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Inside features
Footy’s technology takeover ...
Hi-tech heist! No area of football has escaped the advances of science, writes Dr Jodi Richardson in the second of a series.
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ECHNOLOGY has transformed football. Last week I investigated the influence of technology on sports science, medicine and umpiring. This week we get up to speed on how technology has changed other aspects of the game.
Communication
The internet is integral to most of the changes technology has brought to the AFL. Available commercially now for almost 20 years, the internet has changed the game for players and every division of football clubs – administration, merchandise, sponsorship, finance, membership, gaming, football departments, coaching and of course sports science. As a fan, with just a few clicks on your computer you can sign up for club membership, buy merchandise or check out your club’s fixture, latest news, images, videos, injuries, events, training times, player biographies and pretty much anything else you want to know. It’s not just one-way communication any more, either. If you’ve got an opinion about footy you want to share, there are countless blogs you can contribute to. Twitter is another way you can share your thoughts and read those of others. Known as the SMS of the internet, Twitter enables you to post a “tweet”, which is a message of up to 140 characters. Hard to believe Twitter has been popular only since 2007. There’s plenty of footy news on Twitter: you can follow us – @InsideFooty – or SEN at @SENfooty – and while you’re at it, you can follow me too – @JRSportSci! You can tweet from your PC or smartphone – so easy. This brings me to the next way that communication has changed. Here I sit in my office, typing my article on my laptop. I conduct most of my interviews via telephone and record them on a digital recorder. I can search for scientific articles, contacts and check facts online, and when my article is complete I’ll email it off to my editor. I really enjoy meeting the people I interview but in reality, it isn’t always possible. Bottom line, communication nowadays is far less personal but is fast
and efficient. A must-have gadget for tech-savvy AFL fans is a smartphone. Apple’s iPhone is a popular choice (I can personally recommend this one!) as it is really a pocket sized portable computer. It has so many features you can do away with other technologies that aren’t as simple or portable. The phone itself functions as a camera, video camera, portable media player and enables web browsing, text messaging, face to face phone conversations, GPS and more. (No wonder more iPhones are sold every minute than children born around the world.) Football fans will be keen to use a smartphone to stay up to the minute with what’s happening with their team over Twitter, radio (SEN app free from www.sen.com.au/apps), club apps and the free Telstra AFL Live app which offers dedicated AFL content. The AFL Live app also gives you the option to subscribe to access live streams of every premiership match, live radio, stats and scores, full match replays and AFL.TV – the official AFL TV channel – at a cost of $2.20 a round.
If you’re busy on game day and can’t make it to the ground or in front of the TV, digital radio, a far cry from the transistor radios of old, now gives a clear reception so you can listen to your team’s match without interference. If you get interrupted during the game and you have a digital radio with storage, you can rewind the call. Digital radio is particularly recommended if you like to listen to AM stations as the sound quality is so much better than the analog version.
Broadcasting
There’s nothing better than settling in at the end of the week for Friday night football. The opening match of each round attracts big television audiences around the country. Broadcasting is integral to footy and is big business. Between 2012 and 2016, the Seven Network, Foxtel and Telstra have secured the rights to broadcast AFL games, a deal costing $1.25 billion. You may have never given much thought to what actually goes into a live AFL broadcast; the whole idea is
‘With a few clicks on your computer you can sign up for membership, buy merchandise, check your fixture, latest news, events, training times, player biographies ... pretty much anything.’
AFL.COM.AU: Technological advances make AFL content easily accessible.
Inside Football
BROADCAST: The final product belies the incredible work behind the camera.
that the production is seamless, you are not meant to be thinking of what’s going on behind the scenes. The presenters are so relaxed and make it look easy as they chat before the game, keep us up to date with every aspect of the game as it unfolds, and then dissect the performances of each team after the siren. AFL broadcasting is an example of organisation and teamwork at its finest and an area where communication technology is key to bringing audiences the best viewing possible. Tim Watson, Channel 7 AFL commentator and co-host of SEN 1116’s breakfast radio show Morning Glory, has worked in television for nearly 20 years and has seen lots of changes. “In the early days the focus of the broadcast was on marks, kicks, handballs but now there are more aids for commentators and we have greater access to players and coaches for comments,” Watson said. “The game has changed dramatically in the area of statistics and access to that information is immediate in the commentary box. The stats help us to break the game down and give the information to the viewers; this is what’s happened, this is what you are seeing and this is why. That’s the greatest change from a commentary
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
perspective.” The AFL’s stats are provided by Champion Data, which has dedicated staff recording statistics at every game. “Primarily the stats need to fit with the pictures for the viewer and it’s important for us to find the right balance when using the stats,” Watson said. He explains that during the broadcast the commentators will be talking to the viewers but also have an earpiece for communicating with their producer, who is looking over the stats. “If there is something the producer has seen that we haven’t, they’ll tell us in our earpiece, point to a stat and put it up on the screen so we can present that to the viewers.” Another way technology has influenced broadcasting is the number of cameras around the ground. “More cameras in strategic positions have made a difference to the broadcast,” Watson said. “The game has advanced and clubs are using interchange more and more so that’s really become part of the game. With the additional cameras compared to years ago, we can see who’s on and who’s off and that’s what you want to present to the viewer.” The production team for the broadcast work from a truck parked under the stadium.
“As a boundary rider, if something has happened behind play that hasn’t been picked up yet, I can ask the producer in the truck through my earpiece to look for some vision of it,” said Watson. “I can actually have two-way communication with someone outside the commentary team.” Big teams of people work on the broadcasts. The truck houses the directors and producers who are communicating with the on-air presenters and a team of staff who work to deliver the vision to the viewers.
Gear
It’s hard to believe that our game has been around for 115 years and, needless to say, the gear worn by players has been through more than a few changes. Football boots from the early 1900s were made of thick pieces of heavy leather and could weigh as much as 500g; this weight could double when the boots were wet. By comparison, the lightest modern adidas boot weighs in at only 165g. Early boots had chunky metal studs and a two-piece outer sole which all added to the weight. These days, players can choose from a variety of boots to suit their style of play, position or can simply choose a boot they are comfortable wearing. Collingwood and Essendon are sponsored by adidas for jerseys. It also sponsors individual players across a range of clubs. Players who are not sponsored can also choose to wear adidas boots also. The company’s Radhik Colombage explains that no one boot suits everyone. “Players choose boots that they are comfortable wearing and that suits their skill set. Dale Thomas prefers a more traditional looking boot and so he chooses to wear the adipure leather boot,” said Colombage. “Players who base their game around speed on the ground will generally use our speed boot, the adiZero F50. “We developed a new upper for the F50 called Sprintskin, which is a super light, super thin, single layer synthetic. “Traditional cow leather boots can absorb a lot of water and can stretch, losing their shape after a few months. When a boot absorbs water during wet conditions, it means players are carrying a lot more weight. “A lot of traditional boots had circular studs, which are great for ground penetration and stability but are not too good for acceleration. “adidas developed Blades, which are great for speed but not as good for stability. “The F50 has a morph of round studs and blades and are positioned for stability with various movements, acceleration and deceleration.” Modern jerseys are also a world away from early versions, thanks to technology. Traditional jerseys were made from cotton or wool, were baggy and heavier than jerseys worn today. “The weight of the jerseys for the Collingwood and Essendon boys has been reduced by 20 per cent,” Colombage said. “Any excess weight is just going to slow a player down, particularly towards the end of the game. “We also customise the fit of our
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jerseys to an athletic build with our ForMotion technology. This matches the contours of the body and develops the garment cut to fit those contours. “You’ll notice that AFL jerseys are a lot more snug, which makes tackling harder and reduces drag.” The fabric for the adidas jerseys is Climacool, which uses a “moisturewicking” technology to draw moisture away from the player’s body and enables easier evaporation of the moisture to help keep the players cool. The jersey design also includes an in-built GPS pocket, removing the need for players to wear a neoprene GPS harness under their jersey. One less layer means a cooler player. Though developed with elite AFL players in mind, amateur players can also benefit from a lot of these technological advances. GPS is one technology used in the AFL only, but adidas has developed the miCoach Speed Cell to give players from other levels of football the opportunity to measure their performance using a new digital training tool. Marketed by adidas as “the world’s first football boot with a brain”, the boot enables the wearer to track performance data including average speed, maximum speed, number of sprints, distance, distance at high intensity levels and total training/ playing time. The miCoach Speed Cell is a small unit that fits into a specially designed cavity in the adiZero F50 boot or clips on the laces of any other boot. It’s worth noting though that players with the device clipped to their laces should choose to put it on the boot of their non-preferred kicking foot so as not to interfere with their kicking accuracy. This is an impressive device. Retailing for $100 (call 1800 801 891 for stockists), it allows grassroots footballers to compare their performance with each other and elite players. The miCoach Speed Cell stores all of the data for up to seven hours. Data transfer is wireless to PC, iPhone and even Facebook! One of the remarkable features of this device is that it can be synced to the special miCoach Soccer & Running iPhone app. The syncing of data to this application allows you to “power up” your digital avatar, which you can use to compete against your friends in the app. The only way you can improve your virtual game is to improve your stats in the real world first! The latest in technology to affect the football itself is the addition of an “e-tag” to track ball movement, co-developed by Catapult and Sherrin. The ball movement is tracked by Catapult’s existing player tracking devices already in use by 16 of the 18 AFL teams. This type of ball tracking enables the collection of statistics on ball movement, possessions and disposals. The Smartball data is useful to coaches who can analyse possession chains and ball movement; fitness staff, who can use the data to link player effort to output; and for media where the combination of Smartball and mimimaxX (athlete tracking) data can provide viewers with, for example, animations of defensive strategies, team tactics and use of playing space.
Hawthorn seem to be playing a soccer style of football, really short sharp ball use, keeping the opposition honest. – David King, on Morning Glory
HIGHLY EVOLVED: Today’s football boots use the most sophisticated technology.
Inside Football
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
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