Research Activities

Research of Prof. Dr. Daniel Link deals with the systematics of training and competition as well as the digitalization of sports. This includes technological aspects of data acquisition, mathematical modeling of performance phenomena, and visualization and analysis of data in sports. One focus of his work lies on using spatiotemporal data in team sports, e.g., by applying approaches from artificial intelligence and the development of physical and technical-tactical performance metrics.

Professional Career

After finishing his master in computer science at Technical University Dortmund, Daniel Link earned his PhD from the University of Augsburg in sport science. From the Department of Sport and Health Sciences at Technical University of Munich he received venia legendi for sports sciences. Daniel Link supports federations and top-level teams in implementing game analysis. He is a reviewer for scientific journals, member of various international scientific organizations and acts as a reviewer for the main German founding agency for sport science.

Professional Memberships

• Head of Sports Informatics and Engineering Group at the German Society of Sport Science (dvs)
• General Secretary of International Association on Computer Science in Sports (IACSS)
• Core Member of Munich Data Science Institute (MDSI)
• Member of Expert Group Football at the German Society of Sport Science  (formerly)

Publications since 2016 (selection)

Hammes, F., & Link, D. (2024). Badminton as a Dynamic System – A New Method for Analyzing Badminton Matches Based on Perturbations. Journal of sports sciences, 42(2), 160-16. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2024.2323327

Lang, St., Wild, R., Isenko, A., & Link, D., (2022). Prediction of in-game status of ball in soccer with machine learning based on spatio temporal player tracking data. Scientific Reports, 12: 16291. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-19948-1

Hammes, F., Hagg, A., Asteroth, A., & Link, D. (2022). Artificial Intelligence in Elite Sports - A Narrative Review of Success Stories and Challenges. Frontiers in sports and active living, 4:861466. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2022.861466

Dick, U., Link, D., & Brefeld, U. (2022). Who Can Receive The Pass?  - A Computational Model for Quantifying Availability in Soccer. Data mining and knowledge discovery, 36 (3), 987-1014.. doi: 10.1007/s10618-022-00827-2

Link, D., & Raab, M. (2022). Experts use base rates in real-world sequential decisions. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 29 (2), 660–667. doi: 10.3758/s13423-021-02024-6

Link, D., & Anzer, G. (2022). How Coronavirus Pandemic has Changed the Game of Soccer. International journal of sports medicine, 43 (1), 83-93. doi: 10.1055/a-1518-7778

Link, D. (2021). Game analysis in practice: beach volleyball. In D. Memmert (Ed.), Game Analysis. How to Use Data in Professional Sport (pp. 33-41). Routledge: New York.

Linke, D., Link, D., & Lames, M. (2020). Football-specific validity of TRACAB’s optical video tracking systems. PLOS ONE, 15(3): e0230179. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0230179

Link, D., & Wenninger, S. (2019). Performance Streaks in Elite Beach Volleyball - Does Failure in One Sideout Affect Attacking in the Next? Frontiers in Psychology, 10: 919. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00919

Link, D., Weber, M., Linke, D., & Lames, M. (2019). Can Positioning Systems Replace Timing Gates for Measuring Sprint Time in Ice Hockey? Frontiers in Physiology, 9: 1882. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01882

Sebastian, W., Link, D., & Lames, M. (2019). Data Mining in Elite Beach Volleyball – Detecting Tactical Patterns Using Market Basket Analysis. International Journal of Computer Science in Sport, 18(2), 1-19. doi: 10.2478/ijcss-2019-0010

Korte, F., Link, D., Groll, J., & Lames, M. (2019). Play-by-Play Network Analysis in Football. Frontiers in Psychology, 10:1738. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01738

Link, D., & Lang, St. (2019). How to Find Elementary Football Structures in Positional Data. In Football Analytics: Now and Beyond. A deep dive into the current state of advanced data analytics (pp. 50-65). Barcelona, Spain: Barca Innovation Hub.

Link, D., & Weber, Ch. (2018). Finding the Gap: An Empirical Study of the Most Effective Shots in Elite Goalball. PLOS ONE, 13(4): e0196679. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196679

Link, D. (2018). Data Analytics in Professional Soccer – Performance Analysis based on Spatiotemporal Tracking Data. Wiesbaden: Springer Verlag. doi: 10.1007/978-3-658-21177-6

Link, D. (2018). Sports Analytics - how (commercial) sports data create new opportunities for sports science. German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research. German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research, 48(1), 13-26. doi: 10.1007/s12662-017-0487-7

Linke, D., Link, D., Weber, H., & Lames, M. (2018). Decline in Match Running Performance in Football is affected by an Increase in Game Interruptions. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 17, 662-667.

Linke, D., Link, D., & Lames, M. (2018). Validation of Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems (EPTS) under Field Conditions. PLOS ONE, 13(7): e0199519. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0199519

Link, D., & Hörnig, M. (2017). Individual Ball Possession in Soccer. PLOS ONE, 12(7): e0179953. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0179953

Link, D., & Weber, H. (2017). Effect of Ambient Temperature on Pacing in Soccer depends on Skill Level. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 31(7), 1766-1770. doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000001013

Link, D., Lang, St., & Seidenschwarz, Ph. (2016). Real Time Quantification of Dangerousity in Football Using Spatiotemporal Tracking Data. PLOS ONE, 11(12): e0168768. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0168768

Link, D., Kolbinger, O., Weber, H., & Stöckl, M. (2016). A topography of free kicks in soccer. Journal of Sports Sciences, 34(24), 2312–2320. doi:10.1080/02640414.2016.1232487

Link, D., & de Lorenzo, MF. (2016). Seasonal Pacing - Match Importance Affects Activity in Professional Soccer. PLOS ONE, 11(6): e0157127. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157127

Kolbinger, O., & Link, D. (2016). Vanishing Spray Reduces Extend of Rule Violations in Soccer. SpringerPlus, 5:1572. doi:10.1186/s40064-016-3274-2