Catapult Player-Tracking System: The future of football training

Something very interesting is going on in the NFL. Sports Illustrated’s Tim Newcomb wrote an article on the Catapult system in the NFL last week. Thirteen NFL teams, including the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Buffalo Bills, have implemented Catapult’s system that gives real-time accurate data on players. This is the future of football training.

The players wear monitors that, according to the Catapult website, are GPS transmitters with accelerometers, 
gyroscopes, 
and 
magnetometers. These measurements can range from simple, such as how fast a player runs vs. how fast they are able to run, to complex, such as the intensity of a tackle necessary to take the ball carrier down. Think of how serious roster battles would become if a coach could honestly say one player is putting forth more effort than another, or that one player’s talent is not performing at the same level as another’s desire to play.

The system can also help in preventing injuries. The system claims to give data on how much stress the athlete is putting on an injury, giving trainers the ability to limit or increase the intensity of the workout. With a baseline standard of how well a player does when he is healthy, a coach can determine whether or not a player is ready to return to action, whether he needs to risk playing an injured player, or who on the roster can get as close to the same production as the injured player as possible.

Additionally, coaches could determine the minimum measurements they need for a particular position and draft or sign free agents accordingly. It would help evaluate if a certain player has a greater probability of success in that team’s particular system. The possibilities are endless and aren’t strictly for grading skill positions. Some teams require faster, lighter offensive linemen while others need big, strong, heavy linemen. Now, you could determine whether a lineman can hit to his left or right harder, how fast he can get off his block and what amount of strength he needs to do that, and how hard he hits the defender at the initial point of attack.

The coaches and trainers could determine the level of intensity for one practice, such as Thursdays, and how that day’s practice regiment could affect gameday performance. Gary McCoy, an applied sports scientist at Catapult, gave an example in an interview with Sports Illustrated that one team was able to look at the practice methodology on Thursday nights and determine that “there were having high volume practices that weren’t specifically at game speed.” This may not seem like much but this type of analysis can give insight as to why wide receivers, the offensive or defensive lines, etc. get tired more quickly than other teams.

This technology will not change the NFL so drastically that players who have a 0.7 deficiency in tackling to the right of a linebacker won’t make it on a team. But, especially with the emphasis on player safety and quality of life of NFL players, this could result in shorter injury times, better recovery from injuries, and better output on game day. We could also see players who actually want to play and have great ability to do so out on the field. Finally, with the measurements available to coaches, we may see less mistakes, clearly defined roles, and a more crisp game. I am looking forward to seeing this implemented in a bigger way, such as letting the viewer see real-time stats about a player on the field. Even though it seems like we now have a microscope to grade a piece of meat, maybe players will start to really earn their million dollar contracts and be held more accountable for their work on the field. Because, as this system proves, they can put it in black and white.

What do you think of this new system? What does it mean for the future of the sport? Tell us below, on Twitter, or on Facebook! Give me a follow @heauxgue for more on the NFL!