Blog Sports

What Makes GPS Football Trackers So Reliable?

Author: Paul Niehaus

Using an athlete tracker, aka a player tracking device, for load management is almost a necessity for soccer and American football coaches and trainers. The grind of the long season, combined with the enormous amount of energy players exert in games, makes it challenging to keep everyone fresh until the end of the season. But GPS-based athlete trackers can help make it easier.

An athlete trackers, which is also called a player tracker is prepared by a coach for a player to wear during a practice.

Not only can the data be sent directly to the AWS cloud, but when combined with a sports app, the latest technology can help you customize workout and workload plans for each of your players.

Paul Niehaus is a sports science consultant for KINEXON Sports who works with teams in multiple sports including football and soccer.

With the GPS system, our clients have the possibility to monitor the training load of their players live everywhere and at any time and can thus directly influence the monitoring of the training.”

Paul Niehaus, KINEXON Sports Science Consultant

This technology is also helping coaches translate sports data into reducing injuries and developing return-to-play protocols. Studies already show that GPS is the most used monitoring tool for managing workload, and now it’s even better, and can be applied to multiple sports. 

Download Guide

Demand Planners In Sports

A demand planner is a load management tool used that help players with their sports performance training.

Demand planners play an essential role in the supply chain of a company. In business, demand planners use a company’s analytical, marketing, and sales data to estimate future product demands effectively. 

But for our purposes, it’s a load management tool. We are now using sports performance software and GPS-based athlete trackers to provide coaches and trainers with sports data that you can analyze to estimate load management demands (and other needs) for your players.

The KINEXON software not only serves as a visualization tool for coaches to describe the load on athletes but also allows them to use the live Session Goals feature to back up future decisions with clear threshold numbers.”

Paul Niehaus, KINEXON Sports Science Consultant

The goal is to keep track of how your players respond to the enormous energy levels they reach in a game and/​or practice and then manage it accordingly to keep them fresh and injury-free all season long.

GPS-Based Athlete Trackers

A coach sets up a football GPS tracker to monitor players at a practice, but it can also be used during a game to collect real-time sports data on players..

KINEXON PERFORM GPS Pro is more than just an athlete tracker. It contains many new features that, when combined with our app, make it easier to customize load management plans for each player. 

We have learned that every team and player is unique, and there is no universal formula for creating a demand index that works for everyone. That is why we created a method for coaches to personalize the demand of each training session individually. 

It’s target load management for players. This customization is based on a load of 100% on match day, allowing coaches to tailor the sessions according to their team’s specific needs and requirements. 

This approach is already being used to develop menstrual cycle-syncing workouts for women athletes.

Sports Technology Helps Coaches

Football teams use sports technology, like wearables, to learn information about players like acceleration and sprints.

With a GPS-based athlete tracker and load management tool, you can get answers to the questions coaches and trainers have been asking for years, including: 

  • How do I track my players’ workloads over the long-term? 
  • How challenging can I make a practice session compared to a typical match? 
  • Can I track my players’ goals live? Or review after a practice session or game? 

The new dashboard feature is a valuable tool for coaches. It allows you to plan training sessions based on specific metrics. The feature is highly flexible and customizable, allowing you to personalize your approach.

Paul Niehaus is a sports science consultant for KINEXON Sports who works with teams in multiple sports including football and soccer.

An important prerequisite for directly influencing or changing decisions in training is to understand the collected data precisely and to put it into the right context. The Demand Planner Dashboard provides our users with a tool that allows them to accurately calculate the goals for each training session based on the time of the season or week.”

Paul Niehaus, KINEXON Sports Science Consultant

Football GPS Trackers for Load Management

Additionally, coaches can monitor the demand in real-time and adjust accordingly. This ensures that practice sessions meet your exact needs. With these new dashboards, coaching has become more efficient and effective than ever before. It can help keep your players fresh all season long. 

If you’d like to learn more about the new target load management feature, download our guide. In it, you’ll find information on how to follow four easy steps to start individual plans for each player. 

Our experts help coaches and trainers generate data they can use to manage player demand and load. Now you can, too. 

Download Guide

More stories

Inside Stony Brook Athletics: The Benefits of a Multi-Sport Data Analytics Provider

Stony Brook University, renowned for its research excellence, has advanced its approach to monitoring athlete performance and ensuring player safety by leveraging KINEXON technology. We sat down with George Greene (Senior Associate Athletic Director of High Performance and Competitive Success) and his team, Vincent Cagliostro, Kevin Markle, and Emily Meyer, to discuss their efforts to optimize training and enhance sports performance insights.

Basketball Load Data Header
Load Management in Basketball: When Does Player Tracking Become Financially Beneficial?

Player load tracking in basketball: How does data-based injury prevention, like reducing Jumper’s Knee, become financially beneficial for clubs?

SD Eibar uses football software to improve player performance.
GPS Data Boosts Player Performance, Motivation and Coaches' Confidence in SD Eibar Women's Club

To better manage player load, the SD Eibar’s women’s football team switched to a data-driven strategy powered by GPS. It’s a move that their physical trainer, Ismel Mazola says, led to more confident coaching decisions and motivated his players.

Texas A&M University Women's team uses basketball datasets, analytics, and metrics to monitor player performance.
How Basketball Data Helps Guide Texas A&M Women's Team to Early Conference Wins

After the holidays, many teams struggle to get back on track. But not Texas A&M Women’s Basketball. Their Strength and Conditioning coach uses data and analytics to avoid a slump and start fast in conference play.

Handball injuries are common, especially during matches, and a recent study sheds light on how often ligament injuries occur.
Study Reveals the Importance of an Injury Prevention Plan in European Handball

The competitive pressures and dense schedules in professional handball make injuries common among players. The results of a 6‑year study not only highlight the need for an injury prevention plan but also suggest ways coaches can develop one.

How German Handball's S&C Coach Used Data to Cut Knee Injuries by Almost 20%

Dr. Simon Overkamp, the head of strength and conditioning for the German Handball Federation, employs a data-driven strategy that not only keeps his players rested but also reduces knee injuries. And the Olympic Games play a crucial role in his approach.

Appalachian State’s Coaches Use GPS Football Technology to Manage Player Loads in Real-Time

Live GPS football data helps keep players fresh for game day. Just ask the Director of Performance for the Appalachian State Football team, Matt Greenhalgh. He shares what he thinks are some of the most critical load management metrics in the game.

A study found that agility in basketball can be influenced by exercises that also improve change of direction.
Why Basketball Agility Drills Should Focus on Improving Vertical Jump Height

New research is shedding light on the importance of improving vertical jump height in basketball. Backed by data, these findings are an eye-opener for coaches because researchers say jump height can positively affect other facets of a player’s game.

handball analytics from LPS player tracking systems were used in a study to find quality scorers.
How LPS Data Helps Handball Coaches Find Quality Scorers with New Insights

Researchers used LPS data and machine learning to create a new model for predicting goals in handball. It’s now helping coaches identify their quality scorers and develop better strategies. Here’s how. 

Basketball video analysis software is used to improve the amount of contested shots players take.
Innovative Strategy Boosts Player’s 3-Point Accuracy to 60% in Conference Games

Do you have players struggling with contested 3‑point shots? Get to know a college coach with a proven method to boost shooting efficiency for high-intensity shots in as little as four weeks. 

a gps football tracker monitors college players' workloads to decrease the risk of hamstring strains.
Research Exposes What Puts College Football Players at Risk for Hamstring Strains

Hamstring strains are common among male college American football players. Researchers have been investigating potential risk factors to better understand and prevent these injuries, and they believe they have identified three that all coaches should track.

Phillip Tandrup Holm is the Strength and Conditioning Coach for Skjern Håndbold, a Danish handball club he used to play for.
Former Handball Pro Shares His Personal Must-Know Metric for Coaches

Call it inside information, but a former pro handball player, who is now a strength and conditioning coach, says one metric seems to stand out when it comes to load management in handball.

Arizona State women's volleyball team discovered with analytics that his team was practicing too long.
How Volleyball Metrics Helped Power Arizona State University to a Record-Setting Season

The Arizona State University Women’s Volleyball team used data to determine their optimal practice length, and it culminated in one of their best seasons in school history.

the university of arizona sports performance training team collects data on all of their players to make sure everyone is ready to play when called upon.
The Secret Behind The University of Arizona’s Sports Performance Training Methods

Two key figures in the data-driven revolution at the University of Arizona are Jim Krumpos and Dayannara Munoz. They say there are three critical factors that make all the difference in their data collection efforts and training style.

Coaches who use a data-driven hockey software get better insights to make decisions.
What Data-Driven Hockey Software and Puck Data Can Do for Coaches and Players

The power of data in ice hockey is eye-opening. Analytics are enhancing player performance, strategic decision-making, and training development. But those aren’t the only ways data-driven hockey software is reshaping the game.