A GPS system has started to be used by Darlington to help access the fitness of their players.
Recently appointed director John Woolnough has funded the 'Titan Integrated GPS Bionics System'.
Last Saturday their players wore a 'special microchip sensor' inside their shirts. Then by using the GPS system the readings are uploaded into a programme that can analyse players performance.
"It’s an area which is essential in the modern game and one in which the
benefits can be felt in the short and the long term as we build up our
knowledge in the area of football analytics," said Woolnough as reported by the Darlington OS.
Manager Tommy Wright says that some clubs already use GPS in the National Leagues and many more do in higher leagues.
"As well as assessing a player’s fitness, there’s the psychological
factor as well, because a player knows that he’s being monitored, and if
he asks questions, then we’ve got the hard evidence to back up what we
say,” said Wright.
Some facts picked out by the new system last Saturday included that the player who ran the furthest was Tom Elliott with 11.71 kms and the fastest sprinter was Harvey Saunders at 9.19 metres per second.
Darlington are the visitors to Edgar Street next Saturday.