Gait analysis aids sport scientists in measuring athletes by providing valuable insights into their biomechanics and movement patterns. This analysis, often conducted in specialised labs, allows teams to monitor key metrics such as contact time, flight time, and stride length. By analysing these metrics, teams can assess players’ performance, identify areas for improvement, and track progress over time. This information is crucial for optimising training programmes, preventing injuries, and enhancing overall athletic performance.
Gait Analysis on the Go
Typically reserved for biomechanical labs, Playermaker allows the introduction of “field-based” gait analysis, allowing for the observation and measurement of key metrics like contact time, flight time, stride length, and various speeds in the athlete’s training environment.
How Playermaker Analyses Gait
By detecting steps within the accelerometer trace and orientation of the foot with gyroscopes, Playermaker offers specific outputs through AI to calculate individual gait cycles and provide actionable insights to users.
Use Cases of Gait Analysis Across Professional Football
Playermaker’s utility in gait analysis varies across clubs, reflecting its adaptability to different training and rehabilitation needs. Some clubs integrate Playermaker as a constant monitoring tool, establishing benchmark data for athletes that provide insights into their performance over time. This ongoing data collection helps with identifying subtle changes in an athlete’s gait that may indicate fatigue, injury risk, or the need for adjustments in training intensity.
Other clubs opt to use Playermaker selectively during specific tests such as sub-maximum runs or rehabilitation sessions (namely treadmill running). This focused approach allows teams to gather targeted data that can be compared against baseline measurements, offering a clear view of an athlete’s progress through rehabilitation or conditioning programmes. Whether monitoring recovery symmetry in post-injury or assessing the impact of fatigue on muscular performance, Playermaker offers a clear understanding of an athlete’s biomechanical status in the moment, and what appropriate actions to take.
By moving gait analysis “out of the lab and onto the field,” we are proud to be a part of revolutionising the way we understand, enhance, and recover athletic performance at the highest levels, in all environments.
Interested in learning more about how Playermaker helps Football Clubs optimise technical, tactical, and physical capabilities?
