ABSTRACT
Given the investment in football, it is not surprising that the technology available to assist practitioners has risen exponentially. This leaves practitioners with decisions to make when selecting the technology to suit their needs. These may include global positioning system (GPS) devices, inertial measurement units (IMUs), local positioning systems (LPS) and video-based optical tracking systems. These systems allow practitioners to monitor players’ external loads by measuring the distance, speed and acceleration undertaken by players.
This chapter will provide an overview of each system, information on their validity and reliability and relative advantages and disadvantages to assist practitioners in making an informed decision when choosing a system. A commonality of all athlete tracking systems is that the raw data undergoes further processing which can be done using a variety of filtering techniques. Practitioners may be able to select how their data is filtered or processed; thus, it is important to understand the implications their choices will have on their data. This chapter provides a brief overview of areas practitioners should be aware of regarding data processing. Practitioners are encouraged to discuss the filtering techniques used in their athlete tracking systems and be aware that manufacturers may change their techniques over the life of the system.
Finally, this chapter outlines the factors that practitioners should consider when deciding on an athlete tracking system. While the available technology will continue to change over time, this information should help practitioners in making their decision and be applicable irrespective of the systems that become available.
