Why Coaches Should Consider Sports Analytics for Football Injury Prevention
Author: Dave Grendzynski
Player safety has been the primary driver behind American football research. But there is also a push to enhance performance, which involves using sports performance software to monitor training intensity and prevent injuries simultaneously.
What is External Load in American Football?
In American football, “external load” refers to the external factors or demands placed on a player’s body during training or competition. It includes the physical aspects of the sport that contribute to the workload, such as:
- Running
- Sprinting
- Jumping
- Tackling
- Changing directions
The external load can also encompass factors like:
- Duration and intensity of practice sessions
- Number of repetitions or plays
- The overall volume of training
By measuring and analyzing external load, coaches and trainers can gain insights into the physical demands placed on players and tailor training programs accordingly to optimize performance and prevent injuries.
How Sports Analytics Help Load Management and Injury Prevention
Injury prediction is crucial for preventing injuries in American football. It involves using mathematical models to identify individuals at a higher risk of injury and finding potential factors to predict future injuries throughout the season.
Performance analysis plays a significant role in injury prevention by providing valuable insights and information to teams and athletes.
Here are some ways in which sports performance analysis can help decrease the risk of football injuries:
- Risk Assessment: Sports analytics can analyze vast amounts of data, including player performance, biometric data, and injury history, to identify patterns and risk factors associated with injuries. By identifying these risk factors, teams can develop targeted prevention strategies and modify training programs to reduce the likelihood of injuries.
- Load Management: Sports performance software can track and analyze player workload, including: training intensity, playing time and recovery periods. By monitoring and managing these loads, teams can prevent overexertion and fatigue, common causes of injuries.
- Biomechanics Analysis: Motion-capture technology and biomechanics modeling are used to assess an athlete’s movement patterns and technique. By identifying faulty mechanics or movement patterns that can lead to injuries, teams can provide corrective measures and training to reduce the risk of injuries.
- Injury Prediction: Using statistical models and machine learning algorithms, sports analytics can help predict the likelihood of injuries based on factors such as player workload, fatigue, and previous injuries. This allows teams to address injury risks and take preventive measures proactively.
- Rehabilitation Monitoring: Analytics can track an injured player’s progress during rehabilitation, monitoring various parameters such as recovery timelines, physiological data, and performance metrics. This helps in ensuring proper recovery and reducing the chances of re-injury.
Overall, (American) football analytics provide data-driven insights and evidence-based strategies that enable coaches and trainers to make informed decisions regarding injury prevention.
Sports Analysis Software for Coaches
While considerable progress has been made in developing strength and conditioning programs for (American) football over the last 25 years, our knowledge of the physiological reactions to the game and the long-term effects of a football career still needs to be improved. That’s why it’s critical to have sports performance software that can provide the metrics you need in real-time.
KINEXON Sports is now offering the next generation of our GPS-based mobile player tracking system for outdoor team sports, including American football: KINEXON PERFORM GPS Pro.
The player tracking system provides over 100 categories of sports data sent directly to your mobile device, laptop, or desktop computer via the AWS cloud. No downloading or waiting is necessary.
Please contact us if you’d like to learn more about KINEXON PERFORM GPS Pro or other sports analytics software we provide. For more insight into PERFORM GPS Pro performance metrics, download a visual of how coaches can implement data findings into training strategies.
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