Women soccer players wearing sports bras might be understandable to you, but you might be wondering why male soccer players wear sports bras. Well, you are not alone because this fact has ignited curiosity in many like you.
The sports bra looking thing is basically used to monitor heart rate, speed, distance covered etc. the sports bra comes with GPS and also helps with tracking how much calorie is burned, player’s energy etc. all these data together help the team to make strategies according to their player’s capabilities.
I have put together this article in such a way that all your curiosity regarding this topic finds answers. Stay tuned to know the benefits and uses of male sports bras in detail.
Quick Navigation
- What is a male sports bra?
- Types of data sports bra provide
- How is a male sports bra helpful?
- Are sports bras for male soccer players comfortable?
- Conclusion
What is a male sports bra?
First of all, what you need to know is that it’s a tracking vest rather than what you understand of a bra typically. And as it’s a tracking device, you can somewhat predict how it helps a male soccer player and his team.
So the male sports bra is basically a tool to monitor a player’s performance, heart rate, energy spent, and how fast or slow he moves his body. All these things can be monitored accurately thanks to the GPS installed inside the bra. The GPS tracker collects all the information which later you can analyze on your computer.
Now the question obviously arises is why don’t they use a smartwatch or something. The reason is simply the huge difference in accuracy and the data record capability of a smartwatch and a sports bra.
While a smartwatch can record only at one hertz, which means smartwatches can collect data one time every second. But that’s not enough in the case of a soccer player since the amount of movement and information needed are huge. That’s why the sports bra is used since it can track at 10 hertz. Meaning data and which are definitely more accurate.
This information helps a lot while planning strategies and gameplay, and gives a clear idea about a player’s capabilities and how he should be played in the match.
Types of data sports bra provide
Now that you know a sports bra is basically a tracking tool, let’s look into all the technical data this device collects from a player’s movement. There are so many things that this GPS tracker can track, some are even beyond our understanding. The most common and popular factors that this device can track are listed below.
1. Distance covered by players
This is the most important and common feature of a male sports bra. It tracks how many miles you have covered during a game or training session. The data later helps with understanding where a player needs improvement, and whether he needs to run more in the game. And there’s a certain number of miles a player needs to run in order to be certified as a fit player, the sports bra helps to check whether the player is running above the minimum requirements.
2. Creates heatmap
You might not be familiar with the term heatmap, in simple words, the heatmap shows the particular areas where a player is more efficient and more engaging. The sports bra creates a heatmap with the help of the GPS tracker inside. For understanding, heatmap contains various color-coding.
A heatmap is very useful in order to understand where a player is more comfortable to play and in which area of the field most occurrences happen. A clear understanding of these helps the coach with selecting the perfect players for every match.
3. Sprint counts
The sports bra also provides the sprint counts for individual players. As a result, the coach can get the idea of how fast a player can run and use them accordingly. The players also get benefitted as they know their sprint count, they always work hard to run faster than that.
4. Acceleration
As we know soccer is a game of speed and the higher acceleration a player has, the more speed he will achieve. That’s why using the sports bra, acceleration is also monitored. This data is very helpful as well.
5. Heart rate
Often players get into serious injuries and while training to get back, they need to maintain various safety protocols so they don’t get injured again. A sports bra is used to observe heart rate as well.
It gives the idea of how much pressure a player can handle while running. If the heart rate skyrockets within a short period of running, the player is taken under further medical examinations.
How is a male sports bra helpful?
Now that you know why do male soccer players wear sports bras, let’s find out the benefits of wearing one. First of all, it’s understandable that the overall data received using the tracking tool improves players’ performance and decreases the chances of injuries. It also helps the coaches to make better strategies and plans.
Every team and nation is using modern technology every day in order to play even more accurate soccer, and the male sports bra is just another excellent addition to the list. Here are three of the most exceptional benefits of male sports bras.
1. Let’s a team compare any player’s stats with the required statistics
In soccer, at different positions, players need different caliber to be the perfect fit for that position. Now, to have a greater idea about a player’s ability, the best option is to look at his stats and compare them to the requirements.
As a result, the sports bra makes it easier for the coach to understand whether a player is going to be the right fit for a position.
2. Helps with reducing injuries among players
The sports bra is great at deciding whether any player is in a perfect health condition or not. Assisting to collect various data, a sports bra is helpful to determine to tell how fit a player is! So many teams use this tool to understand their player’s conditions.
As a result, if there is a limitation in any player, it will be known before the game and the player will be saved from fatal injuries.
3. Helps with making better strategic plans
From the heatmap and with the help of a data analyst, a soccer team can bring out the best in every player. Combining the best of every player and the knowledge about in which position they will provide the best output, coaches can develop the right strategy.
This is why lately wearing sports bras is very common among male soccer players. Teams all over the world are welcoming and getting used to this new technology.
Are sports bras for male soccer players comfortable?
In recent times, we have seen both male and female soccer players embracing sports bras aka monitoring devices. Stereotypically we think it’s comfortable and all for women, but when it comes to male soccer players, the question arises whether they are comfortable or not.
Usually, a male sports bra is very thin and lightweight. That’s why usually, it’s not a problem to run or even play soccer while the sports bra is on. Though some players might feel a bit uneasy at the start as they are not familiar with wearing anything underneath the jersey, that’s why some players wear it on top of the jersey while training.
Conclusion
All in all, male sports bras are more of a tracking tool with amazing benefits. More people are understanding why do male soccer players wear sports bras every day, and introducing this technology to their local soccer team. In this modern era, a simple sports bra can be the determinator of whether a team is going to win or not.
