With the best record in the NBA, the Golden State Warriors are cruising into the postseason. MVP candidate Stephen Curry and his ‘splash brother’ Klay Thompson have dominated the competition with their stellar playmaking, emerging defensive player of the year candidate Draymond Green has led the way defensively, and the rest of the role players have efficiently held down the fort on both ends of the floor. The team’s dominance not only lies in their record, but in the fact that they’re outscoring opponents by 12 points per 100 possessions – a feat that over the past 15 seasons, only the 2007-2008 Celtics (who won the title) and 2012-13 Thunder share.
So how have the Warriors been able to make that leap to elite team this season? It all starts with one of the most overlooked and underrated aspects of sports – training. The innovative Golden State Warriors have been looking for data-driven ways to improve their training regimen. As the San Francisco Business Times recently pointed out, the Warriors’ extensive search led them to a Redwood City-based tech startup called Athos.
With Athos, testing involves the user wearing a special set of workout clothes – a top piece, pants, and a plastic core. The startup employs a trendy and techy web compression design for sensor placement throughout the outfit, with no wires to ensure maximum comfort. The top contains 16 sensors in it: one for heart rate, one for breath, and seven pairs for measuring each major muscle group. The pants have 12 clusters of sensors for six major muscle groups. Inside the top and the pants can be found a pocket where the wearer attaches the core. The core reads all the data from the sensors and transmits it to the user’s smartphone app. During exercise, the app interprets and discloses which muscle groups are activated and afterwards, the individual can view performance results.
Athos could provide much needed assistance to the medical side of sports. Unfortunately, we are seeing more instances of players being informed too late of a medical condition, partly because of their reluctance to fully disclose any symptoms they experience during physical activity. Many athletes opt not to put their public image and even their livelihood on the line by providing that vital information. Athos’ technology immediately recognizes any inconsistencies with any of the major muscle groups, including the heart for a more timely and proactive approach to addressing fatigue, wear and tear and unusual physical signs.
Though the best form of dealing with injuries is prevention, complete elimination is unrealistic – even with the most advanced protocol.
Athos also assists in injury recovery. Concrete evidence of improvement or regression accompanies player feedback that may not be as quantitative. For maximum efficiency, players should test before the season commences (if completely healthy at the time) and allow those results to be the standard when determining recovery stages.
If the Athos startup proves successful with the Warriors, interest could spread throughout the NBA and lead to the subsequent momentum extending to other sports as well. The Golden State Warriors serve as beta-testers for the product; the San Francisco Business Times notes that their primary use is to detect fatigue before it turns into an injury – a feature that’s applicable to teams from any physically demanding sport.
Collaboration with the teams nutrition staff can enhance the efficiency of the Warrior’s practice by examining any physiological abnormalities that occur in response to exercise in team practices and administering proper protocol. For example, if a player’s heart rate is differing from the norm and he is looking a little sluggish during drills, members of the nutrition staff then intervene and provide the necessary nutrients for rejuvenation. Even the best of players have off nights – including MVP hopeful Stephen Curry; however, key signals such as fewer shot attempts and less effort to get involved in individual possessions on both ends of the floor may indicate muscle fatigue or even other problems – all of which are detected and sent to the Smartphone app.
The same techniques could potentially be employed by other teams in the NBA as well as teams from other sports, especially football. With implementations such as these and strict rules to accompany, perhaps the NFL could even be able to prevent the recent cases of players retiring early from becoming a trend.
The sensors placed on all the different muscle groups could help the training staffs identify the blows that do the most damage to the body and make more informed decisions as to when to allow the athlete to continue playing and when to advise him to take some time off. In a sport where many feel like there is already too much protective gear that slow players down on the field, many would likely accept Athos, as it is so light it almost feels nonexistent.
If Athos proved to be efficient, it would be ideal for its use to be spread down to high school and even youth leagues. In an era where high school athletic departments are requiring amendments in their training regimen – particularly with football and offseason workouts during the blazing hot summer months – more innovative methods are needed to ensure player safety for all.
Athos certainly has many potential applications across sports and having the Warriors, the hottest team in the NBA who plays in a city fueled by technology, is a promising start for the wearable startup company.