Sports Performance and Tech, Issue 13

Issue 13 | theinnovationenterprise.com

DATA AT THE SUPERBOWL How does data impact the Super Bowl beyond what happens on the pitch? We find out.

Also: Analytics At The Australian Open | The Case For Hawk Eye | Doping In Sport

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to the 13th edition of Sports Performance and Tech.

Two of the sporting calendar’s biggest events, the Super Bowl and the Australian Open have already passed. At both these events we saw technology being used to not only help players and coaches, but fans.

The likelihood is that we’re going see technology being used to engage fans and increase their knowledge of sport over the next 12 months.

This edition of Sports Performance and Tech will look directly as this issue.

In this issue we will look at how technology is going to do this, whilst also looking at topical issues such as doping and goal-line technology.

As always, if you are interested in contributing or have any feedback on the magazine, please contact me at ghill@theiegroup.com

George Hill Managing Editor Are you are looking to put your products in front of key decision makers?

For Advertising contact Abigal at afletcher@theiegroup.com

Managing Editor: George Hill Assistant Editors Simon Barton Artwork: Oliver Godwin-Brown Chelsea Carpenter Joe Sanderson Contributors: David Barton

Simon Barton takes a look at whether Hawk Eye is a positive influence on sport or whether it’s damaging the integrity of a number of sports.

William Tubbs

We will also look at the work of Jean Pierre Meersseman, founded of the AC Milan Lab, and how his unorthodox techniques are extending player careers.

ghill@sportsperformancetech.com

We hope you enjoy this issue of the magazine and that you’ve enjoyed the great sporting entertainment we’ve already seen this year.

General Enquiries:

2015

CONTENTS

23 SPORTS TECH REVIEWS In this edition we look at apparel from Adidas and Rapha, as well as Tom-Tom’s Cardio GPS watch

4 MILAN LAB - EXTENDED PLAYER CAREERS Not accepted universally, but are the Milan Lab’s tactics allowing players to retire later?

12 ANALYTICS AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN Can fan engagement be increased by tools such as IBM’s ‘Crowdtracker’?

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DOPING IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT

DATA AT THE SUPERBOWL

George Hill takes a look at which sports are most affected by doping and if cycling justifies its poor reputation

We determine whether data has actually become more important to the Super Bowl than the game itself

16 THE CASE FOR HAWK EYE We may see less flair-ups between players and umpires, but is Hawk-Eye actually damaging sport?

20 WHY WOULD YOU VISIT A PHYSIO IF YOU AREN’T INJURED? Some people still don’t like going to see physiotherapists, we see how ‘Your Physio Plan’ are changing perceptions

MILAN LAB EXTENDING PLAYER CAREERS Simon Barton Assistant Editor

The fact that the Milan Lab measure every aspect of its players physical and mental attributes has meant that in the first year of their implementation, total practice days lost to injury fell be 43% and the use of medicine decreased by 70%.

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MILAN LAB - EXTENDING PLAYER CAREERS

Jean Pierre Meersseman, the founder of AC Milan’s renowned ‘Milan Lab’ is a much celebrated individual whose techniques have helped players like Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Serginho and Cafu play into their late thirties and even early forties. At the age of 40, Costacurta is the oldest outfield player ever to feature in a UEFA Champions League match - testament to Meerssman’s unorthodox methods at the Milan Lab, which combine his specialiszms of Kinesiology and Chiropractice to aid the long-term development of the Rossoneri’s players.

Although undoubtedly successful, the Milan Lab’s methods haven’t been universally accepted as ‘scientific’, with certain commentators suggesting that Meersseman’s claim that he restored Clarence Seedorf’s back by removing his wisdom teeth either a lie or completely coincidental. However, similar methods were used to treat David Beckham, who wore a support in his mouth to close a gap between two of his teeth to fix an incorrect spinal balance - again, the results were overwhelmingly positive, allowing Beckham to continue playing at the highest level until his retirement at the age of 38.

Established in 2002, a period in which Milan were considered one of the strongest teams in European football, the Milan

Lab has since gone on to carry out over 1,200,000 physical, mental and structural tests, allowing Milan to decrease its non-traumatic muscle injuries by over 92%.

The Milan Lab’s work centres around their test circuit, which sees players undergo a monthly assessment. In this assessment the players are instructed to complete shuttle runs, bar pull-ups, weightlifting, vertical jumps and an agility test to assess which parts of their body are weakest and therefore more susceptible to injuries.

Additionally, players must complete a PSI test to monitor their psychic ability as well as an electromyography test, which measures muscle response to nervous stimulation.

These tests give the Milan Lab an opportunity to predict injuries before they happen and give their players individual training regimes and diets to better prepare them for matchdays and the strains that come with being a professional football player. Meerssman states, ‘Unfortunately, medical doctors and therapists have to wait until an injury happens, I’m not interested in that, I’m interested in the fact of figuring out why it happened and trying to prevent it from happening to start with, that’s the point’.

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The fact that the Milan Lab measure every aspect of its players physical and mental attributes has meant

that in the first year of their implementation, total practice days lost to injury fell be 43% and the use of medicine decreased by 70%. This meant that not only were Milan’s coaches able to better prepare for matches due to having all their players available, they also saved money which could be put towards improved coaching facilities and even transfers.

Jean Pierre Meersseman has moved across to England recently, setting up his own independent clinic for players in the English Premier League.

With players now viewed as assets by their clubs, serious injuries can represent significant financial losses, meaning that Meersseman’s services have been highly in demand.

It’s not surprising then that the Milan Lab’s work has created a lot of positive attention consider that there are 24.6 to 34.8 injuries per 1000 competitive match hours and 5.8 to 7.6 injuries per 1000 hours in male football matches, and the need for long-term injury prevention programs become even more essential. When you

Although Meersseman’s techniques at the Milan Lab remain unorthodox, it’s difficult to argue with the results that his clinics have achieved

6 also consider that elite players including, Sergio Agüero, Mesut Özil, Robin Van Persie and Jack Wilshere all continue to have their careers blighted by injury, there is still a real need for improved prevention techniques across many of Europe’s main football leagues.

Although Meersseman’s techniques at the Milan Lab remain unorthodox, it’s difficult to argue with the results that his clinics have achieved.

MILAN LAB - EXTENDING PLAYER CAREERS

Decreasing Milan’s non-traumatic muscle injuries by over 92% would have been imperative to the Italian club’s success in the early part of the last decade, allowing them to maintain an experienced side that could also handle the physical side of the game. The fact that AC Milan fielded a starting line-up in the 2005 Champions League final which had an average age of 31 years and 34 days, the oldest ever in the history of the tournament, demonstrates the success that the Milan Lab had on its players at the time.

DOPING IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT

George Hill Managing Editor

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The Tour De France 1999 was meant to be the race that wiped the slate clean for cycling after the huge coverage it had received in 1998. This followed the arrest and suspension of several riders and even the entire Festina team. The Giro D’Italia had taken place only a few weeks earlier, where the world’s most famous cyclist, Marco Pantani, had tested positive for doping in Madonna Di Compiglio.

What transpired was domination

by Lance Armstrong and a winning streak that lasted until 2005.

2005 was the first year that true doubt based on evidence was cast on his winning streak after a 1999 blood sample tested positive for r-EPO, a doping product.

DOPING IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT

in the last few years, and the strenuous testing becoming even more complicated, the reputation of the sport has recovered somewhat, although it still remains negative amongst the general public.

But why do people dope in sport?

So this made me question which sports are the ones that have been found to be doping the most in the last year.

When we look at the figures and the sports representing the top 10 users of doping products, there are 249 cases. Of these 38% are from Athletics alone.

This kind of domination by one sport shows that either there are stronger tests for it (which is unlikely given that all sports are generally tested through WADA labs) or that there is an endemic use of performance enhancing drugs within that sport. When you look at the small amount made by athletes, it cannot be due to the financial rewards, as they would likely make more doing something else entirely.

Luckily, the MPCC (Mouvement Pour Un Cyclisme Crédible) have just released their research into the sports that have had the most doping cases in the last 12 months.

The results may surprise some, as cycling, believed by many to be the ‘dirtiest’ sport in terms of doping product use, came in fourth, with only 17% of the number of cases of the sport with the most cases.

Since the most famous and successful cyclist of the last twenty years was found to be nothing but a cheat, the entire sport of cycling has been tarred with the same brush. Even the argument that everybody was doing it, so he was still the best, is redundant because researchers based in Australia have found that often the performance enhancements are not uniform across every athlete. Essentially, the person who wins is not the fittest or the best cyclist, but the person who responds to the treatments the most.

This is Athletics, which many people may be surprised about, simply because it does not have the vast media attention that many other sports have or the same kind of rewards that its participants get in other disciplines.

With the number of doping cases in cycling decreasing significantly

All in all there were 296 reported cases of doping in 2014.

In 2014 alone, there were 95 cases of doping found in athletics, a full 33 cases more than baseball in second and weightlifting in third.

Cycling came in fourth with 16 cases only 3 cases more than wrestling in fifth.

There is the obvious answer, which is to win, but aside from this there seems to be little reward.

The peer pressure element is something that we have seen from some of the cyclist who were around during the dark times of cycling, who claim that they didn’t want to do it, but that it was pushed on them, just to keep up with everybody else.

This could be true, as it was not just the vastly successful cyclists who doped. In the 80’s, 90’s and until around 2005, it was every person within a team. This meant that the domestiques (which literally means slave cyclists) would dope along with their team leader. By the very definition of what they did within the team, they would not receive excessive prizes for winning and after the tour had finished,

DOPING IN PROFESSIONAL SPORT

they would not have the huge celebrity that the lead rider enjoyed.

At this time, it wasn’t even just a case of taking some pills before a race. r-EPO was the most common performance enhancing substance, which essentially packs the blood with red blood cells, making it less viscous and almost like a gel. This kind of abuse puts tremendous strain on your heart when not exercising, so many would have alarms linked to heart rate monitors and when their heart rate’dropped below a certain point they would be woken up.

This would then require them to quickly jump on an exercise bike and increase their heart rate again, just to save themselves for death. Having exercise bikes in your hotel room was a common way to attract suspicion from inspectors.

It seemed to have been so prevalent at the time that even Lance Armstrong’s biggest rival, Jan Ullrich, has said that as everybody was doing it, Lance should get his wins back after being stripped of them.

This shows not only a lack of understanding of what doping does (as we said before, it is more about the reaction of an individual to particular treatments than any kind of better fitness or stamina before that point) and with something this ingrained within to the culture, it took an entirely new generation to eradicate it.

Even some famous modern cyclists who have transcended the two time periods have been

found to dope, such as Alberto Contador, winner of all three great tours (one of only 5 to do so). He was found to have used clenbuterol (although this was controversially accepted to have been ingested through contaminated meat) and later tests showed plastics in his urine, a sign of blood doping. The fact that this is somebody who would have been racing at a time when this kind of practice would have been commonplace is telling.

Perhaps this is the same kind of story that we will hear from athletes in the coming years, as the rewards seem to be small,

9 but if caught the punishment could ban them from the sport they love for the rest of their lives.

DATA AT THE SUPERBOWL David Barton Head of Analytics Channel

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DATA AT THE SUPERBOWL

When people think about how data is used in the Super Bowl, it is generally around the prediction of the winner.

In the weeks leading up to the game, hundreds of companies come out saying that they have the data to predict who will win from the data that has been gathered throughout the year on each team.

With the amount of data available across the teams this is relatively simple, it is possible to see which is the better team across a number of metrics, but what it cannot do is give absolute accuracy, hedging bets one way or the other.

Many of these companies also make these predictions not for any real benefit except to gain increased exposure.

Many of these models are attempting to simplify what is essentially a complicated sport.

This is not just in the formations, injuries and plays, but a number of separate factors can have significant impacts on the way that people or entire teams perform.

Big Data allows people to not only see the number of successful passes, runs or interceptions, but to compare these with other aspects that could have a significant impact on the result. This could be anything from the impact of elevation, when the game is being played or the weather conditions.

The problem with these predictions that come out days

or weeks prior to the game, is that there is no way of knowing some of the most important variables, meaning that Big Data may help to predict beforehand or even at the first whistle, but with variations changing rapidly throughout a match, it is almost impossible to get an accurate result.

In fact, many companies boast about getting 60% accuracy rates in their predictions for pre-season games. A 60% chance means that although they may get most right, they are still getting 4 in every 10 wrong, which is not a good prediction rate.

The real data driven aspect of the Super Bowl, comes from the advertisers.

This data is also not just about what people are watching on their screens during the game, but what they are doing in the weeks and months leading up to it.

Web analytics and the data gathered from people’s browsing history and purchases, will help advertisers to identify who is interested in what and what is likely to have the biggest impact on them during or before the big game.

This could be from seeing that people have been spending more time than average searching for places to watch the game or looking at potential ways to entertain people in their homes. These are the people who are important to the advertisers, the ones who are

going to not only be most likely to pay attention to the ads on the TV, but also to spend prior or during the match.

This information in the hands of advertisers is far more valuable than a flashy ad for the wrong product.

If they can identify who is going to be buying what and when, in preparation for the Super Bowl, then they have the ability to offer them what they want to see at the opportune time to maximize the chances of selling.

It can also be incredibly useful in planning what they are going to be advertising in the big budget ads that run during the game itself. If they know what is going to be popular amongst the people watching the game, then they can advertise the best possible product in the best possible way.

However, the kind of data generally looked at from both game prediction and advertisement targeting, tends to be historical.

Increasingly companies are looking at real time analytics to either measure the success of advertising in other formats or to react to live events to target particular segments.

This is generally done through social media analytics, which allow companies to see what people are thinking about their products and adverts and also to see what is being discussed at any one point in the game.

Therefore if something happens

12 that is relevant to a product or service that a company provides, they can utilize the real-time analytics to react quickly.

Sentiment analysis can also help gauge the reaction to an advert that has been placed during the Super Bowl, meaning that future adverts can be changed based on feedback. However, the likelihood is that this would be a used prior to the Super Bowl slots or even variations and themes being tested through online video, as the average cost of a Super Bowl spot was $150,000 per second.

It is not only the product within the advert that is significant, with the brand itself often judged by their Super Bowl ad.

After the game has finished and the next day people are talking about the game, one of the biggest discussions online is not about the game itself, but about the adverts and the reaction to them.

This year for instance, WSJ are even running a poll for their readers to vote on which advert was the best at the Super Bowl.

These adverts are seen by millions during the game itself and this can either see sales spike from a good ad or drop if the advert bombs. Examples of this from this year are likely to be Mophie and Budweiser, who both had positive sentiment around their ads, however, Chevrolet had a negative one to theirs, even having Anna Kendrick tweet that she didn’t like the ad to her 3.3 million followers.

We are seeing that in 2015 data is as much a part of all elements of the Super Bowl than the actual game itself.

ANALYTICS AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN

William Tubbs Organiser, Sports Analytics Innovation Summit

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ANALYTICS AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the year and often produces some of the season’s most exciting matches. With 640,000 fans passing through Melbourne’s Olympic Park throughout the two weeks of the tournament, and millions watching around the world, fan engagement is extensive, with followers eager to share their experiences and opinions about the tournament’s talking points.

The Australian Open’s website attracted somewhere in the region of 17 million unique visitors over the fortnight and generated around 10 million tweets. For the first time this year, IBM analyzed this data through ‘CrowdTracker’, a platform which displays information such as the most popular places around Melbourne Park, latest scores, stats and player details. CrowdTracker also allowed organisers to better understand where people were in the arena, essential when handling crowd control.

CrowdTracker also provided fans with the opportunity to see what was trending on social media. They could monitor popular hashtags, which weren’t always tennis related For example, there was considerable coverage around gender equality throughout the tournament with Eugenie Bourchard asked to do a ‘twirl’ by a male interviewer causing a backlash and Andy Murray’s semifinal victory speech, where he

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questioned many of the sceptics who doubted his partnership with Amelie Mauresmo. Having information on trending topics allowed more people to enter the conversation and created an absorbing debate around a subject which isn’t necessarily intrinsically linked with tennis.

For more ardent tennis fans, merely having information on what’s trending on social media is not enough, they want to use real-time data to delve deeper into tactics and player form. IBM’s SlamTracker, a data tool that provides fans with statistics for matches across the four Grand Slams, had a new look to it for this year’s Australian Open, with data visualizations key to IBM’s method for communicating data.

With over 8 years of Grand Slam data and 41 million points to analyze, IBM identifies patterns through historical datasets and states what the ‘keys to the match’ are going to be and the tactics that should be incorporated by a player to win a match. The number of metrics is quite astounding, making SlamTracker’s insights accurate and essential for those who want to make their Australian Open experience more interesting.

A good example of SlamTracker was seen in an infographic under the hashtag ‘gamechangersIBM’,

which surmised that the key to Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych’s semifinal would be both players ability to serve under pressure. IBM also has a ‘keys to the match’ feature that lists 3 metrics that a player will probably need to meet in order to win the match. This isn’t an exact science, in the previously mentioned semifinal between Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych, the Briton only achieved one of the three, despite winning his match against the Czech relatively easily. The feature does however provide an added tactical edge and allows onlookers to delve deeper into player performance.

Not only do these metrics provide insightful information for players, it also gives spectators an avenue to get more involved with the match they are watching. Many will argue that Novak Djokovic’s mental strength was what got him through Sunday’s final against Andy Murray, an aspect of the game which remains difficult to quantify - although some will point to Murray’s poor five-set win record against ‘The Big Four’ as representative of his inability to hold his emotions together when pushed by the toughest opponents. Murray’s poor mental approach was compounded even further by

The Australian Open’s website attracted somewhere in the region of 17 million unique visitors over the fortnight and generated around 10 million tweets.

ANALYTICS AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN

the fact that he won a mere 34% of points off his second serve compared to Djokovic’s 62%.

Data and analytics have been transforming the fan experience at the Grand Slam level for some time now, but this new redesigned version for the Australian Open is even more impressive. Tennis and data are a match made in heaven and the future of these platforms should make the tennis calendar even more interesting.

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THE CASE FOR HAWK EYE

Simon Barton Assistant Editor

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THE CASE FOR HAWK EYE

Hawk-Eye, the UK company that was acquired by Sony back in 2011, has become an integral part of some of the world’s most prominent sporting events.

Perhaps best known for its use at Wimbledon and in the English Premier League, Hawk-Eye has helped umpires and referees diffuse potentially difficult situations with relative ease.

A complex piece of software, Hawk-Eye tracks the visual trajectory of a ball to determine where it’s landed, or in the case of cricket, where the ball would have landed had it completed its path, essential when calling ‘leg before wicket’ violations.

Hawk-Eye is also used to help broadcasters, with its visual representations used to create insights on player tactics. In tennis for example, Hawk-Eye maps whereabouts individual players are serving, whilst also providing a heat map which determines a player’s movement on court.

In the English Premier League, the technology is used to determine whether a contentious goal-line decision has been made correctly, with it first being successfully used in a match between Chelsea and Hull City. Hawk-Eye have also created a number of football simulators, which have been used to give fans an opportunity to ‘virtually test their skill and nerve’.

In football for example, referees still hold a great deal of power, with fouls, cards and offsides still up to their discretion.

However, in other sports like

Cricket, umpire powers have been eroded with the implementation of systems like Hawk-Eye.

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Tennis has been highly affected

by Hawk-Eye and sports technology in general. When players used wooden rackets they couldn’t generate anywhere near the same amount of spin, with it estimated that the average player generates five times more spin than their counterparts in the 1970s.

For example, Rafael Nadal’s forehand generates 3330 RPM, a level which wouldn’t have been possible with wooden racquets due to their narrower head.

What this means is that whereas players in the 1970s could see the ball quite clearly when it left their racket, nowadays, and especially at Wimbledon where the colour of the court clashes with the tennis balls, players can’t rely on their own judgement to determine when they’ve put a ball out. Before Hawk-Eye passed ITF testing in 2006, dubious calls created animosity between umpire and player and disrupted the rhythm of the game, even causing players to implode due to frustration.

Ironically, those against Hawk-Eye often outline the loss of these on-court debates as a major disadvantage against line technology in sport, stating that it takes away the human side of the game, creating emotionless on-court robots like Roger Federer whose actions are in stark contrast to John McEnroe.

Many have questioned whether Hawk-Eye, and the use of technology in general, damage the integrity of sports which rely on it too readily.

The added faith that Hawk-Eye has installed in tennis players has arguably meant that they go for the lines more often, confident that a true winner won’t be chalked off by an incorrect call. Retired American tennis player James Blake sums this up well, ‘I don’t need to go to bed now wondering if that serve was really in or out. I looked up.

It was in’.

Hawk-Eye isn’t an exact science however, with a margin of error of 3.6 mm. This will improve over time as the software develops, but at the moment it would be incorrect to call the system completely unflappable. But with umpires getting their calls wrong 3 out of 10 times at Wimbledon in 2012 according to Hawk-Eye, there’s considerable evidence to suggest that Hawk-Eye is having a positive effect on tennis.

We often hear the phrase that sport is all about ‘fine margins’ and with this in mind, utilizing technology in elite sport encourages the game to be played in fairer and more gracious manner. It’s undeniably

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positive that football has finally implemented goal line technology and its continued use in Tennis, Cricket, Baseball and Snooker demonstrates how the public and players have taken to the extra dimension it adds to officiating and broadcasting. Hawk-Eye is a great addition to elite sport and acts as security for players and

THE CASE FOR HAWK EYE

umpires and allows the public to watch sport that isn’t hindered by incorrect decisions.

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In Tennis for example, Hawk-Eye maps whereabouts individual players are serving, whilst also providing a heat map which determines a player’s movement on court.

#SportsLondon

SPORTS ANALYTICS INNOVATION SUMMIT March

Push the Boundaries with Data

25-26

London, 2015

For more information contact Sean Foreman +44 (207) 193 1655 sforeman@theiegroup.com theinnovationenterprise.com/summits/sports-analytics-innovation-summit-london-2015

WHY WOULD YOU VISIT A PHYSIO WHEN YOU AREN’T INJURED? George Hill Managing Editor

WHY WOULD YOU VISIT A PHYSIO WHEN YOU AREN’T INJURED? 21

I received an email a few weeks ago from ‘Your Physio Plan’ discussing the merits of preventative physiotherapy.

I initially read it and thought little of it as we receive hundreds of new sporting ideas each week, some claiming to be super secret experiments, others cleverly disguising widely used practices with new marketing talk.

However, after thinking back to all of the various injuries I have had over the last 10 years, I thought that ‘Your Physio Plan’ may actually be on to something.

I am sure we have all heard about glass ankles and repeat injuries (Daniel Sturridge, the top scoring English footballer in 2014 recently spent 5 months out after significant recurring injuries) and their effect on an atherlete’s development.

After emailing back to find out more, I was invited along to one of their sessions to see if their marketing lived up to reality.

The first exercise was simply standing still to see how I stood and what this told them about how I was training. Denise, the Physio and one of the company’s founders, took stock of every aspect of how I was standing and noticed that I was favouring my left side slightly too much.

This then led to various movements and manipulations that stretched out my legs, shoulders and back to correct the dependence on my left side.

After being given some exercises

by Denise in how I could improve my training (from a cycling perspective) I went back to the offices. For the rest of the day I could certainly feel things correcting, especially in my back and shoulders.

Although we discuss injury prevention frequently in the magazine, we infrequently actually discuss the base part of how to do it, by looking at what could go wrong and why.

Denise sat down with me afterwards to discuss the merits of this kind of work on athletes.

She is clear about the benefits of her work, ‘this kind of physiotherapy helps identify any imbalances that could lead to overtraining or overloading issues’. When we are looking at time management and reaching peak fitness and performance, time and intensity are often the factors that coaches tend to concentrate on. Overtraining is often thought of as somebody as a whole body, training too much.

In reality, if you are putting too much pressure on one side, you will be overtraining that before the other.

I certainly felt the difference in the days afterwards. Having gone there with no injuries and being perfectly happy in how I was approaching and undertaking training, I didn’t think that much needed to be changed. However, after the session I certainly felt more limber and balanced and according to Denise, this is a common reaction, ‘people

didn’t realize they felt bad, now it allows people to go back into their training feeling more empowered as they know how they should move’.

This is true for me and in my cycling since the session, I have noticed the difference. It has allowed me to know how I can improve and Denise’s advice has allowed me to have a new approach to how I can strengthen muscles in certain areas, to not only improve my fitness, but also reduce my risk of injury.

Amongst elite sports clubs, this kind of preventative work is common, in fact when you see soccer players being signed for clubs, one of the cliche images is them being checked out in the physio room.

Denise’s company allows individual athletes to access this kind of care throughout the year on a subscription basis rather than the standard pay-per-season model, and from what I saw, they will be in good hands.

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H C E T S T SPOR

REVIEW

RAPHA 3/4 BIB TIGHTS | SUPERNOVA GORE WINDSTOPPER | TOM TOM MULTI-SPORT CARDIO GPS WATCH

Rapha 3/4 Bib Tights P 24

Supernova Gore Windstopper P 23

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The fit is also great, with no bagginess anywhere on the tights. Being made up of the Thermoroubaix fabric that Rapha has used through several of their cold weather offerings, the fit is impeccable.

Quality

With the flat lock stitching that the bib tights have means no chafing, combined with effective breathability, so they fit snuggly and comfortably even after hours in the saddle.

Rapha have not let themselves down with these tights, the quality of construction easily measures up to others they have produced.

This comes from a supportive and supple chamois from Cytech, comfortable yet durable straps and very strong stitching throughout.

They also contain effective fleece lining which manages to keep you warm but also maintains very effective breathability for when you are pushing hard.

Performance

These are very good looking tights, as we have come to expect from Rapha.

They have an attractive single white stripe on both knees, but aside from that, maintain a sleek and stylish matte black finish.

I tested these in cold conditions, down to around -4, and stayed warm and dry. It is worth noting that these are not designed for outand-out cold weather, but more for the changeable temperatures that you are likely to find in spring/ autumn rides.

Overall Price

Fit & Look

Rapha 3/4 Bib Tights

At ÂŁ180, they are expensive for 3/4 bib tights. That being said, if they are within your budget, they are some of the best shorts that money can buy. When you consider that the other options for this kind of comfort are expensive regular bib shorts with knee warmers, these excel in almost every area.

There was also no chafing and I wore these for several rides over 3 hours with no kind of discomfort at all. They kept me warm and dry from both the weather and sweat, with effective sweat wicking.

This is partly due to the effective Thermoroubaix material and the mesh upper which includes a large cutaway to help with ventilation.

Although expensive, these bibtights are top quality equipment and you are unlikely to find many that can compare to this kind of performance.

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Thankfully, the Supernova Gore Windstopper has a sleek design, which fits well to a variety of body shapes.

The coat comes in black and has the Adidas stripes up both arms, with the logo just beneath the coat’s collar

The the Supernova Gore Windstopper is a fashionable jacket and could be used for a number of different things outside of running.

Despite getting caught up in a rain-storm whilst running in this jacket, the material never stuck to my skin or made me feel uncomfortable.

The zip pockets are also strong and won’t undo, meaning that you can run without fear of your iPod falling out of your pocket.

There’s a real quality feel to this product, it’s lightweight but also sturdy, making it ideal for a someone who often runs in wet and windy weather.

Performance

Many running jackets I have reviewed recently have been luminous, which despite improving visibility whilst running, make them either a bit of a fashion statement or too loud for everyday use.

The jacket has excellent wind protection and will keep you warm regardless of the wind levels you are subjected to. There’s also no problem in terms of water leakage, with no water seeping through the seams of the jacket.

Overall Price

Quality

Fit & Look

Supernova Gore Windstopper

At £95, the Supernova Gore Windstopper is well priced. Any running jacket that’s priced under ¬£100 and is as good as this should be deemed a bargain.

It follows your natural movement, which means that the jacket is always comfortable irrespective of whether you’re jogging or sprinting.

The only problem that I had with the Supernova Gore Windstopper is that it isn’t particularly luminous and can mean that you can blend into the night. This means that you might need to invest in some highvisibility products to ensure that you’re seen whilst running at night.

There are a number of similar coats from different brands that are priced between £150-250, making this Adidas product a steal.

For such a high-quality product, this coat should be viewed as a solid buy for both beginner and intermediate runners. Suitable for both long and short distance, this coat ticks all the boxes.

26

TomTom hen we received the last W iteration of TomTom’s foray into the wellness market, Multi-Sport we found it to be full of promise, but unfortunately in terms of features Cardio GPS lacking and, crucially, its GPS accuracy.

This time, we felt it best to try and live with the chunky watch Watch for a few months, to get a better sense of what it was like in the long term.

Aesthetically, the watch is very similar to its predecessor; TomTom have stuck with a robust, chunky & colourful design, which is fine with us.

The fit itself is far better than previously – especially when you consider the addition of a heart rate monitor integrated into the watch itself – we didn’t experience any discomfort wearing the device, which also boasts a better fit within the strap.

The heart rate monitor itself is an impressive inclusion.

Its accuracy matches that of conventional chest straps without the inconvenience, and it responds very quickly to changes you make to your effort. This works great with the new heart-rate-zone-based training feature on the watch.

The main draw for the watch though, considering TomTom’s position in the market, is always going to be the GPS tracking.

Not much progress has been made here, unfortunately, which makes the watch a tricky sell at £250. Whilst syncing the watch via USB will speed up the tracking, it struggles to not only find you, but consistently track your pace & elevation

also. Perfect on some days and frustratingly inaccurate on others, I have at times been tempted to bring a Casio with me as back up.

There are a number of training options you can use, including interval training – the watch will let you know when to warm up, run & jog, and is fully customisable. However, it’s a cardinal sin that once you’ve uploaded all of that hard earned data to the platform provided, there is no trace of the interval splits whatsoever.

Unless you have the memory of Dominic O’Brien, it’s going to be a struggle to recall your times.

The number of features & the heart rate monitor will appeal to the ‘committed’ fitness enthusiasts TomTom is aiming for here. The battery is average & swimming tracking is poor, but most will buy the watch for running or cycling anyway. With unreliable GPS tracking & the expensive asking price, what’s to stop you using an app? To answer that question more effectively, GPS watch makers everywhere are going to have to produce a showstopper in 2015.

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