Players tracking and performance analyses has now become a critical part of any sports. Netball has been one such sport which has been progressing at all levels. This makes it ideal for application and analysis of performance data. Considering the growth opportunities in this, England Netball has recently adopted Catapult Technology as a way to advance and enhance athletes’ performances.
England Netball who is placed third in the International Netball Federation uses Catapult’s T6 units to analyze players’ performances using inertial data during training sessions and matches. The devices used are Catapult’s smallest design yet which makes it less hindering and more efficient. It can collect 1000 data points per second. England Netball uses these T6 devices along with Catapult’s software to enhance performance with less risk of injury and quick rehabilitation.
One of the principle advantages of dissecting athlete’s growth and development in netball is the capacity to better comprehend in-game needs and guarantee that training prepares players for the particular physical prerequisites of competition. This is something that England Netball are doing over each period of their journey; to create preparing programs that duplicate the physicality required to beat the world’s best.
According to Tracey Neville, England Netball’s Head Coach, “I think the most important data that we use from Catapult is about replicating international competition… I think what’s been really challenging and really exciting for the Roses is how we are developing a catalogue of practices and sessions that we know actually marry up with what the girls do at international level and that is so important to be able to push through our pathway and get our girls ready for international competition.”
Inertial data is especially profitable in netball given the high quantities of bounces and alters of course players perform amid matches and training sessions. Through their utilization of Catapult, England Netball have possessed the capacity to go to a more detailed comprehension of the physical load players experience at the first class level, separating that data by position to understand how demands fluctuate by role.
“Netball is full of high intensity movements, so that’s a key marker we look at,” says Katie Denton, a Sports Scientist with England Netball. “They spend their time changing direction and jumping up in the air, so we’re looking at how many movements they make in a game and how much physical expense that takes off a player because it can be quite draining. The bonus with Catapult is that you can really break it down into different positions because there are obviously a lot of different positional requirements.”
The collecting and investigation of physical information is one step towards a more targeted way to deal with performance, yet player engagement is critical if that data is to tangibly affect the court. By guaranteeing that players purchase in to the innovation and are instructed around the significance of sports science, England Netball are making an elite culture that connect partners across the organization and supports engagement and open communication around group and player performance.
