Improving sporting performance with wearables
Asking non-tech-savvy people the meaning, or examples, of wearable technology is likely to be meet with a blank-faced expression. But showing them an activity-tracking fitness band - Fitbit or Nike Fuel, for example - leads to instant recognition. Sporting-based wearables are perhaps the most overt and obvious implementation of this nascent, promise-filled technology.
Sporting-wearable technology arrives in all shapes and sizes. There are the ubiquitous fitness bands, GPS-equipped smartwatches, foot- or pedal-based sensors and, of course, modern smartphones that double as activity trackers and motivational tools.
Smartphones, too, act as the central processing hub for other wearable technology, meaning it's possible to use multiple devices concurrently. All this information is collated, processed and beamed over to, usually, web-based applications that provide an abundance of useful feedback and information.
Information such as time, distance, heart rate, energy expenditure, speed is readily available from these devices, provided by a combination of GPS, accelerometer and monitoring technology, but wearables are becoming more sophisticated and sport-specific over time. Want to know how smooth your golf swing is? There's a wearable technology and app for that. Want augmented reality when playing games? There's a wearable technology for that, as well.
How do wearables improve performance?
Improving sporting performance is usually a combination of practice, repetition and guidance. Runners, for example, track their speed and performance around a particular loop, examining their times from weeks and months ago, ostensibly to monitor progress. Clever applications, tied into multiple wearable technologies, note effort and offer guidance on how to improve - perhaps by putting in more base miles at a slower pace or, at the other end of the spectrum, incorporating high-intensity training to push the body out of its comfort zone.
For purely athletic events such as running and cycling, wearable technology acts as a surrogate coach, providing reams of data and key insights into progress. Web-based applications such as Strava also offer a means by which to compare your performance with everyone else who has run/swam/cycled the same routes as you... and there's nothing better for motivation than online rivalry to stoke the athletic fires within.
Not just about raw numbers
Yet improvement needn't be limited to enhanced aerobic potential. Placed on top of a golf club, equipment-based wearables such as the Zepp Sensor use motion-capture technology to measure swing movements and create data that describes speed, plane and consistently of the golf swing. All this data is sent over to a smartphone/tablet, via Bluetooth, and is visualised to provide feedback and guidance on how to correct that errant slice or duck-hook pull.
Wearable technology also helps sports performance in other ways. Garmin's range of Approach smartwatches provide detailed information on golf-course layout. Using GPS as an established location tool, the more advanced versions show the distance to the middle of the green, the length of shot needed to cover the front bunker and, based on inputted data, the best club to use. In this sense, wearables provide timely guidance which is used to improve performance and lower handicaps.
Through monitoring, feedback and guidance, presented in an easy-to-digest manner on modern smartphones or wearable-technology displays, it is now possible to improve sporting performance by leveraging data to your advantage. The current raft of wearables offer oodles of information; future generations will undoubtedly offer more fine-grained advice and even better monitoring. Want to improve your game? Invest in a wearable.
