Soccer has become a haven for technology and data. driven metrics. You only have to watch a Premier League game and you can see players wearing GPS Vests, Physiological monitoring devices. This article will look at 4 of the best wearable technologies.

Coaches and staff have on-demand up-to-date game data to help make decisions in-game. Referees now have the confirmation of a goal on their wrist in the form of goal-line technology. The most recent and much-debated technology of VAR (Video Assistant Referee).

Current trends suggest that wearables for players will become more and more commonplace in the game, just as much as putting on shin pads. With prices becoming very reasonable for the regular amateur player to afford, it’s no longer just for the professionals.

FIFA the worlds governing body had 13 wearable technologies tested at their laboratory.

Some of the companies that had their tracking technology tested include Track160, Catapult, Statsports, and Fitogether.

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FIFA worked alongside the University of Victoria to administer a batch of tests at the Spanish professional club, Barcelona, stadium, Camp Nou.

Students used the sensors while moving around a pitch. Data recorded included players’ positioning, speed, and acceleration.

There are many products on the market. We will look at four (4) different pieces of technology that can help soccer players monitor and develop their technical and overall qualities.

CATAPULT PLAYR Soccer GPS Tracker

GPS vest companies have been popping up regularly as technology becomes more affordable.

The sports wearable GPS space has been occupied for some time with Catapult.

Catapult was initially inspired in 2006 by the Australian Institute of Sport and the Cooperative Research Centre. The two institutions wanted to maximize the performance of Australian athletes ahead of the Sydney Olympics.

Catapult Helps us establish the desired intensity during sessions so we can replicate match demands

Pontus Eklblom, Performance Manager Swedish National Women’s Team

16 years of development with elite teams have given Catapult the most prominent experience to create a training solution of meaningful data to the fingertips of individual players or team coaches.

The vest gives multiple facets of data. However, how is this data useful?

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Tony Strudwick, a professional coach using Catapult says, “What you’ve got now, with multiple sources of information and the integration of sports science knowledge, I think invariably we’ve become self-serving because we’ve educated players,” he continues. “The more educated players become the more educated players will be in five or 10 years’ time, and there’s a whole cycle of upskilling and updating your knowledge base about performances and how best to play and train. It’s critical information, but what we’ve found is certainly at the elite end, more players are engaged in this sort of information.”

“We had to have a culture of acceptance, we had to sell it to the players and we had to demonstrate the benefits of this sports science approach,” Strudwick says. “Sir Alex Ferguson obviously went, David Moyes came in, and although it was a small tenure, he maintained that. When Louis Van Gaal came in, he maximized the benefits of that and particularly the wellness factor. It was something that was created and sustained over a 10-year period – we’re really proud of that.”

PLYR One by Catapult: Purchase from Amazon

PlayerMaker Uno

PlayerMaker has devised a solution for players to track information on technical data.

The product is placed on each foot and records data in training or in a game setting. Information garnered is GPS and Accelerator data and not physiological.

The sensor on each foot uses technology and algorithms to measure foot-to-ball interactions of the player’s game or practice performance.

The unit uses a 6-axis motion smart sensor with built-in gyroscopes and an accelerometer to provide the information to players post-activity.

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The PlayerMaker measures movements 1000 times per second. This measurement of every micro-movement includes impact with the ground, ball, and rotation of each foot.

PlayerMaker doesn’t use GPS or WiFi to gather data, so each time the units are used, the player will get the desired data.

These wearable sensors slide onto the football boot as a sock would. The bonus is that they can work in any arena, surface, or weather.

What does the PlayerMaker track?

The sensors, accelerometer, and algorithms gather:

• Volume
  • Distance Covered
  • Sprint Distance
  • Work Rate
• Involvement
  • Touches
  • Ball Releases
  • Possessions
• Playing Tempo
  • One Touch
  • Short Possessions
  • Long Possessions
• Technical qualities per foot
  • Touch by leg
  • Receive by leg
  • Max. Kicking velocity
• Performance
  • Top Speed
  • Sprints
  • Acceleration / Deceleration

I have found that PlayerMaker highlights areas in a practice that can help both the player and the coach.

For the coach, it gives great data on how many touches a player has within the training session. Why is this important? For our club at Storm FC, we look to increase the contact time with a ball for each player.

For players, we can catch a glimpse at what type of contact the player has. Was it one touch? was it a touch chain, indicating dribbling, and control, was it predominantly right or left foot?

We can assess the intensity of the session conducted by the coach. Was it high tempo, was there players standing around?

We can use the data to quantify periodization. We can monitor and set workloads, intensity, effort, etc.

“Playermaker provides the most accurate data and is the least disruptive to the players’ game.” –

Arsène Wenger

The PlayerMaker comes as a team setting or as an individual player tool in recording workout and game performances.

PlayerMaker UNO: Purchase from Amazon

Beyond Pulse Belts

This product requires a belt to be strapped around the chest of players. The belt houses a physiological sensor that collects biodata.

Types of data collected include

• Heart Rate
• Player Workload
• Distance Covered
• Active Participation
• Speed
• High impact sprints
• Calories

collecting Heart Rate data helps us to measure the number of time players is working above 80% of their maximum.

This zone is typically called the “Red Zone”. It allows us to set a benchmark for the internal load of activities. This data can assist Coaches to design sessions design to optimize players’ physical performance improvements.

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Speed data is collected by the internal accelerator. Through this captured information coaches are able to define High-Speed Running trends for each player.

This gives us the percentage of activities at which players spend running above 60% of their maximum speed.

One of the easiest data sets to utilize would be the Beyond pulses’ unique active participation.

Active Participation metric demonstrates how much time a player is spent actively within a session, moving beyond a slow walking pace.

This measurement is vital as young players at times are not getting enough physical activity with the right intensities during coaching sessions. Coaches should design sessions with players’ activity levels and duration in mind.

Beyond Pulse: Purchase from Amazon

Trace Up

Trace Up is a video-based wearable technology. The video became popular when Hudl popped onto the scene with video analytics. Capturing video always brought inherent problems in the early days.

Hi-Pod would sell its tripod and manual device to follow the play, the issue was it was only as good as the operator! if the operator was consumed with the game then the playback would see parts of the game ignored or hurried footage trying to catch up with play.

Veo and Soloshot came to the market with the solution to operatorless video capturing. Veo would use algorithms to follow the play. A fantastic new solution, coupled with superb marketing, Veo become wildly popular.

For our club, Storm FC, Veo was great to capture visual footage. However, creating moments, capturing data, and understanding the game came at great time consumption.

Coaches with full-time jobs would have to watch the game, then go back and identify key moments in which to create clips. This could be up to, even surpass a 3 hour process.

During a tournament weekend or coaches that coach multiple teams, there could be 5-6 games. Unless a service such as Hudl is used the coach would soon stop using the footage due to time.

Trace created a product that would capture game footage and automatically publish players’ moments.

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Trace is a solution that provides players with trackers that are worn during games. Upon upload completion of game footage, players would be Emailed their moments.

If nothing else is taken from the footage, there are instant data sets that highlight players’ key metrics and heat maps.

Another wearable tech used by our club Storm FC, is Trace. The club’s elite teams all use TraceUp, as well as any team that would like to use it.

Once video footage for a team has been uploaded each player has to complete a Performance Analysis worksheet. This support material helps players better understand their performances.

Data collected:

• Completed passes
  • Forward, sideways and backwards
• Passes not completed
• First touch retain of possession
• loss of possession from first touch
• 1v1 duels won and lost
• Tackles won
• Shots
• Goals
• Team data
• Number of passes
• Set plays
• Opposition passes
• and much more…

Through multiple games in a season, trends can emerge. Game models, roles and responsibilities, player assessment, and developing ILP (Individual Player Plans).

TraceUp: Purchase by scanning the QR code

There are many technologies out there for players to track, capture performance data and physiological metrics. All are designed to help players and coaches provide feedback or construct sessions based upon metrics.

Many coaches, players, and teams have purchased some kind of technology. However, without acting upon the data or visual aids then they are just wasting their money.