Damion Cook, former pro football player (Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens) never had the opportunity to use any GPS performance monitoring systems. But now as a head coach for a local high school in Maryland, would he consider using such a system? As he was preparing for spring football workouts in the weight room of Atholton High School, I asked him “Would you purchase a player performance monitoring system for athletes if you had the funds to do so?” Coach Cook stated “Absolutely, I would use it for juniors and seniors.”
He went on to explain that it would allow him to not only compare day to day practice statistics but season to season. It would give the students real objectives to meet in order to motivate them and help them improve in certain areas and specific skills. He believes this information will help the players tremendously, especially those wanting to play in college and potentially at the professional level.
Player analytics is a growing trend in professional sports. Coaches at all levels want to find and use innovative techniques in order to improve their team’s overall performance on and off the field. Let’s take a look at the three companies with leading player-tracking tech and compare their offerings.
Catapult Sports
Catapult Sports is an Australian Company that officially started in 2006 and last year bought GPSports to expand and become one the largest analytic and GPS monitoring systems for athletes around the world. There are 13 NFL teams, 6 NBA teams (including current playoff team Golden State Warriors), 15 college football teams, many soccer clubs, and rugby teams that use Catapult’s player tracking tech, called OptimEye.
OptimEye is the newest device in Catapult Sports catalogue of devices and is one the lightest GPS tracking hardwares for athletics. This new device, along with its updated software called OpenField allows for tracking of an athlete’s’ movements more accurately which can now be picked up in various environments and large stadiums.
Capabilities
- Tracks athletes speed (acceleration and deceleration)
- Tracks changes in direction (linear motion and angular & rotational movements)
- Heart rate monitor
- Wireless reporting to computer
- 200 meters transmission range
- 5 hour battery
The feature that makes this device and company differentiate between others is their algorithm that measures player’s exertion based on the measurements taken when tracking speed, motion, and heart rate. Catapult calls this number the “Player Load” in which the higher the number the higher the exertion. This data can also aide sports medicine staffs in the prevention of injuries and illnesses as it allows for a baseline to be established for players to train against.
STATSports
In 2007 in Ireland STATsports was founded and continues to grow with offices in London, Chicago, and Florida. The Viper Pod is the name of STATsports device for team performance monitoring. It is predominately used by European football clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and many others. In the U.S., NBA teams using STATSports are the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls.
Viper Pod Capabilities
- Measures total distance
- Measures speed
- Measures acceleration & deceleration
- Measures metabolic load distance
- Monitors heart rate
- Reports collisions
- Reports fatigue index
- Measures step balance (left & right)
- Measures dynamic stress load
A unique feature of the Viper Pod is the software that is associated with the device. It allows coaches to see real-time player positioning and player motions from a bird’s eye view on a computer or TV monitor. This feature would normally have to be done with a camera but is possible with Viper Pod’s computer processing chip and GPS system within the hardware. Also because of its hardware it is able to have less interference compared with other devices when used in large stadiums with spectators using their cell phone or other cellular devices on the same network.
Adidas miCoach
Adidas miCoach is a made up of a multitude of products from the German athletic apparel company. Their miCoach Elite Team system, currently being used by all MLS teams, is one of the only monitoring systems that can collect data for a whole team with the ability of its miCoach base to hold what Adidas calls “player cells” for over 20 players. The miCoach player cell is a small sensor slightly smaller and thinner than a first generation IPod. It can easily fit in the back of specially made shirts in between a player’s shoulder blades. This Elite Team system is also being used by the football club AC Milan and the German National team. Other national soccer teams that use the tech include Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, and Japan.
Adidas miCoach Capabilities
- Measures power
- Measures average speed
- Measures distance
- Measures Heart Rate
- Measures acceleration
- Pinpoints field position
The miCoach is different from other companies as it has the ability for coaches to see all players via their iOS device and change between the various metrics listed above in real -time. It also stands out due to the ability to view analysis through a web application instead of using software that accompanies most hardware.
All three systems are very similar in what they measure as far as an individual player’s speed, direction, fatigue, and heart rate. The main difference is what and how the data is analyzed and how it is displayed. Whether internet based or through software, coaches have the option to look at an array of information displayed in various formats and graphs. Coaches and training staff are now able to adjust practice drills and workouts through this information along with recognizing the potential risk of injuries.
Although, many professional and college sports teams are starting to use this equipment to enhance their practices and improve overall team performance governing bodies such as FIFA and the NCAA forbid use in games; fearing that it can give one team an unfair advantage over their competitor. With rules and regulations prohibiting the use of tracking information for athletes Coach Cook has a long way to go before he can use it at the high school level. Until that day comes he will have to obtain a player’s information the old fashion way, with a stopwatch and pen and paper.