Technology is taking over most sports including soccer. You probably heard of goal-line technology or VAR, and you’ve maybe even seen the tracking devices that players were on their backs now. One of the new technologies that are about to explode is smart shin guards.
You are probably wondering, “what are smart shin guards?” Or “what could make my shin guards smart?”
Wearable Technology for Soccer
Wearable technology is a great way to track the health of athletes. If you have a smartwatch such as a Garmin watch or a Fitbit, you might be familiar with this. They track things like heart rate, steps, distance, and GPS position. But these devices are not great for tracking soccer.
Smart shin guards will not only protect your legs like traditional shin guards but also track your gameplay. More traditional metrics include steps, positioning, and distance a player runs. But it really starts to get exciting when you see stats like:
- Which foot did you use more often?
- How hard did you shoot the ball?
- How many positions did you have in the game?
- Did you dribble, pass or touch the ball?
- Maybe even how many crunching tackles you had?
It Is All in the Data
There are so many data points that you can use and then if you combine them with health data it can be very interesting. The challenge is then to make sense of it all. It would be great if you could tell by the heart rate of a player and how fast they are sprinting to see when they are fatigued. Other patterns might also appear. Maybe when a player is tired, they default to their stronger foot. Or they possess the ball less. Or they use their dominant foot to dribble the ball when they sprint.
The Future Looks “Smart” for Your Shin Guards
Unfortunately, the technology is still in its infancy and there are not many on the market yet, but over the next several months to a year, we should start to see them available. We can’t wait to take a look at them when they are available!
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