Technology is now a big part of our everyday life, and that also applies to sports like Muay Thai and other martial arts. While we all know the sport as one that’s based on traditions that have been passed on for centuries, it has also experienced its own technological shift. Now, instructors and athletes are using different types of data analytics to get the best out of training, nutrition, and their fights.
The same shift has also been happening to the fans, who can now rely on tools like 1xbet download th to get in on the fun with stats and online bets. Today, we’ll look at the influence data analytics has had on our beloved sport.
Wearables and Biomechanics
Wearables started with fitness training, so it was only a matter of time before they became powerful enough to be used in sports training. Today, elite fighters use different ones like motion sensors, heart rate monitors, and smart gloves. They are connected to GPs, so they can measure different things, such as the reaction time and the power in a kick or punch.
This kind of data is quite useful in making a fighter better. For example, it can give them a clear idea of how their body moves. If your roundhouse isn’t landing in the right way, the data can help know whether the problem is how you are turning or your timing. Cool, right?
Over time, this can then help a fighter become more rounded. However, these tools are no longer a preserve of the few as they’ve become affordable over the years. You can use one or a few when training, whether you are preparing for a tournament or just trying to improve your form.
Better Opponent Analysis
Just like any other sport, Muay Thai and martial arts fighters have always studied their opponents. You have to watch videos, attend their fights, and ask others about them.
But while this has been working, it’s now more powerful for fighters who rely on data analytics. Instead of just watching a few clips and guessing what might happen, you can have different tech tools do that for you.
All you need to do is feed their videos or other data into an analysis tool (most likely with AI), and it will profile the fighter for you. It can identify different patterns that you could have missed.
For example, you can know if a fighter tends to drop their guard after throwing a certain type of punch – and for how many seconds. Or maybe they tend to back up when pressured instead of countering.
This helps save lots of hours of sitting with a trainer watching videos, and it also helps a fighter understand and prepare for their opponent better.
What the Future Looks Like
Looking at the way all sports have been evolving and relying on data more and more, it’s clear that data analytics will continue to play an even bigger role in martial arts.
As the tools become more advanced and AI-integrated, we’ll start getting more detailed data, such as how efficiently a fighter uses their energy or how they tend to recover between rounds. This data can then be used by fighters and trainers to fine-tune training in great detail.
AI analytics may also create more advanced fighter data, helping personalise pretty much everything about their professional life. Routines will be based on the strengths and weaknesses of an individual, moving away from the one-size-fits-all that’s still being used today.
Of course, this will make it easy for the trainers as well, but it won’t belittle their work in any way. Based on the data, they can stop a sparring session to adjust a few things based on AI and analytics data.
While some traditionalists may be hesitant, change is inevitable. However, analytics won’t change the cores of the sport, like discipline and hard work, it will just improve training and lifestyles to create better fighters.