Historically, sports training has always been about the extensive paperwork, charts, graphs, and the presence of a huge support team available in real-time and in proximity. It was equally essential for both trainers and the athlete to put in a huge amount of post-practice effort. As the athlete worked on his skill as per the schedule- notes and videos were diligently taken and then turned into charts and graphs to showcase performance. After practice, the trainer and athlete would retrospect together on the efforts, and discuss aches, pains, and thoughts about physical movements. The system was grueling but worked as far as athletes and trainers knew. That is until recently. The introduction of technology transformed the field of sports training and human expectations.
Sprinter Jesse Owens won the 1936 Olympics in 10.2 seconds, on the other hand, Usain Bolt set his record of 9.69 seconds. If Jesse Owens was to compete in the 2008 race, he would have finished last. Jesse Owens was as much of a champion as Usain Bolt, but what changed? , David Epstein, who wrote the New York Times Best Seller- ‘The Sports Gene’, believes that humans have not evolved over those 72 years, but technology has gotten better at supporting them.
Technology is constantly pushing the limits of being an athlete, so much so that it is impossible to win without integrating sensors that convey real-time information to a trainer’s tablet, GPS that accurately pinpoints motion, smartphones that automate high quality and multi-layered communication and wearable tech prevent injuries. Sports training has come a long way from whiteboards, post-practice reviews and pep talks to technology that has substantially increased athletic potential. Athletes are not simply humans; they are personalities backed by technology.
This kind of commitment seems lacking in the democratic political sphere. Elementary processes like elections are been fought with increasing disparity. Every politician seeks to win, but the asymmetry in using technology for that purpose is jarring. Aspiring politicians need to understand that the only ones to remain competitive are the ones who synergize with tech-based advantages- something that we can learn from athletes.
Track Performance
Athletes
Data collecting tech allows sports trainers to measure and track performance in real-time. Everything from breathing and heart rate, to hydration and temperature, can be measured and used to create a precise and accurate baseline that reinforces an athlete’s uniqueness. Intricate data provides distinctive advantages that cannot be replicated.
Politicians
Products like Meradesh Platform have incorporated many features of the sports training world. Usage of IoTs, GPS data, visual dashboards, voter survey data and other similar kinds of high-quality data improves learning, insights and informs decision-making.
Improve Tactics
Athletes
Mounir Zok, the Director of Technology and Innovation for the U.S. Olympic Commission claimed that sports technology is so advanced that it can create a ‘digital code’ for winning the gold medal.
High-quality data collected and analyzed can predict and map performance-related actions and tactics that can assist the athlete in giving a gold medal worthy performance.
Politicians
High-quality data leads to effective tactics. Key decisions on campaign budget, media engagement, volunteer capacity building and even appropriate culture can be nurtured based on data. Tactics more commonly understood as actionable steps depend on data.
Enhance Communication
Athletes
Trainers can keep track of athletes’ daily diet, journals, enhance accountability and improve access to training information. App-based products have made journaling, sharing insights and interaction via smartphones and computers extremely easy.
Politicians
Communication with stakeholders is indispensable. Cutting-edge and robust app-based solutions that help you connect with volunteers, voters and other vital stakeholders save you valuable time, and resources and improve competitiveness.
Mitigate Injury
Athletes
Training management software assists coaches and trainers in monitoring all aspects of training: diet, energy, sleep, etc. Well defined custom designed practices lead to optimum results, by preventing fatigue and self-created injuries. Besides outside variables that cannot be accounted for, these monitoring systems are working towards creating an injury-free future for athletes.
Politicians
Data-led technology also helps you create risk mitigation strategies. Politicians can stem harsh defeat and aim for strategic low threshold victories that can lead to more prominent success. Underdog politicians can build unconventional roadmaps to victory with existing electoral products like the Meradesh Platform.
Election campaigning and sports have always been about data—underneath the empathetic promises to fix your problems or demonstrate human potential, it’s a game of metrics. To succeed, the strategy in its most rudimentary form is to collect the right kind of numbers, strategize and improvise. The only difference is that for an athlete, victory is the ultimate goal, while for a politician- victory at the polls is just the end of the campaign and the beginning of the next phase of political competition. Technology has a role to play there too. Now that will be a discussion for the next post.