GPS Tracking Takes Football Practice to New Level

NFL football season is just getting started, and fans are cheering on their favorite players from stadiums and couches across the nation. But this year, one team is taking football practice to a whole new level. In pre-season training camp, the Buffalo Bills implemented GPS tracking devices in player uniforms to monitor player performance and help create safer, more efficient practice sessions.

GPS technology and football may seem like strange partners, but it’s not an entirely new concept. The Australian Football League, among other sports organizations, already uses similar technology to monitor player speed, total distance run, acceleration, change of direction, and other factors. That data can then be used to design practices that will accomplish specific goals.

According to Eric Ciano, the Bills’ strength and conditioning coordinator, the main goal for the devices initially is to prevent injury. By monitoring how many yards a player has run and what speed he has averaged in practice, trainers can more easily discern when a player needs to back off, particularly for high-workload positions. The data can also be used to pace players that are coming back to practice after an injury. Working at 50% is a whole lot easier when you can tabulate speed and distance in any given practice.

The Bills also have other goals for GPS tracking and football practice. The devices can help coaches accomplish goals such as:

• Tracking Player Performance

GPS tracking enables players to receive feedback on how they performed in practice and also helps coaches monitor the performance of players over time.

• Creating Position-Specific Practices

Knowing exact movements and performance levels of players on the field can give coaches the data they need to create more efficient practices for specific positions.

• Monitoring Player Workload

High-workload players have greater risk of injury if they push too hard too many days in a row. When a coach sees that a particular player has given too many high-performance practices, he can back off the workload on that player and give him a chance to rest, preventing possible injury.

Most people don’t think of GPS tracking and football practice when they watch their favorite players tearing down the field. But this season, the Bills hope that the technology will give them a leading edge on the field by helping them practice smarter, not just harder.

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GPS Tracking Takes Football Practice to New Level