The growth of sports and athletic tech has allowed for top-tier athletes to take their game to the next level. However, like any other form of technology, it is constantly growing and evolving. We spoke to a number of different athletes on what they would change about athletic technology in order to maximize their performance.
“To have access to custom-made gym devices that are 100% adapted to my sport. I think the current equipment most athletes use is very general, the more specific the better in my opinion. It would be rad to do my squats in the same angle and body position I have on my bicycle, for example, with a handlebar in my hands.”
-Kenny Belaey, Trialbiker
“More accessible treatments like cryotherapy & chiropractors.”
-Bruna Schmitz, Pro Surfer
“The increase of technology in sports science has provided our training staff with the ability to receive on-the-spot awareness of a given athlete’s readiness, which is used to closely monitor their state of fitness and fatigue on a daily basis. Further progress allows us to refine our current processes and adjust the “needs analysis” for each individual player, which is aimed at creating specialized training programs for each player, in relation to his on-field playing position. The growth of technology in our field gives us key performance indicators that can help better understand our players, how we can best coach them, how we can best prepare/train them and how we can best help them achieve their goals.
– Tom Myslinski, Jacksonville Jaguars Strength and Conditioning Coordinator
“In an ideal world, creating a system or platform that communicates across all healthcare professions that is all-encompassing, user friendly, and can assist in overall athlete performance, recovery, and holistic health. There are many companies that do the aforementioned innovations, but finding one that can create a communicative platform and aligns with specific goals would be a separating factor. In the industry I work in, there are laws to abide by regarding medical care and information, along with governing body rules to follow. If a system is compliant in all aspects of healthcare and approved for certain consumers and audiences, it would be very impactful.”
-Eric Laudano, University of Delaware Senior Associate AD for Health, Well-Being, and Sport Performance.
“I feel the major sports leagues should make sports technology more prevalent in the day-to-day routines of their athletes. This would help maximize the output of the players while also helping prevent injuries.”
-Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets
“If technology was more affordable, we could utilize it more. For example, we could install high speed cameras, computers, and software to do movement performance analysis to prevent injury and improve performance.”
– Steve Grech, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer, CSUN Athletics
“For everyone to have access to free Wi-Fi. My workouts are available online, and it would be awesome for there to be a free Internet connection at as many places as possible so people always have access to view and do my routines. Also, this helps connect the fitness community for ongoing support and motivation.”
-Cassey Ho, Creator of POP Pilates
“With all of the things we measure these days, and all the ways that we measure them, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of the relevant information. Technologies that help us manage all this information and keep it in one place for ease of use will become more and more pertinent in the near future.”
– Jeff Crelling, Director of Sports Performance, CSUN Athletics
“The biggest problem that we have encountered is that when the internet is down, the workouts can’t be accessed. This frustrates everyone and is true for any streaming service. One major thing going for us is that Ballet Beautiful workouts are extremely portable and totally equipment-free. My goal is to remove as many barriers to working out as possible – time, expense, access to a fancy ballet studio or gym.”
-Mary Helen, Founder of Ballet Beautiful
Featured Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Flickr user Morning Sunshine under the CC2.0 license.
