Much of the Wright Family Sports Science Laboratory and Classroom’s equipment is deceptively simple looking. Here’s what those items can do.
Dynamometer (a.k.a. hand grip)
What does it measure? Hand strength provides key insights into someone’s overall health — in addition to being a good proxy for overall strength, there’s a strong correlation between hand strength and resistance to chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease.
Force plate
What does it measure? Associate Professor Cisco Reyes describes the force plate as “a very, very fancy bathroom scale.” The force plate shows precisely how an athlete is jumping — which leg is providing what percentage of strength, and which parts of the foot they’re using. It can also flag signs of fatigue and injury.
GPS units
What do they measure? These incredibly precise units are attached to individual players during practices and games. For the women’s soccer team, the coaches were able to look at how far each player ran, their average and burst speeds and even which quadrant of the field they move most effectively in.
Cognitive Sensory Station
What does it measure? The cognitive sensory station can test dozens of different mental processes — how good is an athlete’s peripheral vision? How many moving objects can they keep track of at once? How precise is their spatial memory? What is their reflex time when making quick decisions — for example, tapping every time a ‘p’ or ‘d’ flashes on the screen, but not tapping the similar-looking ‘b’s and ‘q’s.
Photo cell gates
What do they measure? In short, speed. “It’s a big
stopwatch — they make precise measurements about when a beam of light stops being received,” Reyes said. Researchers will set up multiple beams around a contained area to see how quickly an athlete can run, change
direction or react.
Foot pressure system
What do they measure? How a foot is being used as it walks or runs. “It measures specifically where on their foot the athlete is pushing,” Reyes said. “So it’s used a lot in shoe design. We get a sense of how people are using their feet when they’re running, jogging or jumping, and then we can see, ‘Oh! They’re putting a lot of pressure on their big toe; what does that mean?’”
