Iowa State University’s volleyball team, following the lead of a growing number volleyball programs, has started to use VERT, a device that tracks the height and frequency of player jumps in a practice session, game, or any other desired time period.
To use VERT, players simply have to wear a small device, about the size of a USB stick, under their jerseys. The trackers then instantly shoot the information to a laptop—VERT is quick, simple, and easy to use.
This seemingly simple technology provides an important service for Iowa State’s team, for they can now get a sense of how much stress their players undergo in their practices, and then try to regulate this as well as possible. While jumping is obviously not the only determinant of stress, it is still a good measure of how much pressure one experiences.
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By looking at this information, the team is hopeful that it will be able to minimize injuries heading into the late months of the season and the playoffs. Iowa’s coach, Christy Johnson-Lynch, said “It’s a new program to the sport of volleyball. We implemented this system so we can be healthy once it hits November and December time.”
Her players have faith in this new technology too: Alexis Conway, a sophomore middle blocker, said, “The system can definitely help a team stay healthier toward the end of a season. You need a team that is healthy, especially if we have the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament.”
VERT seems to be on the cutting edge of volleyball technology right now. Earlier this year, the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team started using it for the same injury-prevention purposes in anticipation for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Their head coach, Karch Kiraly, wants to monitor his players both when they play for the national team and when they play for their club teams abroad.