Emerging technology gives coaches and athletes rich data so they can train and compete while reducing the risk of injury
Two summers ago, UW soccer player Beau Blanchard pulled a quad the second day of preseason practice. The injury held him back for weeks, costing him precious training time as the team prepared for the challenging season ahead.
Now, donor-funded technology provides Beau’s coaches with rich data on player exertion and recovery, helping players like Beau dial back or ramp up training to meet their individual needs.
From the moment they start warming up for a game or practice, each player tucks a Catapult GPS tracking device — about half the size of the average smart phone — into a chest-hugging vest.
With phenomenal precision, the monitors track how much distance athletes cover on the field, how fast they run from moment to moment, the ups and downs of their heart rate and more.
Henry Ruggiero, strength and training coach for Men’s Soccer and several other sports, analyzes the data player by player. He fine-tunes plans for the upcoming week to make sure the guys who need rest get it while those who haven’t exhausted their reserves push themselves a bit harder.
“Before, we’d make our training plans based on our best guesses about how hard each guy played,” Henry says. “What this technology allows us to do is to put physical numbers to what they actually did and make better decisions.”
Take Beau, for example. As a midfielder, he might cover more ground in a half hour than a fullback who plays every minute of the game.
“If we didn’t have this system, we might say, ‘He was only a sub, so we think he can he can train today,’” Henry explains. “Now, we have data that can tell us it’s better to pull him out of practice for a day or give him a lighter load.”
Men’s Soccer and Husky Football started using Catapult technology in the summer of 2015, thanks to support from generous donors. Women’s Soccer rolled it out this fall. It’s already having a big impact.
“This is going to lead to fitter, healthier teams,” says Head Men’s Soccer Coach Jamie Clark. “Those things don’t always go hand in hand. In the past, you’d do so much and you’d get in great shape but be on the brink of breaking down. With this technology, we can have the best of both worlds.”
There’s an old school mentality that when you play your hardest all the time, always pushing yourself to new limits, you can face anything during a game.
“There might be some truth to that, but there’s very little science behind it,” Coach Clark says. “Today, we’re better equipped than ever before to make smart calls on how to keep our players healthy as we push to advance their fitness, strength and speed throughout the season.”
The impact of technology like this will continue to grow as more and more advances are made possible through your gifts to The Competitive Edge Fund.
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