Technology could be game-changer

[Denver Native (Carol)]

If GPS data can reduce injuries enough, would players accept 18-game season?

International scouting recently drew an NFL general manager to Melbourne, Australia, for a few days of rugby. During a lull in the action one evening, his eyes drifted to the sideline. The head coach was walking to the end of the bench, where a team employee sat holding a laptop computer. The two conferred for a moment before the coach returned to his post and ordered a series of player substitutions.

The next morning, the telephone rang in the Arizona offices of Catapult Sports, one of several Australian-based companies that compile live data on athletic exertion. The general manager was brimming with questions for Gary McCoy, the company's senior sports scientist.

"He wanted to know," McCoy said, "what the hell had just happened."

The general manager will remain anonymous because he did not give Catapult permission to reveal his identity. What he had witnessed, however, was the use of a widely accepted supplement to Australian sports training -- an approach that is beginning to gain traction in the United States.

rest - interesting - http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/hotread140326/gps-technology-nfl-game-changer

[luckyseven]

This article is a must read..


Catapult counts 14 teams among its NFL clients, including the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, St. Louis Rams and Buffalo Bills. The Seattle Seahawks, meanwhile, consulted with GPSports Systems for similar purposes last season.

perhaps one of the reasons the hawks played so well all year.





If you present a change in the way somebody does something, there has got to be a reason to change," McCoy said. "We've tried to show the history of what happened over, say, eight years of Australian rules football, where we've seen injury reduction by 35 or 45 percent. A lot of coaches are going to be very, very skeptical about technology, but when you can show them results, that's something that you would think would be of high value to a coaching staff."

[luckyseven]

2013 BCS national champion Florida State Seminoles. Last week, Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher said his team's soft-tissue injuries, such as muscle pulls and tears, have dropped by 88 percent since it bought the technology two years ago.http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/hotread140326/gps-technology-nfl-game-changer

[Ravage!!!]

perhaps one of the reasons the hawks played so well all year.

Isn't that overlooking all the bad teams listed and cherry picking the succesful one? Ther rest of the teams were not only bad, but amongst the most disappointing teams in the NFL.

[luckyseven]

Isn't that overlooking all the bad teams listed and cherry picking the succesful one? Ther rest of the teams were not only bad, but amongst the most disappointing teams in the NFL.

Thanks for pointing that out.

My response is the other teams sucked and frankly lousy coaching on most of them.

Not sure if this helped cut down on the types of injuries for those teams or not

But it seemed to have help Seattle because they were well coached and played great all year.

[Simple Jaded]

And to show the players how seriously they take player safety, when/if this technology is ever approved for game use the NFL will no doubt ignore who has the best technology and go with the company that makes the most sense financially. This sounds like a good way to help offset that joke of a settlement they had with retired players.