University of Tennessee Athletics
Tracking The Vols Via GPS
October 16, 2014 | Football
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee football continues to be on the cutting edge when it comes to player development.
Head Coach Butch Jones and his staff use the Catapult GPS system during practice and games to track metrics of the Volunteers every move. This gives the staff insight to players' performances that can benefit the individual putting them in position to succeed at a higher level for the overall benefit of the team.
"It's part of our sports science department which we take great pride in here at the University of Tennessee," said Jones. "We really try to stay on the cutting edge. The GPS systems allow us to track an individual's development, how much he's improving. Also, as the body wears down we are able to alter the course of his practice throughout the course of a week."
Prior to practices and games, the GPS devices are discretely placed into the players' shoulder pads. Once the players hit the field, the numbers start flowing to computers nearby.
The key variables measured by Dave Lawson's strength and conditioning staff are the following:
"We are able to see exactly how much each player is running with the odometer," said Associate Strength Coach Michael Szerszen. "We are able to see their max speed. We also look at the player load, which is a combination of distance, acceleration and max speed, to see an overall equation of how much they are exerting at practice."
Each day Lawson's staff including Szerszen and Assistant Strength Coach Greg Adamson compile master reports and supply them to Jones and the players' position coaches
"When you look at the player load you can see how much they are putting out at practice," said Szerszen. "We can see if a player ran more on a Tuesday versus a Wednesday. We can see if we need to back off with the overall volume of practice."
The most important number is the player load, which is a scientific algorithm that provides raw data for measurements taking all elements into account.
The system markets itself as, "precision engineering at the intersection of sport science and analytics."
In all areas of development Jones continues to push Tennessee to the forefront with new-age technology.
"We always talk about science over tradition," said Jones. "We do everything we can to benefit the University of Tennessee. Everything is about the welfare of our student-athletes."
