PVF Academy – GPS Monitoring

WHY
At PVF, one of our aims is to develop the physical capability of players’ to be able to meet and exceed the physical demands of the game’. To achieve this we need to ensure players’ are exposed to these peak game intensities during our training sessions. The simple premise is to ‘train hard & fight easy’!

In addition, we aim to achieve these physical intensities during game based practices that can challenge players not just from a physical but also a technical, tactical and psychological perspective.
It is important for us to know that our training practices achieve this aim and that is where the GPS comes in!
WHAT
The players’ wear a small unit in a vest between the shoulder blades. This unit uses GPS to measure Distance and speed. It also contains an accelerometer, which measures changes in velocity and force of impacts. From these measurements we can see the volume and intensity of the work completed by our players’ during training and matches.
We start using GPS monitoring from U17 group as this is when training becomes more highly structured and we are looking to begin to prepare the players’ for the demands of senior football.
HOW
The GPS units deliver so much data that it is incredibly important to select what is important to analyse and what data can have a positive impact on how we train.
Our philosophy starts with looking at 3 key intensity metrics from our games;
1. Distance per minute
2. High Speed distance per minute
3. Explosive distance per minute
We then compare our training practices with these 3 key metrics to ensure that at the right times and with the right frequency during our training cycles we are meeting and exceeding these intensities to prepare the players’ adequately for the hardest physical challenges of games.

• Nick Harvey