to Battles’ doctoral supervisor and Kinesiology professor Robert Chapman, this tool helped Curtis Thompson win the first men’s javelin medal for the USA in 16 years at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
“Throwing athletes and I have an intrinsic kinship because every thrower at heart is a weightlifter, and my background is in power lifting,” says Battles. “Any sport that revolves around a barbell is where my passion and training started.”
The idea for a data analytic program specific to javelin throwers started in May 2023 when Battles accompanied Chapman to the Tucson Throws sporting event in Arizona. Battles and his team were using another program to capture some data collection but soon discovered the technology didn’t suit their specific needs.
“We discovered it was built to work in baseball, with hitting or pitching athletes remaining in one spot,” says Battles. “Javelin throwing has very dynamic movement and it was just not properly calibrated for our purposes.”
It was at that point Battles started rigging together what would eventually become the rudimentary design for JavBuddy. With assistance from Chapman, Battles was connected to former SPH-B graduate Tyler Noble who is now the Lead Sport Science and Data Analyst at USATF in Indianapolis. Noble, alongside his colleague and fellow USATF Sport Scientist Lia Skoufos, began helping Battles build out the program. In March 2025, the team demoed the program with Don Babbitt, throwing coach at the University of Georgia and his trainee, USATF Olympic hopeful Marc Minichello.
“We collect the data by filming at a practice, and then those recordings get sent to Tyler and Lia who process [the video] and put the data on a dashboard for athletes like Curtis or Mark to look at,” says Battles. “Some of the best feedback we received is when Curtis told us JavBuddy enabled him to see what a good practice looked like versus a bad one.”
Battles says that particularly for Olympic hopefuls, the smallest adjustments—release angle or velocity, the bend of an elbow or knee—could make all the difference in coming out a champion or not.
“[JavBuddy] is going to help professional athletes quantify things that their intuition probably cannot tell them and make marginal gains that will possibly be a deciding factor between making it to the Olympics or not, and if you are at the Olympics, medaling or not,” says Battles. “We are basically hoping to bring medals—preferably gold ones—out of three sport scientists and a collection of Python scripts.”
Looking to the future, Battles says the goal is for JavBuddy to be developed into a video analytic app that will be able to give athletes real-time results. He hopes receiving this selective, nationwide honor will give him added credibility as the project moves forward.
“Receiving this award was a total surprise to me and was actually announced by Tyler when he came to present at my sport data analytics and decision-making class,” says Battles. “My class gave me a round of applause, and it was a real highlight of my career so far.”
Read more of how SPH-B students are making a mark both locally and nationwide at go.iu.edu/48bx.