Wearing the headset instantly transports me from a bland meeting room in central London to the centre circle of a virtual football match. I have chosen to play as a holding midfielder, gripping a controller in each hand with my thumbs poised over the pass button. After a brief countdown, the simulated build‑up begins: a teammate receives the ball at his feet, and my job is to anticipate the movement, receive the pass, and then decide where to send it next. Every tilt of my head, every glance, and every subsequent decision is recorded and analysed by the system.
The device, created by the Norwegian start‑up Be Your Best, is built around the concept of "scanning" – those rapid side‑to‑side glances players make to gather visual information about opponents, space and teammates before they are handed the ball. Scanning allows a player to pre‑emptively decide where to move or pass, reducing the reaction time once the ball arrives. My first trial runs at 80 % of game speed, giving me a chance to settle in. I take it slow, get tackled a few times, and still manage to earn a compliment from the software for a "critical scan" after spotting a teammate making a run through the defensive line.
The feeling of being rewarded for a well‑timed head turn is oddly satisfying and makes the learning loop very clear. When I crank the speed up to 100 % – the pace of a professional match – the experience changes dramatically. The ball arrives quicker, the opposition closes down faster, and the margin for error shrinks.
I then try the experimental 120 % setting, a level that was added after Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard requested a more demanding environment when he first tested the headset. Ødegaard, known for his exceptional vision and lightning‑quick decision‑making, epitomises the type of player Be Your Best wants to help. Andreas Olsen, the CEO of the company, first became fascinated by this skill when he was a youth player at Viking FK in Norway.
"It was mind‑blowing to see some players seem to have eyes in the back of their heads," he told Sky Sports. "I couldn't even find the words to describe it.
I just wanted to be as good as they were at reading where the pressure was coming from and where the next pass should go." The scientific roots of scanning stretch back to the late 1990s, when Norwegian professor Geir Jordet began investigating the ten‑second window before a player receives the ball. His research showed that elite players consistently displayed higher scan rates during this crucial period. "Those ten seconds are critical," Olsen explains. "If you have already decided what to do before the ball arrives, you are not surprised by the situation – you have already taken the pictures you need, and you just have to execute." One of Jordet's most frequently cited subjects was Barcelona legend Xavi Hernández.
While Xavi was not the fastest runner, his mental speed made him appear almost telepathic on the pitch. "He made his decisions before he even touched the ball, and then the ball was already moving in the direction he had imagined," says Olsen.
"He would turn left because he knew the pressure was coming from the right. If you watch the clips, you see he always shields the ball with his back because he already knows where the opponent is." Scanning is not a new drill.
Frank Lampard remembers his father shouting the word "pictures" from the sidelines as a reminder to take visual snapshots of the field. However, as the modern game becomes ever faster and the time a player can keep the ball shrinks, the importance of scanning has grown dramatically. Data from the Premier League confirms that players are covering more distance at sprint speed each game than they did just a few seasons ago.
The rise of high‑pressing tactics and overall intensity means that physical attributes alone are no longer enough. "Arsène Wenger once said we have solved all the physical aspects of football – we know how to get faster and stronger," Olsen notes. "But in a world where the sport is becoming more physical, we also have to consider how fast the mind works. Being the strongest and quickest is no longer sufficient." The principle applies equally to defenders.
Dan Micciche, a former England and Arsenal youth coach now working with Saudi Arabia’s national team setup, recounts watching Italy’s centre‑backs Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci during the Euro 2021 semi‑final against Spain. "I was at Wembley behind the goal and they were not sprinting; they were just jogging while constantly scanning. It was as if they knew the position of every player on the pitch, which gave them a remarkable sense of calm," he told Sky Sports.
Most coaches today accept that situational awareness and scanning can be trained, though some remain skeptical about the added value of virtual‑reality tools. Micciche adds, "I still think the game itself is the best teacher. A coach’s observation and feedback are vital.
You can improve players by asking open questions: What did you see? Why didn’t you turn? Where was the space?" He warns that modern training sometimes rushes players to give immediate answers, which can discourage genuine scanning. "Sometimes players scan just to please the coach, not because they are truly processing the information," he says.
Be Your Best has tried to address these concerns by measuring not only how often a player scans but also the timing and quality of each scan. Their headset records the exact moment a head turn occurs relative to the ball’s arrival, and the software grades the decision that follows. In a nine‑week programme with German U16 and U17 squads, Olsen reports a 28 % increase in scan rates and coaches noting improved positioning in 80 % of the participants. Individual success stories are also highlighted.
Manchester City defender Marc Guehi has used the system, Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia has invested in the company, and in 2023 Real Madrid’s midfielder Aurelien Tchouaméni employed the headset to familiarize himself with a temporary centre‑back role during an injury crisis. After helping Real keep a clean sheet in a 4‑0 victory over Osasuna, Tchouaméni posted about his experience with the technology on social media, praising how it helped him visualise defensive positioning before even stepping onto the pitch. From my own perspective, the headset makes the appeal of scanning crystal clear.
After each session I leave aware that my scanning still needs work, and that Ødegaard’s 120 % setting will remain out of reach for now. Yet I find myself instinctively checking my shoulders as I walk to the station, a small habit that shows the training is starting to embed itself in my everyday perception.
In summary, scanning – the rapid visual sampling of the field – is a skill that separates the world’s best from the rest. Modern technology, such as Be Your Best’s VR headset, offers a way to quantify and improve this ability, complementing traditional coaching methods. As the game continues to accelerate, the players who can think faster and see more will have a decisive edge.