LAHORE: To improve players’ fitness performance and injuries prevention, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) formally introduced an advanced GPS player tracking system.
This a major step toward modernizing the national game, officials in the PHF claimed adding that the new technology would allow coaches and performance analysts to monitor players in real time. Likewise, it would also help providing detailed insights into physical workload, movement patterns, speed, distance covered, and recovery levels during training sessions and matches.
According to the PHF, the data collected through the GPS tracking system would be used to design individualized training programs for every player. This scientific approach would help athletes maximize their performance while reducing the risk of injuries caused by overtraining or fatigue, they added.
It would also help meeting the international standards, where GPS-based performance monitoring has become an essential part of elite sports. Talented and famous hockey teams such as Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium have long relied on similar technologies to optimize player development and match readiness.
This introduction, a new one in Pakistan, would assist coaches in making informed decisions regarding player workload, fitness management, and recovery schedules throughout the season. By closely tracking each athlete’s physical condition, the coaching staff would be able to tailor training sessions according to individual needs rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, officials said, adding the federation plans to expand the GPS tracking program beyond the senior national team once the initial implementation proves successful.
In future, the system would eventually be introduced to junior national teams and development squads, helping identify and nurture future talent with the support of modern sports science, they concluded.
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