4 Technology Resources That Athletes Can Utilize for Better Performance - by Sarah Daren

From the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook
"Helping coaches coach better..."

Behind-the-scenes sports technologies are becoming just as important for athletes as the smartphones and iPads that consumers are growing increasingly reliant on for navigating daily life. Innovative sports technologies aid today's athletes in achieving new heights of excellence, and contemporary sports fans benefit greatly from innovations such as real-time, on-screen markups and highlights, which makes it considerably easier to keep track of many variables that can affect the outcome of the game. This technology enhances the viewer experience and has a positive impact on many sports. Furthermore, advanced technologies help officials maintain integrity in a highly competitive environment. Many of today's viewers can't imagine watching televised sports without this technology.

Coaches and athletes, however, are using innovative technologies to tweak and improve their performance in incredible ways that are relatively unknown to casual fans. Today's sports professionals use a combination of traditional training and the latest technological advancements. Around the world, remarkable inventions such as video analytics and 3-D motion capture systems are helping athletes and coaches find previously hidden opportunities for improvement.

Sports technology engineers create amazing training resources using empirical evidence. These exceptionally talented hardware and software specialists develop technologies that fulfill the needs of contemporary coaches and athletes. It takes the collaborative effort of professionals from many fields to make these innovative technologies a reality. A vastly talented array of experts, such as biomechanists, sports scientists and computer science engineers, conjoin to engineer technologies that help athletes improve their performance. The following sections showcase 4 of the latest technological resources that engineers have developed for improving athletic performance.

Resource 1: Enhanced Performance and Training Technology

Sports professionals are finding that a regular routine of pushing one's physical abilities to the limit is not the most effective way of improving athletic performance. Research has shown that there are more effective and productive ways for athletes to enhance their abilities. Now, sports facilities around the world feature cutting edge technologies as well as innovative, unique training methods.

Today, sports professionals can easily monitor and analyze important vital statistics such as their heart rate, calorie intake and other critical performance variables. High-tech equipment and innovations help today's athletes succeed and excel. Innovative technologies provide immediate access to information that helps coaches and athletes better understand player's health and well-being. This information helps athletes achieve optimal conditioning and develop a better and deeper understanding of how to maximize their performance and strengths.

Resource 2: Social Media

Social media is helping athletes get into college and find more opportunities. A recent survey reveals that 72-percent of advancing high school seniors use social media platforms to research potential colleges and universities and that 20-perecent of athletes use online platforms for sports related career networking. Additionally, scouts have shifted from the old paradigm of using experience, gut feelings and instincts to recruit talent. They can now use social media and other online resources to research detailed and verified information about athletes. These technologies allow scouts to discover potential stars who may have previously gone unnoticed.

Resource 3: Innovative Online Apps and Information Sources

Today's athletes use a combination of trainers, coaches, private lessons and sports tech to enhance their abilities. Additionally, new technologies offer a plethora of options for reaching out for this vital support. To improve their skills, performance, nutrition habits and techniques, many of today's athletes use advanced technologies such as video projection and swing analysis. These kinds of technologies help professional and amateur athletes turn their weaknesses into strengths.

Resource 4: Blended Learning and Education

Technology gives athletes pioneering ways to learn and train. They can now choose from a multitude of ways to improve their performance. Internet connectivity allows athletes to learn at any time and from anywhere in the world. In addition to traditional methods, they can now take advantage of online courses and videos and leverage innovations such as artificial intelligence, virtual-reality and gamified training to learn faster. In fact, today's AI sports training technologies are nearly sophisticated enough to match human experts.

High-performing and dedicated athletes need more than natural talent. Technology is now an integral component for enhancing athletic performance. Coaches praise the benefits of today's sports technologies. Many believe that the information gathered by modern, state-of-the-art sports innovations greatly complement traditional training. Coaches and athletes who stay informed about, and take advantage of, the latest training resources and work hard will achieve exceptional results. With ingenuity, technology and hard work, coaches and athletes will continue to produce amazing results in the field.

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