Vanderbilt tracking players' workload with GPS devices in shoulder pads
College football programs are always looking to employ the latest technologies to assist with the well being of players. This includes inserting GPS devices into a player’s shoulder pads to monitor workload, a method recently put to use at Vanderbilt.
According to the Tennessean, the Commodores are the fifth SEC team to use this technology. Head coach Derek Mason is impressed with what he’s seen so far during spring practice, calling the technology “unbelievable.”
The device, invented by Catapult Sports, was introduced to the Vanderbilt program by new strength coaches James Dobson and Ben Schumacher, who came to the program from Nebraska in December.
With the devices in use, the Vanderbilt strength staff has plenty of data to sort through.
From the Tennessean:
According to its website, Catapult monitors are physiological and biological devices that measure each player's workload, allowing coaches and trainers to know who is overworked and economize practice by removing the guesswork with scientific data. Catapult measures speed, acceleration, change of direction, distance, impact taken from hits and much more. The devices record more than 400 variables per second for each player.
The staff started out using a Catapult device on 13 players during the first week of spring practice. Dobson said everything has gone well so far and use of the device could increase once the season rolls around because it will help to monitor players on an individual basis.
“When you are dealing with athletes, you have to be very individualized because all athletes are different," Dobson said. "A lot of the technology out there like Catapult allows us to be more individualized in training our players. The more individualized we can be, the more we can help these guys reach their potential."
The data can be monitored in real-time and Schumacher observes the information on a laptop during practice. From the Tennessean:
Catapult tracks movement and exertion of each player. Schumacher, who first adopted the technology as an assistant strength coach at Minnesota, spends much of Vanderbilt's practice monitoring the data on a laptop on the sideline. For indoor practices, ground-based satellites, or nodes, give results that can be downloaded and evaluated at the end of the workout. For outdoor practices, GPS tracking provides real-time data via satellite of each player wearing a monitoring device.
Mason said it took just two practices for Catapult to make an impact on the way he runs things.
"We saw what our first two practices (of spring) looked like, and we had played three and a half games in those first two practices," Mason said. "Now understanding how hard our guys worked, we can look at the levels of our workload and the frequency of it. So we can shorten our practices and still get the optimal work in — quality over quantity."
If this technology can help coaches get the most out of their players in the most efficient manner, you’ll likely see more and more programs employ these sports science methods.
For more Vanderbilt news, visit VandySports.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
