Implementation of GPS system in football training and load control (Part 2)
Vlade Bendic
Strength and Conditioning Coach | Former Coach at Damac FC & Al Tai FC (Saudi Pro League), Al Safa Club (Saudi 1. Division)
Microsoft’s Power BI (standing for Power Business Intelligence) has emerged as a potent tool, offering sports organizations a comprehensive solution for visualizing and analyzing data. In the ever-evolving landscape of sports analytics, data-driven insights play a pivotal role in shaping team strategies and optimizing player performance.
Power BI facilitates seamless integration with various data sources, including wearables, GPS systems, and game databases. This integration allows sports scientists to aggregate diverse datasets for comprehensive analysis.
By integrating data from GPS systems and monitoring tools, Power BI aids in tracking and optimizing training loads. This functionality is crucial for preventing overtraining, ensuring peak performance, and minimizing the risk of injuries.
Power BI’s capabilities extend to injury prevention. By analyzing historical injury data alongside training loads and fitness levels, sports scientists can identify risk factors and implement targeted strategies to mitigate injuries.
The use of GPS technologies is an integral part of managing the training process in modern football. I see the primary use of GPS in monitoring players training loads, enabling us to provide adequate stimuli for each player while minimizing the risk of injuries resulting from excessive volume or intensity.
Examples of Power Bi Visualizations
Key Points
When implementing a GPS system into the club, coaches consider following the most important:
1. Identifying key metrics to monitor
2. Setting thresholds for these metrics to be achieved within micro, meso, and macrocycles
3. Familiarize coaching staff and players with the use of the GPS system.
4. Developing GPS reporting and ensuring clear data visualization
Like any other technology, GPS systems are not a panacea. Despite the ease of working with data in the age of artificial intelligence, it is still up to us to select key parameters from thousands of possibilities, understand them, and utilize them in the real-world training process.
And stick to the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) method. It is not necessary to use the multitude of variables that GPS devices offer. We have to be sure that the system is simple and efficient, which means that we know how to understand the numbers and how to react to them and explain them to the other coaches of the coaching staff.