Physical Conditioning Overview minimaxX GPS

GPSinfootball: PhysicalConditioning
Dr.AlecButtfield
Theadventofwearableathletetrackingtechnology,suchas theMinimaxxfromCatapultinnovations,allowsathletesto trainandplaysmarterthaneverbefore.

themoreimportantpartsofsprintingisnotjusthowmany anathletecando,buthowmanysprintstheycangroup togetherinashortperiodoftime(oftencalledrepeat sprints,orrepeathighintensityefforts).Thisrepeatsprint valuecanalsobebrokendownintothelengthofsprintand therecoverybetweenefforts.Asummaryvaluecanprovide goodinformationforanoverviewofgameperformance,but greatbenefitcanbegainedfromamoreindepthanalysis. Balancingthecomplexityoftheanalysisandtheeaseof understandingisalsocriticallyimportantforlongitudinal trackingofperformance.Often,asmallnumberofcritical variablesprovidetheclearestinformation.Thereisadefi niteriskofoveranalysingcompetitioninformation,espe ciallysinceresultstakenfromcompetitionareaffectedby theoppositionandstyleofmatch.Byusinggeneralsum maryvaluessuchasaveragespeed,totaldistance,number ofsprintsandnumberofrepeatsprintsyoucangetanin formativesnapshotofanathletesphysicalconditionovera periodoftime.Whenapossibleproblemisidentified,a moredetailedanalysiscanhelptoidentifywhytheper formancehaschanged.

Whatisactuallyhappeningduringagame?
Trackingmovementduringcompetitionallowsyoutoaccu ratelydeterminethephysiologicaldemandsofthegame. Thisinformationisinvaluablenotonlyfortrackingathlete performanceoveraseason,butalsoformatchingwhatyou dointrainingtowhatactuallyhappensduringthegame.

Measuringtheintensityofeffort
Whentryingtomatchtrainingprescriptiontogamede mands,amoredetaileddescriptionofmovementisre quired.Forinstance,ifyouweredesigningatrainingses siontoreplicatetheactionsofaparticularposition,you wouldneedtoknownotjusthowfarthatplayerranduring thegamebutalsowhatsortofintensitythatrunningwas doneat. Theanalysisofcompetitioninformationcanrangefroma superficialhowmuchtoanindepthanalysisofwhattype ofmovementsaremade(eg.accelerations,smallperiodsof hardrunning,longerperiodsofslowerrunningetc).Resolv ingmovementduringagameintoafewsummaryvariables allowsforaneffectiveoverview,butsomeofthesubtleties canbelost.Forinstance,whenexaminingsprintingduringa game,agoodsummaryvariablethatcanbeusedisthetotal numberofsprints.However,ithasbeenshownthatoneof
March 2009 - catapult innovations - 1 Dalmore Drive Scoresby Victoria Australia 3179 - Ph +61 (3) 9095 8410

Howhardanathleteisworkingcanbemeasuredinanum berofways.Itcanbemeasuredasanabsolutevaluesim plyhowfastorfaranathleteisrunning.Itcanalsobe measuredasarelativevaluehowfastorfaranathleteis runningcomparedtotheirowncapacitytorun.Forin stance,ifyouhavetwoathleteswhoarebothrunningat 20km/h,thentheirabsoluteeffortisthesame.However,if oneathletehasatopspeedof25km/handtheother 30km/h,thenoneisworkingrelativelyharderthanthe other.Bothabsoluteandrelativevaluesareimportantde

Physical Conditioning Overview minimaxX GPS

scriptionsofperformance,andshouldbeusedinconjunc tiontoensureyougetthefullpicture.

tobecompromised.Itcanhelpyoustayonestepaheadof whatisactuallyhappeningonthefield.

Anothervaluethataddsgreatlytotheoverallanalysisof GPSinformationisthevariabilityofmovementspeed.If twoplayershaveachievedthesameaveragespeedduringa trainingsession,theonewhoisacceleratinganddecelerat ingthemostwillhavespentthemostenergy.Again,there aresimpleandcomplexwaystomeasurevariability,but probablythemostdifficultpartisdefiningwhatasignificant variationinspeedactuallyis.Thisisbecausetheamountof accelerationforacertainamountofeffortwillchangewith thestartingspeedoftheeffort.Inotherwords,iftwoath letesacceleratedwiththesameintensity,theamountof accelerationmeasuredbytheGPSunitwilldependonhow fastthoseathleteswererunningwhentheystartedacceler ating. Thedetailedanalysisneededtomatchtrainingprescription togamedemandsrequiresbothabsoluteandrelative measuresofintensity,aswellasadescriptionofthevari abilityofmovement.

Livetrackingisalsoveryusefulintrainingsituations.Apost sessionanalysisofwhetherornotgoalsfortheamountor intensityofmovementhavebeenmetmeansthatyouwill havetowaittillthenexttrainingsessiontomakeany changes.Bytrackingmovementasitishappeningyouare abletoadjustyourtrainingtoensuregoalsforthatsession aremet. Youcanalsoreducetheriskofoverexertionduringtraining byplacingupperlimitsonsomeofthephysicaleffortpa rametersyoucanmeasurewithminimaxX.Overtrainingcan adverselyaffectthequalityofthenextgameortraining sessionandcanalsoleadtoinjury.

MorethanGPS
MinimaxXunitsprovidemorethanjustGPSinformation. Accelerometers,gyroscopesandmagnetometersareincor poratedintotheminimaxXtoenhancethebasicdistance andtimemeasuresprovidedbyGPS.

TrainingEvaluation
Oncethetrainingsessionhasbeendesignedtoreplicatethe demandsofthegame,thenextquestioniswhathappens whenthesessionmovesfromthenotepadtothepitch.The bestlaidplansmaynottransfertowhatactuallyhappens duringthetrainingsession.UsingaminimaxXtoanalyse trainingsessionswillnotonlyhelptotracktrainingper formance,itwillalsohelptoensurewhatwasplannedfor thesessionactuallyhappened.

LiveTracking
Makinggooddecisionsduringgamesreliesonthebestin formationbeingavailableallthetime.HavingGPSdata availableingamewillbringsomenumbersandobjectivity intothesubjectiveanalysisofanathletesconditionduring agame.UsingGPStotrackwhenathletegetsclosetothe upperlimitoftheirphysicalperformancecanhelptoiden tifywhentheirskills,decisionmakingandfitnessareabout

Theadditionalinformationgainedfromtheextrasensors canbeextremelyvaluable.Eventsliketacklesandstrides canbeidentifiedandincorporatedintotheoveralldescrip tionofthephysicalloadplacedontheathlete.Themagni tudeoftheshockplacedontheunit(measuredviatheac celerometers)canalsobeusedtocalculateanimpactload. Thismeasurecanevenbeusedasadefactomeasurefor theoverallamountofathletemovementwhenGPSinfor

March 2009 - catapult innovations - 1 Dalmore Drive Scoresby Victoria Australia 3179 - Ph +61 (3) 9095 8410

Physical Conditioning Overview minimaxX GPS

mationiscompromisedorunavailable(wheninsideasta dium,forinstance).

Summary:
TheminimaxXunitprovidesvaluableinformationonthe amountandqualityofmovementduringtrainingandcom petition.Theanalysiscanrangefromsuperficialtocom plex,andfromaoneoffsessiontoseasonlongtrackingof performance.Informationcanbeprovidedliveoranalysed furtherafterthesessionhasfinished,andcanevenincorpo rateeventsliketacklingandkicking.Inshort,theminimaxX opensupaworldofpossibilities,allowingyoutoenhance yourownestimationsofeffortwithrealnumbers.

March 2009 - catapult innovations - 1 Dalmore Drive Scoresby Victoria Australia 3179 - Ph +61 (3) 9095 8410