What Problem Are We Actually Solving in Sports Tech?
One of the first questions any coach should ask a tech company is this:
What problem do you actually solve?
Too often, we see new data tools thrown into high-performance sport without truly addressing what’s missing. More numbers don’t equal better decisions. If the data can’t shape a training or rehab decision, it’s not helping.
Track & field legend Dan Pfaff once told me, “If the data you’re providing can’t help me make decisions, it’s worthless.” That line stuck with me — and it’s shaped the past decade of my work.
The Real Gaps in Running Data
By the mid-2010s, I had spent nearly 20 years in pro sport. I’d sat in enough meetings where every data point had been combed through, but we still didn’t have the answer to why an athlete was breaking down at speed.
That led me to revisit the research — and one paper by Morin et al. (2011) hit me hard. It showed that it’s not just about producing force — it’s about how that force is applied, particularly in the horizontal direction. They coined “DRF” (ratio of horizontal to total force), which closely tracks sprint performance decline.
This was the moment the dots started connecting for me.
Common Patterns in Struggling Athletes
When gait starts to break down — from injury, fatigue, or poor motor control — the same core issues tend to appear:
Inability to generate or apply horizontal force
Loss of pelvic control and poor hip extension
Motor pattern disruption post-injury
Compensations that trigger secondary injuries
The implications are massive. I started seeing gait not as a single issue, but as a three-part system:
Kinetics. Dynamic Stability. Kinematics.
If you’re only looking at one, you’re missing the picture.
Stability Matters More Than You Think
Schuermans et al. (2017) added another piece — showing that poor pelvic and trunk control during sprinting increases the risk of hamstring injury. They tied together core stability, running coordination, and injury susceptibility in a way that finally mirrored what I’d been seeing in elite environments for years.
It confirmed what many of us in the field know deep down — it’s not just about how fast someone moves. It’s how they produce and control that movement that determines longevity and risk.
Still learning. Still refining. But always trying to solve the real problem.
— Jason Weber
