Current prospects on how the athletes and teams are getting used-to with the emerging technologies in sports

Athletes and Teams obtaining technology into sports

If we look a few decades back it was very difficult to track and maintain data of the athletes and teams. But not until technology was transformed into sports. Technology has enhanced the level of sports from performance to enhancing communication. Technology has not only helped athletes but also to the officials and even to the spectators. 

The use of technology is growing rapidly in every sport, technology has made an impact on many sports in modern times. Technology has helped referees to judge better, helps the coach and athletes to develop their skills.

If we consider sports like Football and Cricket, new devices and technologies are used for different reasons. For Football the most important technology called ‘Goal Line Technique’ is used to determine if a ball has crossed the goal line, in order to support the referee. Technologies like Decision Review System, Spider cam, Ball tracking, hotspot and many others are used in Cricket.

Health and Fitness : Technology has helped the athletes from developing skills to their health and fitness. Various wearable devices are used to track the performance of cardiovascular and hyperbaric oxygen therapy aids recovery after injury.

Equipment: A running blade is a prosthetic leg that transfers energy created by the runner onto the track. It consists of a customised socket that fits the athlete’s stump, a knee joint and a carbon fibre running blade. The blades reproduce the action of the ball of the foot during running. They are fitted with spikes to increase friction with the track.

Technique and Tactics: Technology plays an important part in monitoring and analysing the performance of athletes, identifying their strengths and areas for improvement, as well as their fitness. Technology is also used for collecting and analysing data, which can help to improve fitness, improve skills, prevent injuries, and help to win matches by adopting a different strategy.

Officials

In many sports, referees, umpires or judges are placed under immense pressure to make accurate split-second decisions that determine or contribute to the outcome of the sporting competition. It helps the official to communicate with other officials on and off fields with microphones. Some of the technologies which are used in various sports like ball tracking – allows for the ball to be minutely tracked to ensure accuracy of decisions in cricket, tennis and football.

Snicko (or Snickometer as it is known as) is a type of a sensitive microphone which picks up any sound when the ball passes through (whether it hits the bat, pad or the body of the batsman). It was invented to pick up edges for caught-behinds or inside-edges for LBWs.

Analysing individuals’ performances

Most elite teams now use technology to monitor players’ skills and fitness. For example some teams use a piece of technology which fits into a small pocket on the underside of a player’s jersey. This is linked to a heart rate monitor and both elements download information to a docking station which can be viewed during and after matches by the coaches and sports scientists. Coaches use the information to influence their in-game decisions and the data is used afterwards to shape players’ training programmes.