We know acceleration, deceleration, and change of direction are all critical movement demands for sports performance and injury risk. But we are missing a critical piece in this aspect of training load?
In team sports, multidirectional movements are critical for both performance and injury prevention. Studies, such as one analysing Premier League movements (Martinez-Hernandez et al., 2022), show that actions like deceleration and changes of direction often precede goals. They can be crucial in game-defining moments. Despite this, traditional tracking methods have limitations in capturing these movements accurately.
Tracking technologies have improved, but issues remain. The thresholds for measuring acceleration and deceleration are often inconsistent, leading to underreporting of these critical actions. Moreover, traditional methods fail to differentiate between the different demands of acceleration and deceleration. I've previously discussed this on the blog in this post on defining high-speed, acceleration, and deceleration efforts in sport.
Are we measuring incomplete acceleration?
In the conversation below, Andrew Gray, Founder of Athletic Data Innovations (ADI), talks us through 'direction change acceleration'. We are currently missing this calculation from traditional tracking analysis.
The ADI Acceleration Methodology measures and tracks 'Complete Acceleration', enabling the quantification of mechanical cost of all multidirectional movement.
If you monitor training load in multi-directional athletes (like those in team sports), you need to watch this video!
The Physics Underpinning Acceleration
Understanding the difference between speed and velocity is crucial. Speed is a scalar quantity (just a number), while velocity is a vector (magnitude and direction). Acceleration, also a vector, occurs whenever there's a change in velocity, whether it's speed or direction.
"Traditional methods only measure changes in speed, missing the accelerations associated with direction changes. For example, a player running a constant speed while changing direction is still accelerating, but traditional methods don't capture this. ADI measures both speed and directional changes, providing a complete picture of acceleration." - AG
Consider two athletes running side by side. If one changes direction while maintaining speed, traditional methods report no acceleration. However, this change in direction is a significant acceleration that impacts performance and training.
"Capturing complete acceleration, including direction changes, allows us to better understand and quantify match demands, training loads, and rehabilitation processes. These high-force movements are often the most critical yet underreported. By addressing this gap, we can improve performance and reduce injuries." - AG
Conclusion
The conversation with Andrew Gray highlights the importance of evolving our understanding of multidirectional movements in sports. Traditional tracking methods have limitations that ADI is successfully addressing, offering a more complete and accurate picture of player movements. For a visual demonstration of ADI's capabilities, check out the detailed demo in the video above, where Andrew explains how ADI quantifies multidirectional movement, revealing insights that traditional methods miss.
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This article is supported by Athlete Data Innovations. To talk more to Andrew about his ADI platform and to see a live, in-depth demo, contact him on LinkedIn.
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