November 2024 - Rivka Lipkovitz

Joining a Top Club Won’t Necessarily Make You Better

by Rivka Lipkovitz
November 24, 2024December 1, 2024
Causal Inference, Touche Stats

Fencers frequently switch clubs, either because their current club isn’t meeting their needs, or to train with certain fencers or coaches at another club. But does switching clubs actually lead to better competitive outcomes? To answer this, I analyzed data from over 600 fencers who switched clubs, using matrix completion—a… Read More »Joining a Top Club Won’t Necessarily Make You Better

A Statistical Stab at Referee Bias

by Rivka Lipkovitz
November 22, 2024November 24, 2024
Touche Stats

A similar version of this was presented at the UConn Sports Analytics Symposium and is forthcoming in the Wharton Sports Analytics Journal. I wrote this article in June for a more general audience than my usual readership, so it has a slightly different tone. “The ref is biased!” hollers an… Read More »A Statistical Stab at Referee Bias