Welcome to The Tech Race.
Each athlete is unique, a puzzle composed of
different qualities, such as force, flexibility,
power and velocity, that determine performance.
But how does an athlete know their true state?
Awareness is the first step to improvement.
(EXHAUSTIVE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS)
There has never been as much information
available to athletes as there is today.
But the amount of data can be useless
without the correct interpretation.
P3 was founded on this idea that we can be a lot smarter
about how we cared for elite athletes,
that we can use technology to get inside into how
athletes' bodies are put together,
how their systems are put together.
We use all types of technologies,
from biomechanics labs
and medical labs to understand our athletes.
(UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
(SANTA BARBARA)
(P3 TRAINING CENTER)
Athletes from all over the world travel to
the Santa Barbara, California, training centre,
to take advantage of technology such as motion capture,
force platforms and high-speed camera analysis,
all to stay a cut above the rest.
(CUSTOM FORCE PLATES)
The high-performance centre
helps athletes discover their boundaries,
so coaches can tailor training sessions
to each athlete's personal needs.
(THEY PROVIDE LOWER EXTREMITY KINETIC AND KINEMATIC DATA
(OF THE ATHLETE'S PERFORMANCE)
We're more interested in how - what systems they use.
Are they symmetric when they jump?
Do they have 30% more force
going through their left side?
So we put athletes in environments where we can test
all the important systems of their sport
and quantify those systems.
Training is centred around the science
of the nervous system's adaptation to stress -
the idea is that improvements in athleticism are actually due
to changes in the way the nervous system
controls the muscular systems involved in movement.
Muscle growth does not necessarily lead to
running faster or jumping higher.
A key component of nervous system training
is the use of high-intensity movements,
combining force platforms and motion analysis software
to obtain neuromuscular data for how athletes
take advantage of different muscles in their body,
as well as their speed, reaction time and weak points.
Professionals at the centre can compare the results
to others with similar patterns and help avoid future injuries
by correcting body movements before they cause a problem.
What happens, after we collect all this data on the athlete,
what we do is we compare them to our normative database.
(INCLINED TRACK)
(IT REINFORCES FAST EFFICIENT RUNNING MOVEMENTS)
NBA players, such as Orlando Johnson
visit the centre on a regular basis
to stay in top form.
They want to work on your weaknesses, they make...
Not...if they can be your strengths,
but to make them a little better.
So each summer I come here and try to get a little bit better.
If I have an injury or something that's nagging me,
we can correct it here, so when I go to play my next season
I'm ready to go.
We can compare him to the 400 or so
NBA athletes we've assessed and we can say,
"Look, compared to your position,
"you're very good at this, you're very good at this,
"you're very bad at this.
"This thing you do over here,
"everyone who's done that has had a knee injury
"within the next three years."
My ankles are pretty stiff,
so we're just really working on that.
Ever since I came in here, we're just working on mobility.
So, the mobility has been my biggest, I guess, hurdle for me
in my profession.
I just keep improving on that -
which a lot of athletes,
cos we don't stretch that often, but
I'm trying to do a better job now
so I can have a long and great career.
Mobility training differs from stretching
in that it is a full-body experience.
Working sliding surfaces, motor control and joints alike,
mobility allows a person to perform without limitations
for a full range of motion within a movement pattern.
(HIGH-SPEED VIDEO ANALYSIS)
(IT'S USED FOR REAL-TIME FEEDBACK
(AND TO MEASURE PROGRESS)
Everybody has an Achilles heel.
But learning to properly perform basic movements
that are repeated on a daily basis
allows to strengthen weak points
before they become a problem.
One thing I love about P3
is the technology that they bring to the table.
They show you how your body moves. They not only
show you how your body moves but how it moves compared
to other athletes.
You see why guys are explosive,
you see, you know, what mechanics make a great athlete.
And one thing I come here for is, basically, to learn more
about my body. You can go out there, you can lift weights,
you can throw them around, but if you have bad form,
bad posture, that messes with your body,
It takes its toll on your body, on your back.
And here they give you proper form.
Technology now is what's helping people play longer,
become bigger, become faster,
and that's what it's about
if you're trying to become a top-notch athlete.