DashTag unveils first soccer tracking platform for your Apple Watch
DashTag has unveiled the first soccer tracking platform for your Apple Watch. The device on your wrist will track movement, the free app will package this info into visual and straightforward stats. It is all coming this Fall.
Essential reading: Training sensors for soccer (aka football) players
Soccer has been slower to embrace technology as compared to some other sports. This has changed, though, and now both professionals and amateurs have a healthy selection of devices to track all aspects of their game. However, most of these options involve buying a separate piece of kit.
DashTag is the first to offer a solution that uses data from your existing wearable. The platform has been in public beta since late last year, with about 250 monthly users.
The software does its thing by turning info churned out by the Apple Watch into an overview of your performance on the pitch. Along with its own algorithms, the app harnesses Apple’s augmented reality platform (ARKit) to come up with simple and easy to understand analytics.
Users will have access to stats such as playing time, steps, distance covered, acceleration, number of sprints, stamina and more. This is in addition to insights into their workload, intensity levels and endurance.
In order to make it more attractive to teenagers, the startup has decided to use a formula that approximates what the soccer video game by EA Sports uses to determine pace and acceleration. This is perhaps the most novel aspect of the platform.
“When we ask [youth players] what is your speed, they had no clue in terms of miles an hour, let alone your acceleration—miles an hour squared,” DashTag CEO Epco Berger told SportTechie.
“But if we ask them what is the pace of Cristiano Ronaldo in the game, they all knew it’s 92 [referring to Ronaldo’s FIFA 17 rating].”
Players will get their personal FIFA card and detailed highlights of the session. What’s more, they’ll be able to see how they stack up with their soccer idols.
For example a user will be able to record a video of a sprint and see it digitally rendered with Lionel Messi or Christiano Ronaldo added to the replay. They’ll actually see themselves running against their hero as an AR depiction.
DashTag was incorporated in 2015. Up to now the startup’s main offering was a simple and affordable, small clip-on device that collects player data from the field.
Once it launches this Fall, this new product will make performance data accessible to more players. It does not require any additional hardware, presuming you already own an Apple Watch. The company says it plans to widen the offering to include compatibility with other smartwatches in the future.
“Our mission is that we want to provide every single athlete the chance and guidance of setting their goals and tracking their performance against that goal, so we want to reach everyone,” Berger added.
“We want to reduce barriers.”
The app will be available for free. You’ll also have the option of a $1.99 premium subscription that adds personalised coaching insights.
Like this article? Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and never miss out!
