VERT, Wearable Athletic Tech, Debuts With Sioux Falls Skyforce Match-up

The NBAD-League has always been used for the eruption of new ideas and tech. The D-League experiments with new methods of goaltending, timeouts, and the players are supposed to face new challenges. All the new experimentations, ideas, and studies have purely been related to basketball, till now. The NBADL has even stated that “it serves as a research and development lab for the NBA, testing rules, equipment and technological advancements.”

VERT, an athletic wearable technology, was introduced by the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the match against the Grand Rapids Drive on Friday night. To those who don’t know, we have discussed VERT before in relation to the Miami Heat. VERT is a non-invasive inertial measurement unit worn on a player’s body. The wearable device is capable of providing wearers with various athletic data including jump-count, jump height, and G-force etc.

As mentioned above, VERT has partnered with Miami Heat to bring the Fort Lauderdale technology into the NBA practices and games. However, the significant fact is that such devices aren’t allowed during the actual NBA games. Sioux Falls, the Heat’s D-League affiliate, is the first basketball team to use the wearable tech in games. Martin Matak, founder, and president of VERT, regarding the new partnership stated that;

“We are thrilled to have the Miami Heat and its development league, Skyforce, as our first NBA teams using our VERT Team Sports System. Our commitment to providing accurate and real-time measurements will create a safer environment for athletes. The use of our technology is helping coaches with the ability to modify drills during practice for recovery and injury prevention.”

The announcement of VERT is definitely pushing the games into the new era of the usage of wearable tech into big leagues like athletes. Better tracking and gaining new data opportunities will help the basketball players to analyze the game perfectly and scouting like never before. Will VERT be able to help Sioux Falls is yet to  be seen, however, the Miami Heat has certainly impressed by the use of technology and its implications on the life of athletes.

Andy Elisburg, Senior Vice-President, Basketball Operations/General Manager for the Miami Heat noted that “VERT is cutting-edge. It is next-generation technology, today.” It seems that good days of VERT are finally underway. What do you think?