Wearable technology in professional sports is the latest trend. The technology has been changing the meaning of sports and the way we associate ourselves with it. Fans are now able to see some really intense sports without any dramatic pauses, as wearable tech is taking over the decision-making aspects of professional sports too.
Wearable tech, nowadays, being used in sports is changing the level and the efficiency of the game. Soon, the players would be able to see high level and intense sports with athletic efficiency and mild to no injuries due to this tech. Catering to the needs of the players, many big leagues have incorporated different wearables in their games and practice sessions. This is why we have made a list of wearables fulfilling the needs of professional sports in different leagues. Have a read;
miCoach- MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER:
The Adidas miCoach Elite System is being used by Major League Soccer in American MLS games and European counterparts for about two years now. The sensor is basically fitted inside a gear or apparel that is capable of judging athletic performance like acceleration, speed, distance, power, and heart rate etc. After collecting all the essential data, miCoach send it to the coach instantly so that he can monitor the performance of the individual and can know about potential concussions and injuries.
miCoach was used by Germany, the winner of the world cup, last year. The potential and the use of the wearable were thus proved by the major win. German national team trainer Darcy Norman said that;
miCoach Elite was used in almost every training session to monitor each player’s performance and record their stats. It allowed coaches to reflect back on the team’s performance, tweak each player’s skills, and plan future workouts to ensure we’re improving performance and focusing our efforts in the right areas.
Sensoria- PROFESSIONAL RACING:
Sensoria is a US based startup which deals with smart clothing and sports apparels. The company has partnered with Renault Sports Technologies to create a wearable shirt that will work with an app to help the professional race car drivers.
Sensoria will be able to monitor the features like the distance covered by the car, speed, track heart rate and will transmit all the data to the corresponding Smartphone app. What’s more is that the wearable will allow the drivers to record a video of each lap and will also monitor all the basic elements like acceleration forces and other vitals etc to improve the performance of the players.
Sensoria team aims to build this wearable for the most popular racing game worldwide- Formula 1. The apparel will help in maintaining the professionalism along with consistency throughout the game. The company should be applauded for working in the sports which have never been touched by the wearable technology.
Catapult- NFL
Catapult can be considered as the first wearable which made its way across the professional sports league. The main aim of this minuscule device is that it aims to reduce the sports injuries during the high-level games. Not only has it monitored data, but alerts about the injuries that can highly affect the players.
Catapult sensor is capable of tracking 100 metrics. The basic elements like acceleration, speed, heart rate, and distance covered. All the data is sent to the coaches during the game. Catapult is solely working with nearly half of the NFL teams, a third of NBA teams, and 30 major college programs. It has also been ranked as number 12 on the list of the 50 most innovative companies in the world this year by Fast Company.
Standing alone in the quest of improving the professional sports, Catapult prevents the players from injuries by making the games more efficient and easier than ever.
Zebra-NFL:
NFL has partnered with Zebra Technologies to embed RFID chips into the players’ shoulder pads which allow broadcasting the statistics of the players instantly. NFL aims to log the location of the players up to six inches while tracking the distance, acceleration, and deceleration within real time.
The sensor by Zebra is small and run on batteries without any problem. NFL has also partnered with Sportradar to pair with Zebra to find out the information which will open a whole new dimension of data that will provide NFL fans with the deepest appreciation of the player performance.
ShotTracker- NBA:
Klay Thompson, the shooting guard, has partnered with ShotTracker. ShotTracker is a basketball wearable which intends to improve the statistics and the data of the players during the game. There are two different parts of the wearable which include wrist sensor and a net sensor.
There are two different locations where the sensors are clipped and transmit the data like shots missed, shots attempted, shot made to a Smartphone app. We cannot expect to visualize the wearable adopted by the NBA in greater intensity, but it is definitely the first device to be adopted by the Basketball league with great intensity.
Athos- NBA:
Golden State Warriors have been using the Catapult Technologies to try their luck with the wearable tech. But, there are 12 teams and you cannot expect every team to tag along with the same wearable. Similarly, the same team has tried to experiment its luck with the smart clothing company Athos.
Athos has a different set of top, pants and core constituting the Smart clothing. There are different types of sensors including EMG which collects all sort of the muscle data to help athletes. The top alone has 16 sets of sensors for heart rate, breath, and seven pairs for each major muscle group. Data is transmitted in real-time to a companion Smartphone app, so players can track performance and muscle activity throughout their entire practice session.
Motus Baseball Sleeve- MLB:
The wearable is being used by the MLB teams for about a year, but recently has been officially announced as an MLB wearable. The wearable has thoroughly been tested by different MLB teams.
The Motus baseball sleeve utilizes a sensor module that stops the players from throwing their arm out. The device helps pitchers in analyzing and accessing their performance. The sensor provides instant data analysis for both pitcher and the batter during the crispy match.With the sensor on the lead batting glove, the app can extract powerful metrics like Bat Speed, Bat RPM, and Hand Speed, alongside the ability to automatically detect which zone contact is made in.
Zephyr Bioharness heart- MLB
Zephyr Bioharness Heart is another wearable which MLB has allowed for its teams. It is usually built into the shirts of the athletes. With the help of embedded device, coaches and trainers can easily access the heart rate, posture feasibility, breathing rate and activity level of the players.
The wearable is of great use as it can easily monitor different aspects like heart rate variability etc. Getting the heart rate data helps in determining the stress level of the player. This could massively impact the routine recovery of players after a game.
These are just some of the professional sports wearables used by the leagues and the international teams throughout the world. The use of wearable technology cannot be denied in the major games and leagues. The adaptation of professional sports wearables during the games is another testament of this effective technology.
