Sports Science and Technology in the Real World

Sports Science and Technology in the Real World — page 3
As he moves dots on a computer screen light up The cameras track the gray spheres They send this data to the computer The computer program draws the scene in 3D It connects the dots to form a skeleton Every tiny movement is tracked After a few pitches the athlete and a scientist study the data They look for areas for improvement They find the most efficient pitching motion Together they have turned raw data into a useful tool Their work is an example of sports science and technology in action 6 Smart Egg Sports scientists use a wide variety of technologies to help them do their jobs One high-tech tool is called a BOD POD It looks like a giant egg A person sits inside the pod The BOD POD measures changes in air volume and pressure It uses this information to estimate body volume and body weight These numbers show how dense a person’s body is Muscle is more dense than fat The BOD POD can estimate what percentage of a person’s body is made up of fat Knowing this can help athletes track how well they are meeting their fitness goals