Aim: To increase athlete engagement in self-reported training measures for wellness monitoring and to teach athletes how to manage their training load to help prevent injury
Introduction: Athletes are at constant risk of sustaining preventable non-contact injuries, due to factors such as spikes in training load and fatigue [1]. It is proposed that by monitoring these factors adjustments may be made to player’s routines to reduce their injury risk.
Past studies have found that self-report measures are ineffective due to low rates of compliance, inconsistent reporting, and inaccurate reporting [2]. If quality data could be gathered consistently, injury risk could potentially be identified and prevented in order to improve player wellness. It is important to educate athletes about the limits of their bodies, and ensure they follow a regime that does not put excessive strain on them.
The main objective of the study is to overcome poor player engagement using gamification (use of game elements in systems that aren’t games) [3], and to improve player wellness by predicting non-contact injuries, and teaching athletes how to train smarter, not harder.
A Human Centred Design process will guide the development of a mobile application. The first system is lacking gamification, to use as a control comparison. The second is gamified to enhance the user experience (progression, leader board, etc.). The third version has social elements added onto the second version. 15 players and 5 coaches from GAA, soccer, and rugby teams were interviewed to determine what features were most important to them in mobile applications and for their sporting needs. Preliminary results from these interviews were used to inform the system designs for the study which is currently underway.
A prospective cohort study will be executed using this application. The different versions will be deployed to Gaelic Athletic Association players to determine the most effective method of compliance and engagement for wellness monitoring. 200 players will be recruited and their teams will be randomly selected to receive one of the three systems. Their usage data will be collected over 12 week period to measure engagement. Further semi structured interviews will be carried out with participating players and coaches to reflect on the designs to gain deeper insight into the systems, and see if their use of the app has thought them how to better care for themselves when training.
References:
[1] - Gabbett, T.J. (2010) The development and application of an injury prediction model for noncontact, soft-tissue injuries in elite collision sport athletes. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
[2] - Saw, A.E., Main, L.C. & Gastin, P.B. (2015) Monitoring Athletes Through Self-Report: Factors Influencing Implementation. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine
[3] - Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R. & Nacke, L. (2011) From Game Design Elements to Gamefulness: Defining ‘Gamification’. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments.
Topics: Assessment and Feedback in a Digital Age , Topics: Gamification
