Catapult One brings pro football stats to wannabe Mbappe and Haalands

Catapult turns to subs for its player tracking system for amateur footballers
Catapult One
Wareable is reader-powered. If you click through using links on the site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

Catapult Sports, the company behind the player tracking vests worn by Premier League football teams and a host of other professional sports teams, has introduced its latest tracker designed for amateur players.

The Catapult One works in a similar fashion to its elite systems and the Playertek system it launched back in 2017, comprising of a 10Hz GPS tracker that also includes accelerometer and gyroscope motion sensors, which sits inside of a compression vest.

That FIFA approved, pod-shaped Catapult One tracker can deliver metrics like top speed, sprint distance, acceleration and intensity for individual players and coaches to dig into after training and games. You can also view those stats along with data like heat maps and player comparisons all in the companion Catapult One phone app, which is available for iOS and Android.

The big change here from previous systems by Catapult is that the One is available through a subscription service. You'll need to pay a month with a first month starter kit including the pod, vest and app access on top costing . You can also sign up to an annual subscription, which costs . There's also team subscription offers as well if you want to sure everyone can compare their stats.

That subscription will get you access to training exercises from professional coaches and if you pick up an injury and can't train, Catapult will let you pause the subscription for a month every six months. With the team solution, you're getting the addition of a coach dashboard to monitor performance metrics of all players on the pitch at the same time.

While it's a system largely aimed at footballers, it's something that can also be used by anyone that plays rugby, American football, hockey, cricket, lacrosse, Aussie rules football or tennis.

It's an interesting move but not an altogether surprising one by Catapult Sports to change to a subscription service for its amateur athlete offering. We've seen other wearable companies follow suit like Whoop, while Google-owned Fitbit offers additional features via its Premium subscription.

The Catapult One system is available to buy now from the company's website and we'll be getting one in to see if it's worth the signing-on fee.


How we test



Michael Sawh

By

Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.

He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.

Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech. 

Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.


Related stories