Shiny objects and game changers

I spent the weekend at the USA Canoe/Kayak annual Coaches and Leadership Assembly.  This is a great opportunity to get many of the coaches and leaders from all clubs around the country to come together.  Part of it is always organizational administrivia, sessions on technique, training, and psychology, but there are usually a couple of sessions on new technology (and always some time to socialize after all the work is done).

This year was no different.  Except that we came away with some interesting technology.

In general, Americans look for a technical cure for every ill, whether it's weight loss, power, or speed.  And in general, we get *way* too wrapped up on numbers like wattage for cycling, fluorine content of ski waxes, and the precise size of tennis rackets.  Or we'll worry about getting lots of threshold work when all our racing is at L4/L5.  Tech is great when it complements your ability to perform, not so great when it's relied upon instead of your ability to perform.  The classic example of this is cycling, where riders will spend thousands of dollars to shave a few ounces from their bike, while ignoring the extra ten pounds hung around their waist.

So three pieces of tech that I'll track and hopefully write more about in the coming months:

Sportlyzer (http://www.sportlyzer.com)
This is one of the most interesting sport management packages I've seen.  It's not perfect, but it does provide a very inexpensive way to manage the team, workouts, and track things like attendance and performance.  Coaches and managers build the calendar and workouts, athletes load the app on their phones, and can even track their workout via the app
I'm starting to populate it to see if it makes sense for my program.  So far, it's pretty easy to work with, and easy to understand. .
Roughly 25 bucks a month for 10 athletes. Full version with all bells and whistles for trial period.



Motionize.  http://motionize-inc.com   This could be a game changer.  The Motionize puck attaches to your paddle, and a deck mounted waterproof housing holds the other half of the sensor system, a speeaker, and a smart phone.  The app uses Bluetooth to communicate with the paddle sensor, and gives instant feedback on stroke rate, paddle position, distance traveled per stroke, speed and other factors ON THE WATER, in real time.  The speaker will *tell* you to lengthen stroke on the right side, take the blade out sooner, or whatever you need.  And that's as a stand-alone athlete.  If you are working with a coach, this is opened up to include interactive work with your coach, the ability to tune your workouts for specific technical features.  And they will add additional features for other functions.
Price - not available yet, expected launch 2Q2015, price not available.  (My guess - 3-500USD)


The third item is something I heard about not something I saw or had a session about, but hearing was enough to get my interest up.  Using blood lactate levels AND heart rate is a much more accurate method of setting training zones, and measuring improvement. Most heart rate users train in the wrong zone - HR zones alone usually set anaerobic threshold several beats higher than the true LT.
Moxymonitor.com has introduced an infrared blood lactate level monitor.  No more lancing earlobes, no need to pause workouts to record levels, or feats of gymnastics hanging over the edge of the coach boat trying to prick the athlete's ear while the athlete is trying to hang on to the coach boat without being sucked under it.  Moxy Monitor also has interfaces to a couple of sport watches, pc app interface, etc.
Pricing is still out of reach for most individuals, but it may be something a club or clubs could afford. Around $1000 bucks.

More on these and other technical tools to come over time.  Also note that I have no stake in any of these.  I may buy or review one or more of these in the future - if it's given to me, I'll let you know that as well.  My opinions are my own.

~marsh