Tracking Systems Used to Monitor the Performance and Activity Profile in Elite Team Sports

Curvilinear locomotion is important for team sports performance and requires data collection and monitoring of centripetal forces. Currently, the centripetal force can be measured by different sensors that compose inertial devices, but its accuracy needs to be assessed. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze the accuracy and inter-unit reliability of both global positioning (GPS)-based and ultra-wideband (UWB)-based systems for practical application in the field. Following institutional ethical approval and familiarization, 10 elite-level male soccer players performed six circuits on four tracks (6-m radius circle, 9.15-m radius circle, 12-m radius circle, and combined track locomotion) in both directions (three counter-clockwise and three clockwise) and were monitored by two tracking systems (GPS and UWB). The direct measurement was compared with the theoretical centripetal force calculated by photocells and spatial references. The UWB technology showed better accuracy (clockwise, bias =−1.34 N; counter-clockwise, bias = 1.09 N) than the GPS (clockwise, bias = −2.19 N; counter-clockwise, bias = 1.75 N) in centripetal force measurements. However, both tracking technologies obtained very large to nearly perfect reliability results (GPS: ICC = 0.76-0.96; UWB: ICC = 0.76–0.98). In conclusion, even though both technologies proved to be reliable and data could be compared between units, the UWB-based system demonstrated better accuracy than the GPS-based system to detect centripetal force during curvilinear locomotion.

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Review of Ultra-Wide Band in Team Sports

10.5772/intechopen.94591 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

José Pino-Ortega ◽

Markel Rico-González

Keyword(s):

Team Sports ◽

Wide Band ◽

Quality Data ◽

Ultra Wide Band ◽

Tracking Systems ◽

Validity And Reliability ◽

High Definition ◽

Positioning Systems ◽

Global Positioning ◽

Electronic Performance

The use of valid, accurate and reliable systems is fundamental to warrant a high-quality data collection and interpretation. In 2015, FIFA created a department of Electronic Performance and Tracking systems, collecting under this name the more used tracking systems in team sport setting: high-definition cameras, Global Positioning Systems, and Local Positioning Systems. To date, LPS systems proved to be valid and accurate in determining the position and estimating distances and speeds. However, it is hypothesized that between LPS, ultra-wide band (UWB) is the most promising technology for the future. Thus, this chapter was aimed to make an update about UWB technology in sport: the FIFA’s regulation, manufacturer that provide this technology, the research articles that assessed validity and reliability of UWB technology, and the criteria standard for the use of this technology.

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Are There Potential Safety Problems Concerning the Use of Electronic Performance-Tracking Systems? The Experience of a Multisport Elite Club

International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance ◽

10.1123/ijspp.2016-0368 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (8) ◽

pp. 1115-1118 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Daniel Medina ◽

Eduard Pons ◽

Antonio Gomez ◽

Marc Guitart ◽

Andres Martin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Empirical Evidence ◽

Team Sports ◽

Clinical History ◽

Team Sport ◽

Tracking Systems ◽

Safety Issues ◽

Performance Tracking ◽

Football Team ◽

Potential Safety ◽

Electronic Performance

Despite approval of the use of electronic performance-tracking systems (EPTSs) during competition by the International Football Association Board, other team-sport organizations and leagues have banned their use due to “safety concerns,” with no evidence to support this assertion. The aim of the current brief report was to provide empirical evidence to support the widespread use of EPTSs across all sports by examining safety issues concerning their use in a multi-team-sport club. Five outdoor football teams (1st team, 2nd team, under 19 [U-19], under 18 [U-18], and 1st team female) and 3 indoor-sport (basketball, futsal, and handball) teams were monitored, accounting for a total of 63,734 h of training and 12,748 h of game time. A questionnaire was sent to all fitness coaches involved, and the clinical history was reviewed for every medical issue reported. Six minor chest contusions were recorded in female football goalkeepers wearing the frontal chest strap (3.17 episodes per 1000 training h). During training, 3 episodes of minor skin abrasion affecting the thoracic area due to wearing vests too tight were recorded in the U-19 football team (0.21 per 1000 h) and 2 episodes in U-18 (0.39 per 1000 h). It must be noted that none of these episodes resulted in lost days of training or games, and none required medical assistance. In conclusion, empirical evidence confirms that EPTSs are safe to use across team sports.

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Relative Age and Fast Tracking of Elite Major Junior ICE Hockey Players

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.104.3.702-706 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 104 (3) ◽

pp. 702-706 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Lauren B. Sherar ◽

Mark W. Bruner ◽

Krista J. Munroe-Chandler ◽

Adam D. G. Baxter-Jones

Keyword(s):

Fast Track ◽

Team Sports ◽

Age Effect ◽

Ice Hockey ◽

Elite Sport ◽

Young Athletes ◽

Relative Age ◽

Fast Tracking ◽

Relative Age Effect ◽

Hockey Players

Investigations in a variety of chronologically grouped team sports have reported that elite young athletes were more likely born in the early months of the selection year, a phenomenon known as the relative age effect. The present study investigated the birth dates and developmental paths of 238 (15 to 20 years old) Major Junior ‘A’ hockey players from the Ontario Hockey League to determine if a relative age effect still exists in elite junior hockey and if the path to elite sport was accelerated (i.e., fast tracked). The results identified a relative age effect in elite hockey although it is only apparent among individuals who fast track.

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Diffusion and Transformation of Western Sports in North Asia

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199858910.013.24 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Sayuri Guthrie-Shimizu

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Nineteenth Century ◽

World War Ii ◽

Team Sports ◽

Late Nineteenth Century ◽

Elite Sport ◽

World War ◽

Stepping Stone ◽

North Asia ◽

Late Nineteenth

This chapter tracks the diffusion of Western-style athletic culture in Japan and Korea since the late nineteenth century. It argues that modern teach sport was introduced to Japan and Korea by British and American educators and Christian missionaries. Many Western team sports were introduced to North Asia by the YMCA. Japan sought excellence in Olympic sports before World War II as evidence of its modernity. Sport served in Korea as a mechanism for expressing anticolonial nationalism. After World War II, economic growth enabled both nations to allocate more resources to excellence in elite sport. Hosting the Asian Games and the Olympics were considered by both Japan and Korea as a stepping-stone to achieving first-class nation status and international recognition.

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Efficiency of Governmental Funding in Hungary

Physical Culture and Sport Studies and Research ◽

10.1515/pcssr-2016-0027 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 72 (1) ◽

pp. 41-50

Author(s):

Erika Gulyás ◽

Tamás Sterbenz ◽

Eszter Kovacs

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

High Performance ◽

Success Factors ◽

Public Funding ◽

Team Sports ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Elite Sport ◽

Competitive Position ◽

Policy System ◽

Tax Relief

AbstractThis paper presents the initial results of a significant research project conducted under the IOC PhD Student Research Grant Program with the support of the Hungarian Olympic Committee. Macro- and meso-level analyses were conducted within the framework of this research to analyze the competitive position of the Hungarian elite sport policy system. In the following, an essential part of the research will be presented with the aim of modeling the efficiency of the Hungarian sport funding system as the increasingly international sporting competition forces governments to invest more money in elite sport development just so they can maintain their elite sport success as the supply of medals remains basically constant. Due to these diminishing returns to the scale of investment, an elite sporting system with an efficient structure will be key in future sporting success. Data collection was based on information gained through a general questionnaire and interviews with the main stakeholders of national sport federations and the Hungarian Olympic Committee, which is the main governing body of Hungarian high-performance sport. Data collection focused on the sixteen prioritized sport federations and the five team sports that benefited from a tax relief system. Secondary data were collected regarding the national public funding for sport, elite sport, and sport by sport since 2006, and Gracenote’s database was used to analyze historical performance in the different disciplines and compare Hungarian performance with that of other countries. This research will provide information to policy makers about the competitive position of Hungary in elite sport and, in this respect, explore the critical success factors that will allow Hungary to assess how best to manage its future success in an increasingly competitive international environment.

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