Considerations for the use of technology in sport
There should be no question that technology has and will continue to have an impact on sport. What remains in question is the degree to which scientists, coaches and athletes can make effective use of and appreciate emerging technology. When dealing with professional athletes, minor improvements are more often expected in a very short period of time.
Thus, three key factors may play a role in the effectiveness of a new technology, a) validity and reliability of the data, b) meaningful data, and c) processing speed. Usually, outputs from technological devices such as force plates, isokinetic dynamometers and three-dimensional motion capture systems, considered as gold standard equipment, can be rich and detailed in details. There is merit in using these approaches to gather accurate and credible data and to obtain in-depth, relevant information.
However, these programs are also limited in their use due to the need for a lengthy time of planning, retrieval and review. However, devices that are used in standard practice (e.g. force plate use in swimming and athletics at the Australian Institution of Sport, Tor, Pease & Ball, 2015) can become highly programmed and near to real-time by streamlining data processing and structured procedures.