Tech on the sidelines: how technology helps athletes train

Several athletes are using different technology sources to help them in their sport.

Sophomore Deshawn Millington uses the website Hudl to watch football and basketball film. He uses it “to watch what I did right or not and what I need to fix,” he said. “Also scout other teams for preparation.”

Coaches can put up videos on Hudl of game film and share it with the team staff and players. Once it is posted, everyone who has access to the videos get to watch them on their own time. They look at improvements that they can make and also get ready for upcoming games.

The use of technology to train is not limited to high school athletes.  Tuffy Latour, former World Champion bobsled pilot, previously “relied on a number of laptops, wires, charts, and spreadsheets” to help U.S. and Canada earn gold medals, according to Erica R. Hendry’s article, “How Technology is Changing the Way Athletes Train” at Smithsonian.com.  But now he uses an app called Ubersense that offers a video analysis and feedback on a smartphone or tablet.

Hendry said, “Through the app, every twist, turn, stunt or swing is captured- and shared with the athlete almost instantaneously.”

Ubersense feasted as Best New Sports App in the Apple App Store. According to the store, you can “use your iPhone, iTouch, or iPad camera to record and breakdown your sporting technique to get instant slow motion feedback during your practice, race, or game.”

There are several of others apps to help athletes share videos. Another app is, Addaero Solo: Athlete Training Log where an athlete can “plan, track, and analyze their fitness.” It offers planned workouts and you can log your workout results.