Innovative 'torpedo technology' also being used by Welsh rugby union team
The next sport to benefit from wearable tech is cricket, specifically the Australian cricket team who have been preparing for its upcoming series against Sri Lanka with a wearable that aims to keep fast bowlers injury free and playing at the top of their game.
It’s thanks to a sports scientist team at the Australian Catholic University, who have developed an algorithm that’s based on the same tech used by submarines, guided missile technology and spacecrafts. It’s now able to monitor the increased workload that Australia’s bowling attack now have to endure with the increased formats of the game. We’re looking at you 20/20 cricket.
Essential reading: How wearables could strike out injuries in US sports
The ‘torpedo technology’ is built into a wearable unit that packs in an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer motion sensors that can detect the delivery of the ball and measure the bowling intensity.
ACU sports scientist Dean McNamara has outlined the benefits of the tech. “Tagging individual balls with an intensity measure provides both immediate analysis such as identifying effort balls, or potentially a drop in performance due to fatigue, or longer term workload analysis,” McNamara said.
The Australian cricket team is not the only sporting outfit to benefit from the innovative tech. It’s also being used by the Wales rugby union team ahead of their three Test series in June.
Wearables in sport is a big trend at the moment, especially in the US, where the MLB recently approved the use of wearables during games. The Motus baseball sleeve and Zephyr Bionharness heart and breathing monitor are the first wearables to be given the green light and much like the torpedo tech, it’s hoping to help prevent injuries and closely monitor a player’s physical state.
As a team of big cricket fans, we’re hoping that England team can also get their hands on the tech as well before the next big Ashes series. We imagine it might be a hard wearable to get hold of though.
Source: ScienceDaily
