Technology In Professional Sports

Over the last century, technology has affected sports for both officials and athletes, changing the way sports are prepared for, played, and reviewed by officials. Technology is utilized by almost everyone involved in a modern sporting event. Games can be prepared for by using technology that track the athlete’s diet and workouts, giving them the precise information they need to appropriately prepare for a game. Practicing monitored, and safe training habits allows athletes to remain healthy and potentially prolongs their career. During the game, players can be tracked by chips imbedded into jerseys and mounted on helmets. Sensors in Jerseys and on helmets are utilized by team staff to monitor the athlete’s health, allowing for less injury

An example of this is Vert. Through Vert, athletes that partake in sports where jumping plays a key role, such as volleyball or basketball can track the height and count of their jumps. Vert then uses that information to show how the athlete can improve their jumping and tells them when they are approaching an unsafe level of fatigue that leads to injury ("Technology Will Change The Future Of Professional Sports! - The Medical Futurist"). Not only is this technology used by amateur athletes, but is also utilized by professionals like the Miami Heat Basketball team during practices

In fact, Rugby was using GPS technology before the FIFA goal controversy. “English Rugby team, the Bradford Bulls were the first rugby team to use GPS tracking in January 2010.” Since then GPS is used by almost all professional European Rugby teams. Before GPS, fifteen cameramen were needed to analyze the fifteen players on the field. However, by using a small GPS device that is sewn into the player’s jersey, there was a more efficient way to analyze the game and know where a player is at any given moment during a play. Not only is it used for this, but the “GPS is also used to analyze the physical demands of players such as fatigue and can be used to help prevent future injury” (Gilligan).

In recent years technology has changed the world of sports, allowing athletes to properly prepare for games safely, coaches to communicate with their team, and officials to make the right calls. By doing this, games are played more efficiently and safely. This kind of technology has the potential to add years to athlete’s careers by practicing safe training and game time techniques. As time progresses, and technology advances, the world of sports can be completely different as we know it