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In the good old days, athletes and coaches didn’t have it as “easy” as they do today. They had to work hard, and if they wanted to improve, they had to put in the extra effort.
And, of course, all of this practice had to be meticulously documented. Trainers would take notes and record video footage, which would then be analyzed and used to create charts and graphs.
Great success involved a painful amount of snooze-worthy paperwork.
After each session, coaches and athletes would review everything that had happened, discussing aches, pains, and thoughts about physical movements. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it because it allowed athletes to reach their full potential.
This tedious work is no longer necessary, thanks to modern technology. Players are now equipped with sensors and data-tracking devices that provide insight into their performance.
Coaches can use this information to fine-tune their strategies and game plans. And fans can follow their favorite teams and athletes like never before. The best part? This is just the beginning.
Thanks to technology, today’s coaches, athletes, and fans work smarter, not harder.
Pew Pew, Lasers Enter Sports
Every few years, a new technology comes along that promises to revolutionize the world of sports. Athletes and trainers latch onto it in the hope (or perhaps desperation) that it will give them an edge over the competition.
Some of these technologies have significantly impacted the world of sports, leading to a new level of detail in training and helping athletes reach new levels of success.
- Meet the future of sports. Lasers and GPS have been incorporated into various aspects of sports training to provide more accurate and specific data about an athlete’s performance. By tracking an athlete’s speed, distance, and other data points, coaches can identify areas where their athletes need to improve and adjust their programs as needed to minimize the risk of injury.
- Throw away your stopwatches and clipboards; there’s a new sheriff in town for tracking professional athletes’ performance. Thanks to advances in wearable technology, trainers can now measure their charges’ exact position, distance, velocity, and acceleration with the help of lasers and GPS.
Sure, tech is exciting, but don’t forget that the most essential ingredient for success is still old-fashioned sweat and determination. While technology can certainly help improve performance, it’s important to remember that athletes have to be able to perform under the pressure of the data they are given.
No gadget or app can replace that.
Bite Down
Who knew that your teeth could one day be used to help prevent concussions? These injuries often happen without the player knowing, leading to long-term damage.
Now, a high-tech mouthguard called FITGuard uses sensors to let an athlete know if it may be time to take a break. It uses sensors to track the impact force and alert the player when a serious but invisible injury occurs. This way, players can take a break before things get even worse.
No more playing through concussions unknowingly (looking at you, NFL players)! Now, if only we could get those mouthguards to sense when we’ve had too many beers…
Look Again Ref
Two decades ago, instant reply was introduced into the world of professional sports and quickly became one of the most controversial technologies ever to enter the world of professional sports. Initially designed to help referees make difficult calls, it has since evolved into a powerful tool that can be used to second-guess almost any decision made on the field or court.
Instant replay allows officials to slow down the action and examine it from every angle, which can help determine whether a player committed a foul or a ball was out of bounds. Your referee has hawk-eyes now, or maybe robot eyes…
This technology is not without its critics. Fans that argue against instant replay claim that it leads to long delays, often takes away from the flow of the game, and invites pressure on officials to make “perfect” calls, which (for the sake of argument) results in less entertainment value.
Regardless of where one stands on the issue, there is no denying that instant replay has changed the accuracy with which sports are officiated.
Sports Analysts May Soon Be Out of a Job
Did you know that the first baseball statistics were published in 1857 by Henry Chadwick? Chadwick was a cricket fan who noticed that there was no record keeping of the players’ performance. So, he started tracking things like at-bats and strikeouts. Today, fans have a much more sophisticated system for keeping track of stats.
Like any avid sports fan, you probably devour the vast array of statistics on every player and game. While this information can be interesting, it’s also essential for understanding how a team is performing and where they need to improve.
A prime example is SportVU, a program that records every occurrence on the basketball court, such as where the ball is being passed and the athletes’ progress on the court. Fans, coaches, and athletes no longer rely on human memory and estimation to keep track of these critical numbers.
From Couch Potato to Fantasy League Champion
For diehard sports fans, the fun is analyzing their team’s roster, debating trades, and predicting which players will have a breakout season. In other words, it’s all about armchair quarterbacking.
Let’s be honest: most of you will never suit up and play professional sports. So what’s the point of spending hours poring over statistics and agonizing over trades? For many, being a sports fan is simply a way to escape their everyday lives. It’s an opportunity to root for underdog teams and players and to feel like you’re part of something larger than yourself.
In other words, being a sports fan is much like being a general manager. And that’s where fantasy leagues come in. Fans like you are the ones who call into sports talk radio shows to rant about the coach’s play-calling or who spend hours arguing with strangers on message boards about whether the team should trade its star player.
Being a sports fan is not about enjoying the game but winning a war.
With the advancement of the internet and countless websites, it’s easy for anyone to start a fantasy league, and in no time, you can be in charge of your virtual team.
Setting up a fantasy football league should be easy peasy, but most hosting sites are still painfully cumbersome. And let’s face it, fans should follow in their favorite athlete’s footsteps and start working smarter.
Runyourpool is different. Runyourpool is about making things easy on the backend – taking care of all the major tasks necessary for setting up and running a fantasy football league (taking less than twenty minutes).
Runyourpool does it all, leaving room for you to spend time on difficult decisions and outsmarting your friends.
Trash That Old Box In Your Garage
The days of stone age TV are over. Technology has come a long way since the time of big boxy TVs (you know, the ones that make that annoying buzzing noise when you turn them on). The introduction of HD television gave viewers a crisper, cleaner picture that was easier on the eyes.
Hell, you don’t need a TV to watch the game anymore. These days, you can sit down and stream your team anywhere you can get cell service. Thanks to technological advancements, sports coverage is more extensive than ever before.
Use RunYourPool to Make Your Fantasy League Easier to Run
It’s that time of year again! The leaves are changing color, the air is getting crisp- and NFL season is here. Whether you’re a diehard fan or just enjoy the occasional Sunday game, there’s no better way to kick off the season than by entering a pool on RunYourPool.com.
