Filip Brož Serial "We deploy Apple products in business" we help spread awareness of how iPads, Macs or iPhones can be effectively integrated into the operations of companies and institutions in the Czech Republic. In the fifth part, we will focus on the implementation of Apple products in sports.
The whole series you can find it on Jablíčkář under the label #byznys.
The fact that Apple products can be used during physical activity is not groundbreaking news. Every second runner uses an Apple Watch or some kind of case and an iPhone with a running app on it. Others use various fitness bracelets that monitor not only our lifestyle. However, Apple's technologies are only gradually penetrating the field of elite sports.
An example can be the hockey team PSG Zlín, which uses special sensors on helmets that record concussions and impacts to the head. Players have sensors in their clubs to measure the dynamics and speed of shots.
"We use the iPad not only for subsequent analysis, but also for video recording and other coaching applications. Thanks to technology from Apple and the aforementioned sensors, we can analyze extraleague matches and training sessions in detail. The data from our players' sticks are imported directly into the iPad during training, and the coaches have a complete overview," reveals Rostislav Vlach, who led PSG Zlín as head coach until last November.
According to Jan Kučerík, with whom we are collaborating on this series, a number of similar implementations are being prepared. "However, they cannot be discussed at this time. The only thing I can reveal is that iPads and similar sensors will also be used in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)," revealed Kučerík, who has completed many projects related to the deployment of Apple products in companies and other institutions.
Smart inserts
Personally, I can imagine the involvement of Apple products in most sports. Smart running insoles from Digitsole, which can perform a 3D analysis of your footsteps and steps in real time, can already be purchased without any problems. In addition, it also offers audio coaching with instant advice on how to adjust your performance to achieve better results.
Of course, any athlete can use the inserts. It offers use in athletics, football and many other sports. In the event that the instructions based on the collected data could be given directly by professional trainers, you suddenly have the perfect tool for training and improving your physical skills.
Similar inserts or sensors would certainly be appreciated by skiers as well. They are informed about their speed by the radars on the slope, but it is difficult for them to analyze in detail the movement of the body during the carving arc. "Sensors on helmets would also reassure mothers when learning to ski. If their child fell, the parents would have an overview of how strong the impact was," explains Kučerík.
It would certainly be easy to implement sensors in the sweatbands of basketball players or directly in the ball, which also applies to all ball sports. Smart football boots would then be able to tell footballers how strong the kick was, how dynamic it was and what needs to be improved, for example for better rotation and the like.
Modern technologies could also be used in teaching physical education. I graduated from the Faculty of Education with a focus on physical education and sports, and smart devices could only have been dreamed of a few years ago. If teachers used something similar in their teaching, not only would they interest and motivate students more, but at the same time they could easily recognize talented individuals.
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Of course, involvement must take place with reason and have a pre-set concept and a clear plan. The resulting data are nice, but they must have some subsequent justification. The same applies to smart bracelets that analyze our body during exercise. In the field of elite sports, all analyzes should take place in close cooperation with a sports doctor.
that's terribly boring, that article
So with this article, I made sure that the whole series is just PR. I had fun with the hockey sticks, what they said about it and everyone was laughing at how the properties of their equipment changed, thanks to the installed sensors. They would never have been able to play with it and had to complete it all in Zlín, because iStores was the sponsor of the club. So they said that some kind of story needs to be done so that the sponsor has something to write about and put in the ad. It's about 2 to 3 years old, and I can see that it can still be sold as information to the media :-)
Hello Zlínák. Yes you are right. 3 years ago, something was tried that some of us make fun of, and lo and behold. Shock sensors on helmets are used today by juniors in the Russian league, iPads and sensors in the NHL. Maybe even the guys from Zlín hockey don't realize it, but three years ago they started something that laid the foundation for today's use in the overseas league. Believe me, it's not about PR or about the story. It just works. If someone here has a different feeling, it's a shame that they don't realize that the little that the guys from PSG Zlín contributed is working to its full potential in other leagues today.
The article is called "We deploy Apple products", but the only use of Apple according to the article is to receive, read and analyze data with the iPad. This could be done in exactly the same way on Android. All sensors, smart inserts and so on are from another company. No sane person would wear an Apple Watch under hockey gear, at most some small bracelets with sensors that collect it, but don't get in the way. The special from this edition was quite interesting, but the rest is really more like PR articles for Apple, even if you are not even paid for them.