Falcons benefiting from Gpexe GPS units

Tuesday 16 February 2021 Written by: Adam


The Falcons’ head of athletic performance, Kevin McShane, explained the benefits of the link-up, saying: “Gpexe are breaking into rugby and we have 30 of their GPS units, which is fantastic.

“It gives us the chance to monitor our whole squad alongside the units we already have, and it’s another tool in our armoury.”

Explaining the balance between human decisions and the technological input which helps inform them, McShane said: “What GPS allows us to do is ensure that our training is preparing the team for the demands of the game.

“That can be through load monitoring during the week, making sure they’re getting enough metres under their belts, and certain players not getting too many. On the rehab side it helps us to monitor when guys are ready to come back into the side based on what they’ve been doing during our rehab sessions, and it’s a really useful resource.

“You want to make sure the boys are fit enough and being trained hard enough, but then also making sure they’re fresh and ready for game day. It’s a fine line, and having that data is really important.”

Insisting that human expertise remains a vital factor alongside GPS data, he added: “It’s not as if you’re letting a computer make the calls or anything like that, but it just means that when decisions are made by the coaching team they’re benefiting from quality, reliable information which will help to inform them.

“No team would be wholly dependent on GPS alone, but on the same token it’s a really important tool for us.

“In terms of what sets Gpexe apart – it’s very user-friendly.

“We get the information back quickly, which is vital when you need to make decisions on players’ workloads, and it gives us a bit of time back in terms of how rapidly we can turn the data around. That’s really important for us.”