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Due to the more recent introduction of hawk-eye we no longer have calls like these....

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Worst line calls and umpire decisions in Tennis

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this articles focuses on the way that Hawk-eye can improve performance including the accumulation of stats and helping with Line-calls.

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Beyond the line call: how Hawk-Eye can improve performance

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The evolution of professional tennis has always been linked to the changing technology of the day. For example, the decline of the wooden racket lead to the whole new power-based style of play we enjoy…

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This article is an explanation of the pros and cons of GLT and how it is used within football.

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The 91st is an OrlandoCitySC.com blog that aims to approach the worlds game with a laid-back and relaxed approach. We'll cover a range of topics, including today's look at goalline technology by Jordan Bishop. Would you like to submit a post idea or contribute yourself? Email us here.
Looking at all the arguments for and against goal-line technology, where does the MLS stand on the implementation of the revolutionary yet controversial system?

What Is Goal-Line Technology?
Goal-line technology is a system that was implemented at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil in order to assist the referee with crucial goal-line decisions. Stadiums that are equipped with goal-line technology feature sensors in both goal-posts and the crossbar that picks up a featherweight chip inside the ball. If the ball completely crosses the line a signal is transmitted to a watch worn by the referee which notifies the official within one second with a color-coded symbol. The rules for association football/soccer state that a goal is scored when the whole of the ball crosses the line.

Which Leagues Use It?
The most prominent league that participated in the goal-line technology program is the English Premier League. Along with its regularity in the Premier League and its use in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, UEFA President Michel Platini plans on using it for the 2016 UEFA European Championships. The UEFA Champions' League currently places a fifth official at each of the goal-lines just in line with the six-yard box.

Pros
In the ways that technology is advancing, the future seems to be filled with the ease of robotic assistance. The implementation of goal-line technology enforces complete accuracy when determining whether a soccer ball has crossed the line completely or not. This proves to be more accurate than the dependence of the human eye and more efficient than video replay.

Cons
While the goal-line technology may be an instant indication of a goal, it doesn't seem to be a global hit just yet. The biggest criticism of the system is that it takes away the human element in a goal decision and takes away an important responsibility of a referee. While a referee, with the help of his linesmen, is expected to cover all 100+ yards of grass and get every possible decision correct, the element of human decision is a crucial part of the game.

To radicalize the idea of how important the referee's decision is, imagine if a technological system was implemented in order to determine fouls and their reprimands. The next step after that may be to apply robotic referees and the inhuman spiral continues.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter supports the human element in refereeing a match, "Other sports regularly change the laws of the game to react to the new technology. . . We don't do it and this makes the fascination and the popularity of football."

Another major factor against the use of goal-line technology is the cost. MLS Commissioner Don Garber stated in 2014, "[The cost] had us take a step back and pause and try to figure out: Is the value of having goal-line technology worth investing millions and millions and millions of dollars for the handful of moments where it's relevant?" he said. "And our view has been that we're going to wait and see how it works out. We certainly don't need to be the first league that has it."

In order to install goal-line technology a league would have to spend approximately $260,000 per stadium, and a further $3,900 each game.

At this time, the cons of goal-line technology seem to outweigh the pros. According to Garber, the system will not be implemented in the MLS in the near future and this decision will help retain human control over the beautiful game for a little longer.

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The 91st: Pros and Cons of Goal-Line Technology

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The 91st is an OrlandoCitySC.com blog that aims to approach the worlds game with a laid-back and relaxed approach. We'll cover a range of topics, including today's look at goalline technology by Jordan Bishop. Would you like to submit a post idea or contribute yourself? Email us here. Looking at

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This video explains how goal line technology is used to assist referees and how it will be implemented in the 2014 Brazil World-cup.

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This video explains everything from the training innovations, equipment advances as well as the ethical issues related to technology in sport.

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This Video show hoe V02 Max testing can be used in Football to enhance player performance.

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Chicago Fire Soccer Science | VO2 Max Testing

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VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilise during exercise. Training and improving your V02 max will increase the amount of oxygen your body can use thus making you perform more efficiently.

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Performance Benefits of Lactate Threshold Testing and Training

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Performance Benefits of Lactate Threshold Testing and Training

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This articles talks about the importance of Lactate threshold training on the athlete.

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By Lindsay Hyman, CTS Pro Coach

Whether you are a triathlete, runner, skier, cyclist, or rower, as an endurance athlete you need accurate physiological data to guide and monitor your training by. Lactate threshold is one of the most commonly, and effectively, used performance markers used by many athletes and coaches. The point is to learn the highest intensity at which you race and train before hitting the wall from high levels of blood lactate. Elite athletes and coaches know the key to success is to increase sustainable power on the bike and speed while running at lactate threshold. You may be asking what is lactate threshold? How do you test one's lactate threshold? And most importantly, how does one train to increase their lactate threshold?

What is Lactate Threshold?

The energy required to move is supplied from the breakdown of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The body can only store about 85 grams of ATP and would use it up very quickly if our bodies did not have a few ways of resynthesizing it. There are three energy systems that produce energy: ATP-PC (short, explosive movements), glycolytic (intermittent hard intervals) and aerobic (endurance exercise). Athletes most commonly attribute the intense burning felt during exhaustive bouts of exercise to the accumulation of lactate in the blood which is produced by the higher level of exercise intensity.

When you demand energy faster than your aerobic energy system can produce it, your glycolytic energy system picks up the slack. Even though the glycolytic energy system is often characterized as "anaerobic" (literally meaning without oxygen), it's not that there's no oxygen available, but rather that your aerobic system is going as fast as it can and you still need more energy. The glycolytic system is fast but it's less efficient and produces less energy, per unit of fuel burned, than the aerobic system. Your body has to clear the lactate from the blood and working muscles and process it back to useable fuels, and lactate threshold is the point at which production outstrips the clearing process and higher levels of blood lactate start to accumulate in the muscles. Lactate threshold can be determined through lactate threshold testing, verified within your training program, and used to make you stronger and faster.

Why Lactate Threshold Matters

Your lactate threshold essentially defines the upper limit of your sustainable efforts in training and competition. Once you cross over and rely more heavily on your glycolytic system for energy, you're exercising on borrowed time. The accumulation of blood lactate will hinder your muscles' ability to contract, and you will be forced to slow down or stop. The more work you can do before reaching lactate threshold, the better. If the pace you can hold at your lactate threshold is higher than the pace your competitor can hold at his or her lactate threshold, you go faster, reach the finish first, and win.

Being able to do more work at lactate threshold also means maintaining a lighter pace is even easier. While your main rivals are burning energy fast, riding at their limits, you can stay right with them and rely primarily on your aerobic system. This saves valuable energy for hard efforts later, like the run leg of a triathlon, a long climb to the finish line, or a sprint.

Lactate Threshold Testing

Lactate threshold (LT) testing can be utilized to determine an appropriate training intensity and monitor progression in athletes of all levels. This test is similar to the VO ₂ max test, although consists of slightly longer periods of time between changes in workload. This test does involve several blood samples taken from the finger for the assessment of blood lactate. It is not considered a maximal test but does require a high-intensity effort.

There are numerous protocols for conducting lactate threshold, and the one used by the US Olympic Committee and Carmichael Training Systems is described here. First, the athlete is taken through a proper warm up on the cycling trainer or treadmill (the example below is for cycling, but the treadmill protocol is very similar). The athlete rides on an electronically-braked bicycle (this means that the workload, in watts, stays the same even if you change the cadence) starting at a fairly easy load. After the first four-minute stage, the workload is increased by approximately 25 watts every three minutes. Before the watts are increased, within the last 60-30 seconds of each stage, rate of perceived exertion (RPE), heart rate (HR) and blood lactate (mmol/L) are taken. Athletes typically ride about 7-8 stages, or until a break point in your blood lactate values has been distinguished. This break point area is known as your lactate threshold. You are said to have crossed lactate threshold when blood lactate concentration increases by at least 1 mmol/L in two consecutive stages.

The above graph was taken from a lactate threshold test performed on a SRM cycling ergometer. According to the graph, a 1 mmol/L jump followed by another 1 mmol/L jump occurred at 250 watts and then again at 275 watts. Therefore, this individual's lactate threshold occurred around 250 watts.

An athlete's initial lactate test provides an indicator of fitness level and a starting point for training. Depending on the protocol used, the following data can be acquired through a lactate test: maximum sustainable power (cycling) or pace (running), recovery heart rate (how quickly the athlete's heart is able to return to recovered levels), pace and power at lactate threshold, and a relative index of fitness (i.e., speed or power divided by the athlete's body weight). In all, the athlete walks away with an immense amount of useful performance information. However, the real power of lactate threshold testing comes from comparing test results over time. Provided you're training and striving to improve, regular lactate testing provides you and your coach with concrete evidence of improvement, or lack thereof, throughout the season(s). A history of lactate tests should show changes in fitness, characterized by: increased power and/or pace at threshold, improved recovery heart rate, a higher lactate threshold heart rate, and a higher pace or power-to-weight ratio.

If you do not have access to a testing center like the CTS Training Centers in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Brevard, North Carolina; Tucson, Arizona; and Santa Ynez, California you can still generate accurate values for training intensities values from a field test. For the cycling test, find a 5-10km section of road that is either flat or slightly uphill (no more then 5-6% grade). You will perform two maximal efforts starting at the same point. The recovery period typically consists of slowly returning to the initial starting point for the second effort. During both efforts it is important to record the average power and/or heart rate. Since there are no blood samples in a field test, you can't necessarily say the data provides your lactate threshold power or heart rate. In fact, the vast majority of people can average about 10% above threshold for a 5-10k field test. Taking this into account, you can still calculate accurate training intensities from field tests, as CTS proved in a 2007 study by Klika et al., (J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Feb;21(1):265-9) performed during CTS indoor training classes.

Lactate Threshold and Training

Gathering information about your body and lactate threshold doesn't do you much good unless you incorporate it into your training. Working on improving pace or power at lactate threshold typically occurs after you've already laid down a strong foundation of aerobic work. For the summer-time competitor, this usually means performing lactate threshold work in the mid spring. Following several training blocks devoted to targeted interval workouts, you'll progress to even harder, yet shorter, workouts as you approach your goal event.

Consistency is the key to improving performance at lactate threshold. You have to accumulate a lot of work at a steady workload to place the appropriate amount of stress or load on the system. Since you can't spend a lot of time working above threshold, these training intervals have to be at an intensity just below your threshold.

For both running and cycling, interval workouts focused on improving performance at threshold should progress from 5-minute intervals to intervals of up to 20 minutes in length. Recovery between intervals should stay at about one third to half the length of the interval. Your first goal is to accumulate time with multiple shorter intervals, and then progress to performing fewer, longer intervals. Lactate threshold workouts are hard on the body, and it's best to put a day of light endurance training or active recovery between days of lactate threshold training.

Through training, the body learns to contract muscles repeatedly with force and quickness without too much buildup of blood lactate. If the muscles can increase workloads or stress while maintaining a faster pace at aerobic levels, you can spare muscle glycogen while at the same time decreasing the amount of blood lactate produced. When you have increased the work you can do before reaching lactate threshold, and the power you can produce when you're there, you can move on to training that very specifically sharpens your event-oriented skills and begins the taper towards your goal event(s). During this training period, you generally keep a little intensity going in order to stay fresh and powerful, but you also need to make sure you have plenty of recovery to restore and replenish all of your energy systems.

You want to make the most of the time and energy you have available. You can wander through various books and pick up new ideas and try new trends, but the reality is that the fastest and safest way forward to peak performance and everything you what from your sport, is through methods proven through years of success. Lactate threshold testing is one such method, and it's becoming more readily available to the public every day. Give it a try and put some precision into your training this season.
Lindsay Hyman is a Pro Coach for Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. and has her Masters degree in Exercise Physiology.

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The Performance Benefits of Lactate Threshold Testing and Training - CTS

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Facebook Twitter LinkedIn EmailBy Lindsay Hyman, CTS Pro Coach Whether you are a triathlete, runner, skier, cyclist, or rower, as an endurance athlete you need accurate physiological data to guide and monitor your training by. Lactate threshold is one of the most commonly, and effectively, used performance markers used by many athletes and coaches.

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This video explains how lactate threshold training is done and how it can improve player training.

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How is an Athlete's Lactate Threshold Determined?

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This video shows the relationship between a disabled athlete and a bio-mechanistic and the way equipment is used.

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AIS Biomechanics - Adapting methods for Para Swimming

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The lactate threshold is the point at which the production of lactate exceeds the clearing process and high levels of blood lactate start to accumulate in the muscles. The test involves taking a blood sample during high intensity exercise. . Improving an athletes Lactate threshold will aid in the increased workloads and stress of the muscles without as much of a build-up on blood lactate which decreases performance.

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Bio-mechanical analysis is the use of film in sports that allows us an in-depth view of specific movements within sports for the benefit of an athlete. . By using bio-mechanical systems, a coach can observe an athlete’s inadequacies that are limiting performance, then drills can be incorporated into their training to address them.

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This video captures the process of how the Xsens motion tacking system works and what the coaches can get out of it.

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Innovating sports science: motion capture of a rower on water

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Has technology gone too far?

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A more recent but hugely significant equipment impact is Hawk-eye Ball tracking. Hawk-eye is a computer-based ball and player tracking technology that has the advantage of being completely un-intrusive. . This technology is also able to collect data and information of the players during a match which can then be utilised by coaches in pre-game warm-up to have a better insight to the opponent.

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Goal-line technology is a system that was implemented at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil in order to assist the referee with crucial goal-line decisions.  Stadiums with GLT have sensors placed on the indie of each goal post as well as cross bar that defect a chip inside the football if the ball crosses the line.  A Football league would have to spend approximately $260,000 per stadium, and a further $3,900 each game, limiting its access to socioeconomically advantaged.

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Majority of the improvements we see in sport today are due to technology as player performances are starting to plateau. Athletes, Audiences and the governing bodies want the level of competition to be high and for world records to be beaten as it keeps popularity high which results in a flow of money into that sport. Training innovations and equipment advances are key to the improvement of athlete ability but sometimes can be taken a step to far. In 2010 FINA banned the use of many versions of fast swimsuits. This move validated the view of many who regarded the use of certain suits were advantaging certain athletes.

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Has access to technology created Unfair competition?

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Has access to technology created Unfair competition?

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Access to technology can often depend on the expense of the innovation or equipment introduced. This can often benefit the wealthy athletes or competitions with higher financial capabilities. The Access to technology that American female soccer players have over a team that is based in Indonesia would give them a massive advantage. Within club sports the access to technology depends on their finical state. . A lack of access leads to an unfairness. Elite levels in sport often have access while lower levels often don’t.

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This goal, referred to as the ‘Hand of God,’ was clearly in violation of the rules, as video shows. Neither referee were sure at the time whether or not it had been a violation, but videos show Maradona’s use of his hand. This is an example of when breaking the rules is morally acceptable. Maradona used his hand, in clear violation of basic football rules, but he wasn’t punished for it. This is an example of how technology would be ethically acceptable as the goal would of been disallowed with the use of Video Assistant Referee.

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Maradona 'Hand of God' Goal 1986 World Cup