How Sports Science Is Utilized by Pro Leagues

By Will Brown Freelance Writer Updated: 07 May 2024

Will Brown Freelance Writer

William Brown is a Content Writer with strong expertise in US and global gambling industry trends. Having covered the local sports betting market since the repeal of PASPA in 2018, William approaches his gambling guides with passion and diligence. He is a keen player of online slots, blackjack, and a regular sports bettor.

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The Evolution of Sports Science

Sports science is a special field that is concerned with improving athlete’s performance, optimizing recovery, reducing injuries, and maintaining athlete’s mental and physical well-being. Because of the huge impacts that these can have on players’ and teams’ abilities, pro teams around the world are heavily invested in discovering the latest advancements. In this guide, we’ve looked at the history of sports science, how it’s utilized by major pro leagues, and how the field is set to evolve in the future.

Intro to Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise

Sports science relates to topics such as physiology, psychology, medicine, and technology, so its scope is very broad. To help you understand how it works, we’ve began this guide by explaining what sports science is, before looking into its past. We’ve then looked at how modern sports science operates and how this impacts not only pro sports leagues but wider society. To conclude, we’ve discussed the future of the field including technological advancements and potential challenges.

• ❓ What is Sports Science?
• 🔬 The Early Days of Sports Science
• 🧬 Moderns Sports Science Breakthroughts
• 🏈 Impact on Pro Sports Leagues
• 🌐 Societal Impacts of Sports Science
• 🔮Future Trends and Challenges

Exercise and Sports Science: What is It?

Have you ever wondered, “what is sports science?” The truth is that this is an umbrella term that relates to various scientific and medical disciplines. Sports scientists will undergo in-depth research, data analysis, and technological invention to learn about how the human body works and how it can be optimized.

Understood correctly, medicine and science in sports and exercise can have a huge impact on the success of athletes. Important areas that are looked at include nutrition, biomechanics, and psychology among other scientific fields. With this data, sports bodies can develop effective training programs and boost athlete’s capabilities.

For example, an understanding of sleep science and rehabilitation techniques will reduce recovery times for injuries. Psychological findings could be employed to reduce stress, improving longevity and refining concentration. Furthermore, adapted training equipment and gear can be engineered to increase performance abilities.

The following are some of the scientific and medical fields that are employed in sports science:

Exercise and Sports Science: The Early Days

While it wasn’t called as such, sports science dates back to early civilizations. The Ancient Greeks understood the importance of training to develop athletic excellence. They would undergo punishing regimes in what would now be called gyms in the lead up to competitions, and to clear their minds, would abstain from alcohol and other pleasures.

As the understanding of the human body and physiology developed in the Renaissance, so too did the understanding of medicine, exercise, and sports science. The Industrial Revolution brought further advancements to science, and new fields of study such as exercise physiology emerged. It wasn’t until the 20th century, though, that the biggest breakthroughs happened.

This century saw fields such as psychology, nutrition, and biomechanics develop, and sports bodies began to take a holistic approach that factored in all elements when training athletes. As these methods were integrated, athletic performance improved drastically, beginning a new era in exercise and sports science.

Modern Scientific Developments in Sports Science

The 21st century has seen major breakthroughs in sports science evolution, with much of this down to technology. One such development is the 3D body scanner, which can analyze individual’s physiologies to provide precise information that is used to create personalized training programs.

Wearable devices such as the WHOOP band tracks biometric data relating to exertion, sleep, other key performance data, while visual analysis systems and motion capture technology can assess athletes’ technique. With the advent of artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms are able to process high volumes of data and identify areas of improvement.

A greater embrace of nutritional science has also led to personalized meal plans, with vitamin supplementation also utilized to improve performance and recovery. On the topic of recovery, fields such as cryotherapy have been explored, which rapidly reduces the bodies temperature to repair tissue lesions.

Genetic testing also allows for in-depth analysis of athletes’ unique genetic traits and predispositions, with training programs adjusted to fit their needs. Finally, coaches and leagues have better recognized the role in mental health in performance, with mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy just two psychological therapies that are now utilized to train athletes’ minds.

Case Studies for Sports Science on Pro Teams

Historically, US professional sports leagues have been some of the first to adopt modern scientific approaches due to the highly competitive nature of leagues such as the NFL, NHL, and MLB. These leagues, which can be bet on at all betting sites, are at the forefront of technological integration to improve training, performance, and recovery. We’ve explained how different pro league teams use modern sports science below.

Major League Baseball

In an interview with SportSmith, former Head of Sports Science at the Houston Astros, Jose Fernandez, discussed how data collection and athlete profiling have become a cornerstone to team’s training approaches. Optical tracking systems can help analyze performances to provide precise recommendations.

More effort has been made to understand the physical requirements that are unique to baseball to optimize the training to cater to these needs. The methodology is even being used at the scouting stage, where recruiters can analyze the physical projections of players to determine if they’ll develop into reliable players.

National Football League

An interesting case study into the impacts of sports science on NFL teams is the Minnesota Viking’s 2022 season. That year, the team replaced their longtime athletic director with Tyler Williams, who overhauled their training regime. Williams paid close attention to players’ nutrition, sleep, and recovery in particular.

When the Vikings travelled to London, Williams ensured that visit was planned to reduce the impacts of time-zone changes on the players, and when they played in Miami, a week-long hydration program was followed to prepare athletes for the heat. The result was that the team was one of the healthiest in the competition that year, and they eventually won the NFC North Championship.

NHL

Over the past seven years, the Buffalo Sabres have embraced medicine and science in sports and exercise training. Under Doctor Dean Higham, the Sabres began to utilize GPS tracking technology to analyze performance, with the primary aim to quantify the physical toll of the activity on individual players.

This was then used to refine the training regime, recovery strategies, and injury prevention. He adopted Fusion Sport’s Smartabase technology to collect and analyze athlete data, and worked with the developers to create a tailored platform to suit the team’s specific needs. Higham noted that data-driven strategies have had a huge impact on the NHL.

Broader Impacts of Sports Science and Medicine

While the latest in exercise and sports science has had a major impact on professional sports leagues, it has also been embraced by society at large. Wearable fitness trackers, health apps, and nutritional tracking apps are now commonplace. The data generated from these can be used by consumers to create tailored plans and provide insights into their health.

Sports science findings have also been implemented in the workplace to improve productivity and performance among teams. Ergonomics and mental wellness are now understood to be essential elements to worker health and morale. Of course, medicine has also been positively impacted, especially in areas of rehabilitation.

Future Trends and Challenges

One of the key areas that sports scientists have pointed out as being key to the future of sports science is data analytics. Systems such as the Hawk Eye optical tracker can assess player performances 25 times per second, and this is set to become more accurate and efficient as the technology evolves.

Machine learning will also be employed at a higher degree to analalze and compile the collected data and form recommendations. One of the most controversial medical fields is gene editing, which could theoretically be employed to create super-athletes. However, many are opposed to this as it could create an uneven playing field and even harm athletes.