Technology and Sport

September 5

Technology has become a more important part of the sporting landscape over the past few years. We have all seen the Hawkeye system used in multiple sports, FIFA has new goal line technology and heat maps are used to show player movement to teams and spectators. Sports Tech is a huge business and growing rapidly. The Sports Tech World Series is an event for aspiring startups to promote themselves and increase awareness.

This week I will look at a small fraction of the massive range of emerging sports technology.

Tracking player movement and physical responses

Catapult is a listed Australian company that is a pioneer in this space. It was originally formed from a partnership between the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) to maximise the performance of Australian athletes ahead of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

The wearable technologies developed by Catapult in their early years were designed to address fundamental questions in sports performance. Via a range of trackers all aspects of physical performance could be tracked including speed, location, reaction time and other metrics relating to the individual sport. This data allowed the development of athlete management systems to reduce injury and optimize performance. Catapult’s systems are now used by multitudes of elite sports teams worldwide.

AI that analyzes game play

There are a growing range of AI services that will analyze a game and provide a range of insights. Gameface.ai won the Australian Sports Analytics Game Changers Award in 2017. Upload a video of your game and the AI will provide key events and insights. The AI will track every aspect of the match including goals, assists, players, passing patterns and ball possessions. Load up your competitors previous matches and the system will automatically provide scouting reports including player movement, patterns and actions within the context of the game. The system currently specializes in Cricket and Soccer.

Smart Balls

Jetson Industries is an Australian startup that has developed a smart ball for cricket, golf and athletics. The technology inside the ball allows tracking of ball speed, distance, force, position, spin and other sport specific characteristics. The systems can be used in any sport that has a ball with a solid core. Each ball features 4 movement sensors and bluetooth for data transfer. Algorithms provide specific user feedback.

The range of data captured includes:

Smart Equipment

Shot Scope is a sensor that is added to the end of your golf clubs. The system then records every shot, distance and placement. The system has 40,000 courses worldwide loaded so that you can see where every shot landed, how far it went and how you played each hole. No need to mark a scorecard, it is all automatic.

Safety Equipment

The movie Concussion highlighted the growing need for awareness and immediate action on concussions. Technology is stepping in to provide the information required for doctors and coaches to make the best decisions in the interest of player safety. The latest mouthguards include accelerometers, gyroscopes and built-in sensors that can gather real-time data about the force of an on-field collision, and instantly alert coaches and doctors about a potential injury.

In the NFL helmets have long been an attempt to reduce head injury. However more often than not the helmet is used as a weapon rather than protection. The helmet is now being turned into an information source for concussions. Earlier this year, Riddell released INSITE, a helmet loaded with a five-zone sensor pad that measures linear and rotational acceleration and location and duration of an impact. Upon impact, the helmet automatically sends notifications wirelessly to sideline staff about a player’s collision.

Personal Fitness

There is a huge range of apps and websites that provide insight into improving personal fitness. Fitbod’s training algorithm understands your strength training ability and develops custom workouts based upon the equipment available to you.

Kaia Trainer is an app that uses your phone or iPad camera and an inbuilt AI to analyze your squats and provide instant feedback on technique. Skulpt is a body scanner that will measure body fat and muscle quality over time providing deep insight into workout quality and results.

Tonal is a wall mounted home workout system that will track your strength, incrementally increase weight as you progress, trainers on video provide exercises and ensure proper form. After a short strength assessment the system will recommend starting weights and workouts. The built in spotter will detect if you are struggling with a rep and will instantly decrease the weight so you can finish. Adjustments to resistance are made in real time. The weight resistance is electronic, so the weight you lift can be changed in very small increments. Tonal automatically measures reps, sets, range of motion, time under tension and power so you can systematically see progress over time.

Counting laps is a challenge for any recreational or competitive swimmer. Form goggles have a see through display that automatically shows split times, stroke rate, pace per 100, distance and calories burnt.

Virtual Races

If you are hankering for a bit of competition to sharpen your workout but don’t have anyone to compete against you can enter a virtual race. Most virtual races function just like a traditional race: you pay a fee to complete a predetermined distance and if you're successful you (usually) earn some sort of reward. The difference lies in where you compete. Instead of traveling to a specific destination to race other people on a set course, you participate remotely. The races can be completed on a treadmill, static rowing machine, stationary bike or you can also compete in the real world with a GPS enabled watch that can be connected to the internet. Races can be completed in real time or run against the clock and then results compared. You really can race anywhere, anytime that you have an internet connection.

If you're a cyclist or a runner, Zwift runs multiple races at a variety of distances every day. RowPro is the closest equivalent for rowers. Want to set up your own running race and invite people to participate? The RaceRunner app will help you make it happen.

A little extra help

Finally, sometimes no matter how much you practice, how much you analyze and how much you plan, the game still wins. For golfers, putting is the ultimate in mental discipline. As the saying goes “Drive for show, putt for dough”. Nissan has solved this problem with a self driving golf ball. Once you are on the green, hit the ball and it will drive itself into the hole. No more missed puts, no more mulligans, no more gimmes just perfect putting every time.

Paying it Forward

If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product, ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and give the start-up a shout out to my readers if it is something that I think they could use. If you have any questions or comments please email me via my website craigcarlyon.com

I would also appreciate it if you could forward this newsletter to anyone that you think might be interested.

Till next week.