Kitman Labs, a sports science and injury prevention company, has grown their book of business over the last year to include the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Pistons, and Everton of the English Premier League, to name a few. Now they can add rugby to their letterhead as two of the top clubs in England have signed partnerships with the Silicon Valley technology firm.
Bath and Gloucester are two of the most storied rugby clubs in England with 9 Premiership titles and a European Championships between the two of them. Now they look to continue their success on the field by applying best practices for injury prevention off the field with the Athlete Optimization System developed by Kitman Labs. This software system allows trainers and medical staff to capture incredibly detailed biomechanical information, on each individual athlete, in a short and convenient amount of time.
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Rugby is a unique sport in that it combines the physicality of the NFL with the endurance of Soccer. Players are required to play 90 minutes with minimal breaks while smashing into each other at full speed. Ask any rugby player, whether professional or amateur, to list their injury history and you’ll receive a full tour of the human body.
For teams like Bath and Gloucester, a season can last 30+ games, not to mention that many of their players accrue additional wear and tear while representing their national teams throughout the year. With that many games of a physical nature, injury prevention comes at a premium.
The Athlete Optimization System uses cameras to capture movement while an athlete is put through a variety of exercises. This is the first system that can record a high level of data without the use of body markers, like you would see at a Hollywood motion capture studio. This allows for minimal setup while still recording detailed and important biomechanical data.
Biomechanical testing and analysis has grown over the last decade to become an important part of training athletes. Training staff can use the information to design player-specific strength and conditioning programs that focus on their body’s natural weaknesses to eliminate them. Like the NFL, English rugby has seen a rise in injuries over the last few years due to athletes being bigger and stronger than they were a decade ago. Kitman Labs is working with teams like Bath and Gloucester to reverse those trends and extend the careers of professional athletes.
Bath and Gloucester have both signed 3-year partnerships with Kitman Labs to utilize their industry leading software. Bath’s High Performance Manager noted: “We collect a huge amount of player data, and Kitman Labs makes that data much more powerful and actionable.” He went on to say that the Athlete Optimization System makes “that data [they collect] much more powerful and actionable.”
This partnership seems to be a match made in heaven as Stephen Smith, Kitman Labs’ Co-Founder and CEO, was inspired to start his company while working as a trainer with professional rugby club in Ireland. In a press release announcing this partnership, Smith noted a “deep commitment to [rugby].”
It remains to be seen whether technology, like what Kitman Labs has created, can reverse the upward trend in injuries across many sports. As Gloucester’s Head of Medical Services, Bob Stewart, noted: “Injury Prevention is a huge part of any successful team, current evidence shows that keeping your squad fit and available throughout a season gives you the best chance of staying competitive.” That is the end game for many professional sports organizations, to gain whatever competitive edge is available to them. If Kitman Labs’ impressive roster of professional sports organizations is any indication, they are already providing that competitive edge.