The most advanced GPS user in the National Football League, Tom Myslinski of the Jacksonville Jaguars first started playing with athlete tracking in 1996 while working with the Cleveland Browns.
How Catapult is benefiting the Jacksonville Jaguars?
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Monitoring athlete workloads
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Supporting return-to-play
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Measuring key performance indicators
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Understanding the game
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Educating the athletes
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Supported by a best-in-class support team
–> Learn more about football-specific solutions, here.
Monitoring Athlete Workloads
Being the longest-serving Catapult user in the NFL, Tom also previously used the technology at the University of North Carolina monitor athlete loads.
“All we are is stress regulators, so it was a way we could put objective numbers instead of making assumptions on whether it was a hard or a medium or a light day.
“So when we talked to our coaches we had more knowledgeable information, rather than just saying the athlete said it was perceptually a hard practice or perceptually an easy practice. We could actually back that up with numbers”.
Supporting return-to-play
Using the system predominantly for medical monitoring, given the newness to the NFL, Tom says “we really can look at the cost of each individual period, if an athlete is hurt, and use his return to play (RTP) work to actually re-create practices or periods for our athletes to see how ready they are to play”.
Knowing the difficulties in introducing new technology to a new sport, Tom has a challenge in preaching the potential of Catapult. “It’s an introduction process because the football staff we have now haven’t used it before, so it’s up to Alex [Hampton, Strength Assistant] and I to reintroduce it to our coaches – and to show them what kind of objective numbers that we get and how it can help the coaching process”.
Measuring key performance indicators
The Jaguars are now proficient in their use of the technology. “We look at total odometer, high-intensity yards, accelerations, decelerations, contact load, and PlayerLoad.
“We look at all those variables as an athlete becomes fatigued, obviously he’s going to expose himself to slowing down over the course of the season, or he’s going to become injured. The more that you can teach him about how fit they have to be to play this game, I think it’s going to be very important”.
Understanding the game
“I always knew this but the lack of any true speed in our game. It really just shows our game is truly acceleration and deceleration, which I think is a big point.
“When you really sit back and look at it, the total amount of volume that a practice is. Our practices can be two hours outside and there’s a lot of volume that’s covered. You realize how much time our athletes are on their feet. When you look at their number of high intensity, medium intensity, and overall volume, it’s important to quantify.”
Educating the Jacksonville Jaguars’ athletes
An ex-NFL player, Tom understands the importance of getting the athletes themselves on board too.
“It’s educating the athlete. As a retired athlete myself, the more that I knew about my body the more informed I was, the more self-aware I was, the better I could take care of myself. To me it’s an educational process.”
And how has the process influenced your role and eased your workload? “Definitely easier and harder to the point, because it’s challenged me to become a little more creative in the design of training. “We like to say that we’re all constant learners and that’s very important, and that’s what Catapult has helped me do is become a constant learner. Kind of find new, creative ways to get training done.
“The big thing is to economize. Catapult has taught me how to be more efficient in my training, which I think is very important.
“Secondly, it’s given me a better overall view of the athlete, a training snapshot of the athlete, so I can see what the training load is for the athlete, enabling me to zero in a little more.
“And the third one, to be honest with you, is that it’s made me a better strength coach. It’s taught me more, and the more that I know, the more I can give back to my athletes”.
Best-in-class support team
One of many Catapult clients to take the technology with them to a new program, even a new league, Tom acknowledges the importance of a close relationship with the sports scientists that develop the technology used so extensively by one of the NFL’s healthiest teams.
“You guys have been great. From Michael Regan, who any time I need to get a hold of him he gets right back in touch with me. I never have any problem communication-wise, or back and forth. The customer service has been superb”.
Want to discover how Catapult can help your team find its competitive edge? Click here to find out more.
*2023 Tech Update: ‘Smart tracker’ for American Football
Catapult kicked off 2023 by partnering with Energous to create the first smart American football with an embedded tracker that can charge wirelessly without sacrificing precision data.
This new ‘smart’ innovation reports the football’s movements in real-time to the cloud, allowing coaches to track and analyze not only every movement athletes make but the ball itself, giving a more complete picture of practice and game time activities.
The wireless charging cradle, powered by Energous’ WattUp solution, removes the need for charging the balls on the sidelines and allows teams to practice and compete without interruptions.
→ Learn more about this smart tracker for American football by clicking here.