ABSTRACT
This chapter contemplates the challenges of technology, athlete monitoring and accumulating large amounts of training data. The motivation and value of accumulating objective and subjective training data on athletes is discussed from the perspective of athlete ‘auto-regulation’. The chapter emphasises that the amount of data gathered in some strength and conditioning settings is often excessive and without context. The facility and ability of strength and conditioning programmes to process and obtain meaning from data is suggested to be questionable for its wisdom and efficiency. The need for a priori clarity about what, how and why we monitor is reinforced. The chapter also introduces the potential psychological and sociological concerns associated with the constancy of athlete surveillance, with some discussion of the risk that monitoring can contribute to docile and unthinking athletes.
