The NFL season will end this weekend with the Super Bowl, but when players from all 32 teams show up to training camp in July to begin the 2018 season, many of them could be wearing new cleats.
That’s because the NFL partnered with HP to grant its athletes access to FitStation, it was announced Monday. According to HP’s announcement, FitStation‘s 3D foot scanning technology will be installed in every NFL equipment room for the 2018 season.
FitStation uses 3D scanning and a combination of hardware and software to take measurements of players’ feet and analyze foot pressure and gait to create an individual profile of each foot. From there, FitStation employs HP-created algorithms to match a player’s profile with more traditional cleats made by Under Armour, Nike and Adidas. FitStation was most recently enlisted to help create a new type of running shoe for Brooks Running Company.
“We are proud to have HP onboard as an official sponsor and have the ability for the League and each of its 32 clubs to tap into their innovative 3D scanning technology,” Renie Anderson, the NFL’s senior vice president of sponsorship and partnership management, said in a statement. “The NFL’s number one priority is continuing to enhance player safety and performance and by utilizing HP’s technology to give our players personalized cleat recommendations we’re able to continue that mission.”
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The partnership came to be partly because of an NFL committee on player health that saw FitStation as a platform that could provide players with the data for bespoke cleats that specifically work for their bodies and movements. The technology in FitStation is capable of taking 500 exact measurements per second using nine cameras that calculate the length, width and arch height of a player’s foot. FitStation could also incorporate a player’s position in the future for a more specifically modeled cleat, Fast Company reported.
FitStation provides a potential solution to the NFL’s injury problem — dozens of players across the league suffered season-ending leg and knee injuries, including marketable stars like Odell Beckham, Jr., J.J. Watt, DeShaun Watson, Allen Robinson, and Spencer Ware. Wearing FitStation data-based cleats could help stave off ankle sprains, fractures, and other foot and leg injuries. Of course, injuries do still happen regardless of how customized, data-driven, and protective a player’s gear may be.
“A shoe is not just about performance, it is an important piece of protective equipment,” Dr. Richard Kent, a University of Virginia medical professor and NFL Musculoskeletal Committee member, said in a statement. “In the NFL, lower limb injuries are responsible for a significant amount of player time lost. A better-designed shoe can be a protective mechanism against injuries such as turf toe, Lisfranc fractures, and high ankle sprains.”