In the intensively competitive world of professional sports they’re the so-called marginal differences that can mean defeat or victory.
This means that every team, and every player, is looking for ways to get that competitive edge.
As in many areas, technology has come to play and ever-more significant role in this with NFL teams enjoying significant benefits. Some affect team and individual performance, others player safety. It’s even good news for the fans watching at home.
So it’s fair to say that today’s game would not be quite as compelling without these technological advances.
Using big data to enhance the spectator experience
Back in 2017, the NFL started working with official tech partner Amazon Web Services (AWS) to crunch the numbers around the sport. Within a specific game, these are the sort of stats that cover everything from completion possibility within a play to the predicted rushing yards for a particular player.
It’s through the use of historical data, combined with computer modelling, that patterns are identified and predictions can be made. It’s not only fans who benefit. The insights offered can also add an extra layer of depth to the commentary of the game itself.
Enhanced and tailored training programs
Also, long gone are the days of the one size fits all training programs for athletes. Data gained using advanced analytic methods mean that today training can be individually tailored for optimal performance.
So, for example, following a session of aerobic exercise, during which the athlete has been wired-up and monitored, the data can be analysed. This can then dictate making future sessions even more effective or identify areas to be worked on.
This ties in with other essential areas such as sports nutrition which can be adapted and altered to achieve the desired results.
With different players needing different skillsets depending on the position that they play, all of these elements can be precisely fine-tuned for maximum effectiveness.
Creating the Digital Athlete
Every team wants to finds itself as high as possible within the NFL standings. Achieving this depends on a number of factors but, ultimately, it comes down to the skills, fitness and robustness of individual players.
In a bid to make this possible, the NFL has also been working with AWS on a project called the Digital Athlete.
This uses a combination of machine learning and artificial intelligence to draw up a 360 degree picture of an individual player’s profile. Using this data it’s possible to analyze what’s needed to keep them healthy and perform at their optimum level.
It’s something that all 32 NFL franchises have signed up for with many already enjoying the benefits.
It works by gathering data from a number of different sources. These include capturing the movement information from sensors for each player during a game using metrics like distances covered and speed of acceleration. This combines with video recording of the action on the field.
This uses a total of 38 different cameras placed at strategic spots. Each one captures the action at a very fast 60 frames a second – over double the standard speed for film. Once fed into the system this can identify where every player is at every moment of the game. More importantly, it plots the precise positioning of all of their body parts drilling right down to the skeletal position of joints, bones and muscles.
Using this information, the Digital Athlete software then runs millions of simulations of different set scenarios.
In doing this, the amounts of data that need to be analysed are mind-blowing. A typical week will see around 6.8 million video frames being captured drawn from 100 million different locations and positions of players as they move around the field.
Reducing injuries, increasing safety
The high impact nature of football means that injuries, often serious, are all too common. With the wellbeing of players becoming an ever-more important consideration, the Digital Athlete has a key role to play here too. Indeed, one of the original purposes for its introduction was for injury prevention.
Today, it’s using game data that runs simulations that can accurately assess the effects of everything from fatigue levels to the weather on player safety. Therefore the players’ risk level can be calculated according to a number of factors.
Already, this has seen a number of changes being introduced. These range from new helmet designs to reduce the risk of concussion to the introduction of new rules to make the gameplay safer.
So there’s no doubt that the embracing of technology is having a major effect on the NFL. It’s enhancing the viewing experience, increasing the skills of the players and making the sport safer than ever before.
With many more developments undoubtedly in the pipeline, these are all trends we can expect to continue long into the future as well.
