Football has used the 40-yard dash to measure a player’s speed for decades, but a crucial part of what makes a player truly fast is reaction time. Through its Konect Speed Pro wearable device, analytics company Konect Sports is now looking to measure that. The product will be on display at CES 2019 in Las Vegas.
The wearable uses 3D motion sensors to register the moment an athlete’s body moves. The sensors can also be strapped on wrists, ankles, and the torso to track the movement of specific body parts. Sensors located on the field register the start of a drill, allowing reaction time to be worked out, and can capture running speed and split times. That allows trainers and coaches to measure different components during drills such as straight line speed or turning speed. The data from the sensors is transmitted to the Konect Speed iPad app in real time during drills.
“We not only want to improve their reaction time, but we want to make sure they don’t respond when they’re not supposed to,” said David Troup, CEO of Konect Sports. “They say football is a game of inches but in 2017 [in the NFL], penalties for false starts and offsides were 2.7 miles. So by reigning in the athlete’s reactions not only in speed but also control, we can really alleviate serious penalties throughout the year.”
Troup says his product is currently being tested mostly in youth sports like football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. Movesense, which was spun off Finnish sports watch company Suunto, designed the sensor hardware for Konect Speed Pro. Because athletes and coaches are tracking reaction speeds in real time with Konect, teams have revved up their practice speed to match the intensity of actual games. Troup calls this development the “feedback loop,” meaning athletes push each other during workouts to score better reaction times.
“If an athlete’s reaction time was a really good time, the other athletes were cheering their buddy as he attempted to score a personal best,” Troup said. “The trainers see athletes that are more cognitively connected and engaged to the workout through friendly competition because the timing and analytics are involved.”
The Konect Speed Pro version, which is intended for solo athletes, comes with one Speed sensor, one target sensor, a sensor mount and a protective traveling case for $299.95. Konect also offers a $899.95 Pro Team bundle that comes with three Speed sensors, three target sensors, three sensor mounts and a protective traveling case. Both products come with support for the free Konect Sports app on iPad.
For Troup, this will be his seventh year attending CES. “This is our chance to show the world what we’re building,” he said. “I like to be on the floor all day during the four days interacting with people. The audience is so wide at CES, it’s the crossroads for so many different types of technology.
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