For athletes, hamstring injuries can be a pain to deal with, literally. They are not only painful but can take a long time to heal and if they do not heal fully then they are likely to be aggravated again.
“Hamstring strains can keep key players out of action for weeks so being able to determine which players are at risk, and do the correct work to avoid future injury in those players, is invaluable for us,” said Tom Myslinski, Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
An Australian startup called Vald Performance thinks its product, called the Nordbord, can help teams and athletes be smarter about hamstring injuries and ultimately reduce the amount of time that players miss.
Vald Performance is taking the NordBord to market and it is already being used by professional teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Paris Saint-Germain and several English Premier League teams.
Dr. Anthony Shield from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia and former PhD student Dr. David Opar developed Nordbord, which has been tested on more than 200 players from five Australian Rules Football clubs. While the product is still being refined, it is projected to be ready for the market by the end of this year.
So how exactly does this device help reduce hamstring injuries? Chief Technology Officer of Vald Performance, Sam James, a QUT alumnus, explained that the wireless sensors in the device collect data on the athlete’s hamstring and analyze it. That data is then sent to the coaches and trainers for real-time feedback.
Each test is then databased so that trends can be monitored. James went on to say, “This gives coaches and trainers a priceless treasure trove of data that allows them to intimately monitor their players and tailor their individual training regimes, as well as see an overall view of the squad.”
This could be a huge breakthrough as hamstring injuries can be very difficult to deal with and cost pro teams around the world millions of dollars a year when a their highly paid players miss games. On top of how bothersome this injury is to deal with, the prevalence of the injury across sports could make this the next big product within the sports medicine industry.