Michael Schumacher, seven times Formula 1 world champion and one of the greatest ever F1 driver, suffered a severe head injury. He was skiing at the Swiss Alps in 2013 and has never stood on his feet and is on treatment since.
Head injuries have always been a part of sports. It is until recently that head injuries in such sports were not much talked about. But, times are changing and there are efforts to identify prevent head injuries.
Elite Sports Analysts Join Hands to Address Head Injuries in Sports
To tackle this life-threatening problem, technology will now play a crucial role. In a recent collaboration among Prevent Biometrics and Catapult, elite sports analysts will work on preventing and treating head injury. Further, experts will focus on Rugby, Football and American Football.
Sports Analysts will use Catapult’s flagship athlete wearable tracking technologies, OpenField and ClearSky together with Prevent Biometrics’s Impact Monitor Mouthguard. They will obtain detailed and extensive data around head impacts in sports, especially elite ones.
After successful trials during University of Colorado’s football training in spring, these two companies have planned to expand the trials. Analysts will now run trials on select elite teams of Aussie rules football, Rugby, and American football.
Albert Tsai, senior vice president of global elite product at Catapult, believes that head injuries are critical. He adds that there are sports where head injuries and their subsequent impact are concerning. Further, Tsai notices that due to the fear of head injuries participation in some American sports have plummeted. He admits that despite some resistance in the beginning, professional teams have now begun accepting the role of technology in sports.
