The 5 Newest Sports Technology Advancements that Change the Game

We are in a golden age of sports technology. Just about every action in every sport can be recorded on video, measured statistically, put through analytics to discover trends, and then shared through traditional media and social media.

The latest advancements in soccer tech we will explore here can help players, coaches, scouts, and even officials be the best they can be. The newest sports technology revolves around better data capture and interpretation, thanks to improved video cameras and software.

 

SPORTS HARDWARE THAT’S NOT HARD TO WEAR

One important sports technology is Playermaker, a smart, wearable soccer tracker that attaches to players’ shoes and relays information such as distance run and number of touches on the ball. This helps players and coaches alike establish baselines for player performance.

Once a player’s typical capability in those statistical areas is known, players and coaches can establish reasonable goals for improvement and create training plans that lead to achieving those standards. In turn, the ability to measure even incremental change through a wider array of measurements gives players and coaches the chance to celebrate small victories on the way to larger victories.

 

 

IMPROVEMENTS FOR PLAYERS AND COACHES

Just consider the difference between a coach pressuring a player for more shots on target per game – a stat far beyond the player’s control – as opposed to urging the player to strive for 10 or 20 more touches per game. The increased touch-count is more achievable, raising the player’s morale, and the focus on touches will more likely help the player’s overall technical improvement and thus the team’s success.

Similarly, a sports technology like Playermaker helps improve coaching. In addition to the change of focus in the above scenario, the technology gives the coach more ability to gather and interpret information that will help players develop. Therefore, the coach becomes more valuable to the player, adding a layer of cohesiveness to the player-coach relationship, not just tactically, but also mentally and emotionally.

 

COMBINED TECHNOLOGIES IMPACT SUCCESSFUL SCOUTING

Playermaker data, plus the video capture and analytics available through Pixellot’s AI-driven cameras, also can help scouts discover talented players they might otherwise have missed. Players at clubs, schools, or grassroots organizations who previously had little chance of coming onto a scout’s radar are now much more likely to get noticed and recruited up to the next level.

 

ALGORITHMS & CODE ARE THE BEST TOOLS FOR COACHES

Of course, that also benefits coaches at all levels. The developmental coaches can burnish their reputations for producing great players, which benefits them professionally and raises their programs’ profiles. For coaches on the next level up, the technology helps them recruit better talent, improving prospects for their success as coaches and program builders.

 

SEEING IS BELIEVING

Last but not least, sport technology can help game or match officials. In soccer, the use of VAR (video assistant referee) is improving with the advent of Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) to be provided by Hawk-Eye Innovations at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Cameras will track 29 points on the body of each player on the pitch 50 times per second in conjunction with a sensor in the ball.

Designed to increase accuracy in offside decisions and reduce the length of VAR review times, the SAOT system will benefit not just officials, but also in-stadium spectators and TV audiences. If that technology can ever be installed as widely as Pixellot systems are, it will also assist millions of grassroots players and coaches, as well as the sport as a whole. “How?” you may ask. Many fewer red cards for dissent!

All of these historical advancements in sports technology continue to evolve, especially at Pixellot where we continually strive to make sure that someday all athletes can gain all the benefits our technology offers.

 

SPORTS TECHNOLOGY – FROM REVOLUTION TO EVOLUTION

Like most of the progress humans have brought to our world, sports technology evolved slowly at first and then accelerated dramatically in recent years, as you’ll see in our…

Top 5 Historical Advances in Sports Technology

 

 

1. The Ball

• 2500 B.C. – The oldest ball in the world was made of linen rags & string found in an Egyptian child’s tomb*
• 1600 B.C. – The ball brings us the Aztec ballgame of ōllamaliztli
• 1100 A.D. – The native North American game of lacrosse is played

2. Clocks and Watches

• 14th Century – Clocks appear on the scene
• 17th Century – Time measurement functions were added to watches
• 18th Century – The first designs for stopwatches appear

3. The Bicycle

• 1817 – The bicycle is invented and is distinct from other advances applied to sports that stemmed from warfare, such as clubs, spears, and riding horseback

4. The Scoreboard

• 1895 – The first known use of a scoreboard was at a Harvard University football game. The numbers appeared on a piece of wood and changed manually
• 1908 –The first electronic scoreboards come into use

5. Radio and TV

• April 11, 1921 – KDKA in Pittsburgh broadcasts the first live sporting event on the radio – a boxing match
• May 17, 1939 – NBC broadcasts the first sports TV game featuring Columbia vs. Princeton baseball game reaching 400 sets at the time

Now, of course, TV is the dominant sports technology…at least in terms of showing major pro and college sports events, the Olympics, and World Cup soccer.