Barcelona takes advantage of technology to increase athlete performance

Barcelona is not only a famous football club but also very strong in other sports such as basketball, handball. Therefore, their use of technology to help their athletes play to their full potential is what very necessary.

In 2015, there was an article criticizing Barcelona for slowing down the pace of technology with meeting the needs of their fans at the Nou Camp. A year later, Barca has finally put many scientific advances into use, such as installing more than 1,000 Wi-Fi access points, video security cameras, touch screens, contactless ticket sales, applications. New mobile and lots.

In addition, the club is also promoting to expand the field, expected to be ready for the 2021/2022 season, and meanwhile, they will continue to bring technological experiences to the fans.

However, it is worth mentioning that the way Barca used technology to help the athletes reach their full potential, as Raul Pelaez, head of the sports technology division of the club, introduced for the first time in Silicon Valley in 2016.

Accordingly, Barca uses wearable devices to track player movement, fitness, health and other variables, but Pelaez said technology still has limitations at the professional level. While fitness devices have become smaller and lighter in recent years, they are still not for athletes competing at the highest level. That’s why they are mostly used on training ground rather than in matches.

The next step, as Pelaez said, might be smart fabrics that provide more biometrics tracked by the wearable. Similarly, the vision tracker provides useful location data, sampling 25 times per second without affecting player movement or comfort.

Over the past 5-6 years, Barca has developed its own custom platform for collecting and analyzing medical data, training from the club’s teams in five different sports.

The coach will view data and analyze on mobile devices, including tablets and smartphones, Pelaez said. Smartphone apps are also the best way to share findings and best practices with players.

Then there’s virtual reality training. On the one hand, virtual reality helps injured players regain rhythm while their bodies are still recovering; On the one hand, with young players, virtual reality offers the opportunity to experience the speed and fitness of the game, increasing the basic knowledge so they can make better decisions.

The drawback for Barca is that sports data has not been standardized, which makes it difficult to combine and analyze the data collected in different systems.