Liverpool uses advanced technological methods and a heavy reliance on data to prepare a group of players to play as many as 65 matches between July and May. GPS tracking and heart-rate monitors provide the data points for on-field conditions. The club also monitors off-field factors such as sleeping and eating habits to ensure players remain at their peak physical condition.
-NESN
Nobody loves technology more than me, but Liverpool FC begin a beacon of help for the Sox is not going to fix much. GPS for Baseball? The only live HR data I want is Home Runs, not Heart Rate during games. Again technology is only as useful as the logic and sport science, and what you can do intervention wise. GPS data is Glorified Pedometer System, as very little information can come from it. TRIMPS or other gross scores are nearly as good as estimating volume. and most practices are controlled and planned in advanced. Why the addiction to GPS and HR? Many times I see teams apply the wrong technology, or not be able to do a simple score of gross fitness because we over think the fundamentals. Monitoring in a program is important, but without training, coaches are just physiological strain interpreters. We need to get away from regeneration and recovery talk and start asking are we out of shape because we are afraid to be the bad guy or risk injury? Too many performance coaches talk about the team coaching ruining their master plan and having to adjust to too much practices. Unless you share actionable solutions, autopsy data is just an example of coaches that look the other way at the wrong time.Here are three changes the Red sox need after they finish up this winter.
Use Timeline Software- Great record keeping comes alive with good timelines. The cause and effect on a time line is great because everyone can read it, not just the medical staff. Timelines show the interventions on the bottom and the events on the top. Time and what you do with it is the name of the game. I use timeline software for reviewing injuries or poor performance all the time and after a few minutes of discussion, clarity is created.
Create Benchmarks- I hate the new breed of recovery monitor coaches that just complain of everyone being tired. All this does is make people slaves to polar heart rate software instead of making athletes stronger and fitter. When you think someone is tired instead of how to create workouts to prevent it, you are navigating a bad direction.Come up with benchmarks in fitness and focus on power decay. Without standards what are we comparing? Body composition , lower body power, workload, and structural balance.
Weekly Reports and Monthly Testing- The weekly reports should create clues to the future, and the monthly reports show the consequences of bad or great decisions. A good report can be ready by anyone, not just the coaches. General Managers and owners didn’t get where they are because they can’t read reports, good charts and graphs are better than explanations or excuses. The best way to do this is get better at using excel and not relying on garbage XML cloud systems that are just excel with pretty logos.
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