Athletic Performance: Why is it Important to Understand and Track Acceleration?
Athletic ability is often associated with an athlete’s explosive speed and acceleration. That’s why acceleration is often called one of the cornerstones of excellence in athletic performance. But did you know that it can be improved with the right tools and training methods?
As a coach, part of your job is to teach optimal techniques and correct mechanics.
By tracking acceleration metrics, your job gets easier because the metrics provide insights that help you to fine-tune training programs, address weaknesses, and guide athletes toward peak athletic performance.
So, let’s look at the science behind it, explore best practices, and find out how to equip yourself with the tools to enhance acceleration.
What Is Acceleration?
Acceleration is a fundamental skill across various sports, from soccer to basketball, and it plays a crucial role in overall athletic performance. It’s referred to as the rapid increase in velocity or speed.
In the context of sports, it refers to how quickly an athlete can increase speed — whether it’s sprinting, changing direction, or getting into position.
Why Is Tracking Acceleration Important?
Acceleration is the gateway to speed. It’s that initial burst of energy that propels an athlete forward. But the advantages it creates don’t stop there.
Performance Enhancement:
Athletes who can create separation, or accelerate swiftly and run down an opposing player, all share a competitive edge.
It impacts crucial moments — like a soccer player sprinting to intercept a pass or a basketball player driving to the basket. It can instantly turn a game around.
Load Management:
Coaches need to monitor athletes’ workload to reduce an injury risk and optimize performance. Acceleration contributes significantly to the overall external load during training and games.
By tracking it, coaches can fine-tune training programs and manage fatigue.
Accumulated Acceleration Load (AAL)
AAL quantifies the cumulative effect of rapid accelerations and decelerations during both training and games. It considers the energetic load placed on athletes during explosive movements. Think of it as the total “wear and tear” resulting from all those quick bursts of speed.
How KINEXON Sports Helps Coaches Track Acceleration
Remember, acceleration isn’t just about going faster; it’s about going smarter. And KINEXON Sports is helping coaches in many sports improve their players’ acceleration. Here’s how:
Wearable Technology:
KINEXON Sports implements wearable tracking devices equipped with GPS, IMU, and LPS technology. These devices capture real-time data on acceleration events during training and competition.
Clear Reporting Framework:
KINEXON provides coaches with a clear reporting framework for acceleration variables. Researchers and practitioners can access different metrics and calculation processes. This ensures consistency and accuracy in quantifying acceleration loads.
Easy-to-Read Dashboards
Understanding acceleration and effectively tracking can significantly impact an athlete’s performance and overall well-being. Whether you’re a coach, an athlete, or a sports fan, having an easy-to-read display of the information is a key component to success on the field or court.
If you’re interested in learning more about acceleration, how to track it, and how it can help your team improve, contact us at any time.
You can also check out our free guide that helps to explain the connection between athletic performance training and managing workloads.
More stories
Unlocking a New Era in Sports Performance: What’s Ahead from KINEXON Sports in 2025
In elite team sports, performance is often decided by the smallest details – how efficiently an athlete sprints, how they handle fatigue, and how well a team manages training loads throughout the season. Coaches and performance staff need more than just numbers – they need meaningful insights, in real time, to make the right calls when it matters.
KINEXON Sports App Guide: Phase Index Widget
The Phase Index Widget is a powerful new feature in the KINEXON SportsApp that provides coaches with deep insights into training drills. By displaying the normative range of key performance metrics for different drill types, it helps coaches understand typical versus high-end workload demands, compare phases across single sessions (POST) and historical data (DEVELOP), and design training sessions that optimize player development while preventing overtraining.
Revolutionizing Youth Football: Red Bull Wings Cup Meets KINEXON Sports
What if youth football wasn’t just about the score — but about the players who shape the game? That’s the bold vision behind Wings Cup 2025, hosted by RB Leipzig, and why KINEXON Sports proudly partnered with this first-of-its-kind event. From April 22 – 24, 2025, the tournament became the world’s first global youth football competition to feature live player and ball tracking — marking a new era in data-driven player development.
Optimizing Offseason Training: How the Ragin’ Cajuns Prep for the Football Season
The Ragin’ Cajuns football performance staff enters the heart of the offseason following spring camp, facing player performance and conditioning challenges common to other American Football programs nationwide. Their approach: optimized practice schedules designed to help players reach performance goals, backed by data.
Trust, Autonomy, and the Art of Performance Management in the WNBA
In the high-performance landscape of professional basketball, the pursuit of championships is a given. Yet, true impact often stems from a deeper purpose — one that prioritizes sustained athlete development, both physically and mentally. This perspective underscores a broader definition of success: positively influencing performance on a day-to-day basis, beyond wins and losses.
From Court to Code: The Analytics Behind Athletic Success
In the high-stakes world of competitive basketball, small margins make the difference between winning and losing. This is where optimization becomes the cornerstone of athletic performance. The focus is not just on finding a magic formula, but on creating the conditions for athletes to consistently operate at their best.
Increasing Shooting Efficiency With Data-Informed Insights
As basketball training evolves, teams are embracing data-informed insights to augment shooting efficiency. With every shot carrying potential season-changing weight in competition, refining practice intensity and replicating in-game pressure are key to gaining a competitive edge.
Maximizing Performance During March Madness: Key Strategies & Load Metrics for Coaches
March Madness is one of the most intense and physically demanding periods in collegiate basketball. The congested schedule, high-pressure stakes, and minimal time for recovery require an evidence-based approach to reach and maintain peak performance while mitigating injury risk throughout the tournament.
Optimizing Performance and Reducing Injuries in Professional Basketball
The landscape of professional basketball is evolving rapidly, with teams placing a greater emphasis on performance optimization and injury prevention. In a highly competitive environment like the EuroLeague, where the ultimate goal is to win games and championships, maintaining peak player performance while minimizing injuries is a fundamental challenge.
The Perfect Training Week: How KINEXON Sports Supports Smarter Coaching Decisions
Every coach knows the feeling – standing on the sidelines before a game, confident that the team is fully prepared. The training week went well, the players were engaged, and everything felt right. And when the final whistle confirms the win, the inevitable question arises:
What made this week so effective? How can we replicate it?
How Texas A&M Women’s Basketball Used Data to Prevent Knee Injuries
Knee injuries are a major concern in women’s basketball, with ACL injuries accounting for a significant portion of these issues. Managing player workload is key to injury prevention, but achieving the right balance between training and recovery is challenging. The Texas A&M Women’s Basketball team faced this dilemma and turned to a data-driven approach to optimize player health and performance.
KINEXON Tracking Technologies Earn Top Marks in FIFA EPTS Performance Tests
When it comes to tracking technology in sports, precision is everything. And once again, KINEXON has proven why it’s a leader in the field. Our cutting-edge KINEXON PERFORM GPS Elite, GPS Pro, and LPS tracking systems recently underwent FIFA’s 2024 Electronic Performance and Tracking System (EPTS) performance tests — and the results were nothing short of outstanding.
Transforming Sports in 2025: Insights from KINEXON Sports for Coaches, Fans, and Referees
As sports technology evolves, 2025 promises to be a landmark year with KINEXON Sports at the forefront. Renowned for its innovations in real-time tracking and analytics, KINEXON Sports is revolutionizing the way athletes, coaches, fans, and referees experience the game.
From delivering game-changing insights to enhancing fan engagement and officiating precision, here’s what to expect from KINEXON Sports in 2025.
How Jump Count Analytics Drive Arizona State Volleyball’s Training and Match Success
Adjusting practice schedules is a fine line for coaches to walk to maximize player performance. Arizona State’s Jake Garrity, the Assistant Head Coach of Sports Performance/Sports Science for women’s volleyball, focuses on live jump count performance analytics to lay the foundation for when the coaching staff adjusts practice intensity.
5 Facts That (Probably) Nobody Knew About KINEXON Sports Teams
Ten years ago, KINEXON Sports embarked on a journey to revolutionize the game. What began as a bold idea in Munich’s iconic Allianz Arena has evolved into a global success story, empowering over 500 elite sports teams worldwide.
As we reflect on this incredible decade, here are five surprising facts about KINEXON Sports that showcase how far we’ve come — and where we’re headed next.