Takedown Takeaway Winner

Congratulations to the Fowlerville Gladiator Wrestling team for winning February's Takedown Takeaway! Their prize, an iPad Bluetooth Keyboard/Case combo, is on the way to Fowlerville, Michigan.

We asked the coach, Sean Harvey, to tell us about his experience with Takedown.  Here's what he said:

My role with the high school team is asst. coach.  I was in charge of all paperwork and doing all stats for the team.

This is the first season that we have used the app.  We have looked around for a couple of years for a decent stat app and I just didn't like how any of the others ones worked.

Then one day I came across Takedown while searching for new stat apps prior to the season starting.   I liked how it flowed and how easy it was to put in match details.

I talked to the head coach about using it this season and he was fine with trying it out this season.  I think he enjoyed me using it as it made tracking things much easier for him.

It has made it so much easier to get stats out to the kids quickly (not having to go home and hand figure everything out).  I would print out a scoring detail report after every match so the kids could see how they did that night/day.  

I would also print out a season scoring detail report every week and it created a lot of competition on the team as the wrestlers could see where they ranked in certain categories and worked harder to move up the rankings!

The app also made it easier for me as an Asst. Coach as it is my responsibility to get the match info out to the local papers.  At the end of the night, I emailed all the box scores to 3 different newspapers and received many compliments from them each about how nice it was to have something like that emailed to them vs. called in to them and left on a voice mail.

It has made it easier for me as the head coach of the junior high team to see where our deficiencies are thru the scoring reports and to be able to let the kids know what aspect they need to work on in the room (ie. td's, escapes).  

It has also saved me a ton of time with the seeding meeting report, especially coming into our junior high league meet this weekend.  I don't have to go back thru the scorebook and retype all of the opponents out.  

I also loved how easy it was to get support for problems I had as I was beginning to learn how to use the app.  My concerns were attended to promptly and with professionalism from the Takedown staff.

I love the tweets that are sent out from the app.  A lot of our fans look forward to tweets every dual during the season so they can keep up with how the team is doing.

Congratulations to Fowlerville wrestling!

New Release: Takedown Scoring and Stats 1.6

Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 1.6 is available for download on the App Store today.  All users should update to this version.

Release 1.6 has some exciting new capabilities:

• Single tap copy of weigh in data to the NWCA/OPC Weigh In Entry Form. Tired of coming home after a long day of competition and typing data into the OPC? This is faster and more accurate.

• Export your stats in a spreadsheet friendly format for more flexibility in analyzing and visualizing your team's stats.

• Riding Time report reveals how much your wrestlers ride and get ridden by opponents.

Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 1.5

Takedown Scoring and Stats release 1.5 is available for download on the App Store today.  All users should upgrade to this release.

Release 1.5 offers a number of improvements and bug fixes:

• Fixes Twitter bug.

• Improves match purchase experience

• Allows for deleting a Season that still contains scored events (be careful!)

• Permits importing specific Events from another user's Season export

• Displays Event date in Seeding report rather than date on which scoring was entered

• Adds Search feature to opponent wrestler selection

• Restored sharing capability to Win/Loss report

• Adds a 'Detailed' configuration option for Roster report for displaying more information for each wrestler

• Added match date to the Scorebook report for tournaments.

Good luck this weekend!

California Wrestling Official Makes History

On December 12, 2013, Mike Harr became the first referee ever to digitally sign a wrestling

scorebook as the official record of a dual meet. This signature meets the requirements of the NFHS Wrestling Rulebook.

Here's the historic act:

World's First Digitally Signed Scorebook

Congrats to Mike on achieving a wrestling first!

Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 1.4

Sometimes, a single instance of Takedown isn't enough to capture all the scoring activity.

At tournaments, multiple wrestlers from the same team compete at the same time.  Or, the varsity and junior varsity teams compete at different events on the same day.

In both cases, scoring information would need to be manually transferred to one of the iPads running Takedown.  There must be a better way!

Release 1.4 to the Rescue!

With this release, Takedown now offers a simple way to share data between multiple iPads.  Data from an entire Season is exported from one Takedown instance to another using email and the iPad's "Open in..." capability. An exported Season contains a roster, schedule and all matches scored in that Season.

Generally speaking, an imported Season fills in the blanks; that is, the Season you're importing will generally not overwrite existing information.  But, if your database is "missing" information, then data from the imported Season will be used.  The details are surprisingly complex and there are some exceptions.  But, that's the gist of it.

Export the Season to your Colleagues

Select the Season for sharing with other users:

Tap the sharing arrow to the right of the Seasons button:

Enter the email addresses of the person(s) with whom you want to share the data and press "Send."

Importing the Season

After long tapping on the email attachment and selecting "Open in Takedown", you'll see the following:

Any of the labels with a ">" can be tapped for more information.  If you're satisfied with the results, tap "Save."  If you change your mind, tap cancel.

Common Applications

Here are a few scenarios for using Takedown's data sharing feature:

• At the start of the season one person creates a new season, adds a schedule, and creates or updates the roster and then shares it with other team scorers

• At any time, the person with the definitive Takedown scoring database exports a season to one or more Takedown users

• One person scores a dual meet and shares it with other team scorers

• Multiple scorers attend a tournament. One person fills in the weigh in information and then shares it with the rest of the scorers

• During or after a tournament, scorers want to consolidate tournament matches on their respective iPads

• Sharing Season data with multiple users scoring for the same team

• A user wants to backup one or more Seasons

You might find other uses for Takedown's data sharing feature.

Important Caveat

Unless the Season on your iPad and the Season you're importing have identical names and start/end dates, a new Season will be created. If you want to augment an existing Season with the imported data, make sure the names, start/end dates are identical.

Data sharing makes it easy to use Takedown in situations where multiple wrestlers on the same team are competing simultaneously. And, just in time for the season!

Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 1.4

Later today, Takedown Release 1.4 will be available for download on the App Store. This release features important new capabilities including:

• Data sharing allows multiple Takedown users with different iPads to consolidate Takedown results into a single, comprehensive database

• Takedown Scorebook (previously Match Scoring)can now be the "official" scorebook for NFHS-governed dual meets

• More flexible report sharing including the ability to print reports from within Takedown

Please see our blog posts for more detail.  All users with compatible iPads should download this release from the App Store.

Takedown by LevelChanger. Available on the App Store

Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 1.3.7

Takedown release 1.3.7 is available on the App Store.

In addition to a new look & feel, Takedown now supports digital scoreboarding. Any wrestling program can now elevate their event presentation though the use of Takedown's scoreboard feature.  

This feature is simple to setup and operate, and offers high-end digital scoreboard capability at a fraction of the cost of dedicated scoreboards.

Impress your constituencies and save your very hard-earned donations for something else -- try digital scoreboarding, courtesy of the world's leading scoring and stats app for the iPad, Takedown Scoring and Stats.

Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 1.3

We're excited today to announce the availability of Takedown Release 1.3 on the App Store.  This release includes some time saving features as well as configuration flexibility for non-NFHS programs. Also, we revised Takedown's pricing to better address the economic realities of the scholastic wrestling community.

Spend More Time Coaching

Release 1.3 contains a number of important time saving features:

• Import rosters from NWCA database or any spreadsheet

• Export your rosters (names only) for opposing coaches using Takedown.

• Score matches for wrestlers without entering certified weight or weigh in data. Enter certified weight and weigh in info when it's convenient.

• Define custom period lengths.

• For tournaments, designate Championship and Consolation period lengths.

• Seeding Meeting report shows head-to-head competition in easy-to-read format. Save time and be more effective than other coaches with this useful report!

Support for non-NFHS Programs

Prior to release 1.3, Takedown supported only NFHS and NCAA weight classes.  The user community asked for more weight class flexibility for elementary and middle school programs, as well as for states that didn't use strict NFHS weight classes.  We thought that made a lot of sense.

With Takedown release 1.3, a user can now define one or more custom sets of weight classes for competition and certification purposes.   This feature combined with user-defined periods (see above) allows Takedown to be used for scoring any level of folkstyle competition, from pre-K through collegiate.  In fact, it is possible, using separate Seasons, to score elementary, middle and high schools on a single iPad!  The Seasons feature is a great way to keep all this data separate but accessible on one tablet.

Price Revision

Previously, Takedown was offered for free with the capability of scoring five events.  After that, the first ten events cost $39.99 and every event thereafter cost $.99.

Based on market feedback, we've revised our pricing in two ways.  First, we eliminated the initial $39.99.  Second, instead of paying for events, users will now pay for matches at a rate as low as six cents per match.  We believe this pricing change better reflects the economic realities facing the scholastic wrestling community.  And, the smaller unit of purchase makes the decision to score a match a no-brainer.  Now, you can score a dual meet for a song!  A song purchased on iTunes, that is.

Takedown release 1.3 is available for download on the App Store now.  Get it and let us know what you think at ideas@levelchanger.com

Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 1.2

We're jazzed to announce a new Takedown release! Available now on the App Store, Release 1.2 addresses a frequent user request and adds powerful social networking integration.

We All Make Mistakes

Takedown, in its current form, is not very flexible if you make a scoring error. Once an Event is finalized, it isn't possible to add a match. It is possible to delete a match and in some cases that's an acceptable solution.  

But, we've heard from users that Takedown needs to be more accommodating. And, as extensive users ourselves, we feel your pain. We have plenty of mis-scored matches in our team's Takedown database and we need to clean them up.

Delete and Add a Match, Whenever you Want

This new release includes a few new and exciting features. First and foremost, we've added the capability to delete and add matches to any Event, even finalized Events. So, if you mistakenly score a fall for the wrong wrestler or forgot the near fall points at the end of the third period or need to add a match that your assistant scribbled on a piece of paper, no problem!  In the Event view, select the Event, go to Match Scoring and score away. This capability works for any Event, whether it is "in progress" or finalized. Now you'll have something to do while waiting for your next wrestler to come up at those all day (and night!) tournaments.

Tweet Match Results Automatically and in Real-Time

The other exciting Release 1.2 feature is social networking integration in the form of automated Tweeting of match and event results. Today, many teams manually Tweet matches, interleaving insightful commentary ("great ankle pick!") with scoring updates ("Jones decision Smith 3-2"). 

Whereas Takedown can't do insightful commentary, it can Tweet match results perfectly (no typos), automatically and in real-time. Without the burden of accurately Tweeting match results, your Twitter contributors have more time to be, well, even more insightful.With Takedown, Tweeting match results is simple. In Takedown's Settings view, tap Twitter and turn on the Twitter feature. If you have multiple Twitter accounts configured for your iPad, take care in selecting the proper account. 

That's it. 

When you go to the Match Scoring view, you'll notice a Twitter window in the middle bottom of the screen. Here you'll see the Tweets Takedown is sending on your behalf:

Tweets Appear Directly Beneath the Override Button

Here's an example of how these Tweets appear in your timeline:

Fans Follow your Team's Twitter Account to See the Action!

Of course, you'll need a network connection, WiFi or cellular, for this feature to work properly. Note, too, that using your favorite Twitter app for adding commentary is entirely up to you. You can exit Takedown, add some commentary with your favorite Twitter app and then go back to Takedown. The Takedown match clock runs even when you're using another app.

Download Today!

Release 1.2 also contains some bug fixes that will make your scoring experience and stats reporting even more pleasurable. Download Release 1.2 today and take advantage of flexible match adds/deletes and automated, real-time Tweeting of match results!

New Stat -- Short Time Scoring

Short Time Scoring a new stat report in Takedown Scoring and Stats Release 1.1. This is the first of many advanced stats we intend to implement.

Short Time Scoring is More Important than First Takedown

One of the reasons we created Takedown was to uncover the coaching insights that are hidden inside paper scorebooks.

Coaches are always wondering "how does my wrestler do in short time?" The reason is simple: points scored in short time are difficult to make up because a time-out will occur soon as the clock expires. Short time scoring is similar to edge scoring in this sense (though the time out is less certain in edge scoring and, in fact, can be avoided entirely if action migrates away from edge).

Many coaches feel that scoring the first takedown as being the most reliable indicator of match outcome (win or loss). However, after reviewing thousands of match outcomes we believe that short-time scoring is a better predictor of match outcome. This isn’t a feeling — it’s data driven.

Implementation in Takedown Scoring and Stats

This new report can be found in the Reports section of the app.

Recognizing that ‘short time’ means different things to different coaches, Takedown allows you to set a short time value of 5, 10, 15 or 20 seconds. The report displays for each wrestler the number of points scored and conceded within this short time ‘bucket’. As with all reports, narrow or expand the scope over which short time scoring is calculated by using report filters.

The report also provides a ratio - Average Point Differential (APD) - that allows you to quickly evaluate a wrestler's short time performance.

APD is simply the difference of points scored and conceded divided by the total number of periods.

If the APD value is positive, then your wrestler is scoring more points than conceded. A positive APD can be an unassailable competitive advantage.

If the APD is negative then the opposite would be true. This wrestler will be far less likely, on average, to win matches.

As a coach that's what you want to know.

Here's a real-world example of the Short Time Scoring report:

The accuracy of the Short Time Report depends on your having scored the match live because the stat requires an accurate match clock.. If the match has been marked as “transcribed” then the match will be excluded from the Short Time scoring stats.

Check out the Short Time Scoring report in the current release, available on the App Store