Sportstec Release~ a division of Medtec Products Ltd
NZ Rugby Gets The Edge ~ High-Tech Performance Tool Unleashed
New Zealand has found the ultimate performance test to give us back our winning edge. Niche manufacturer and global
marketer, Sportstec, has developed home-grown solutions that deliver world-first technology to aid our elite
sportspeople.
The Grunt 3000 is designed to accurately measure what really counts in rugby conditions - peak power, force and
endurance. Following the Highlanders' lead, the NZRFU has purchased one and is testing all Super 12 players this season
with the Hurricanes just tested.
"The Human Performance Centre at the University of Otago developed the Grunt 3000 to deliver accurate fitness and
performance assessments for key players," says Sportstec founder and Chief Executive, Philip Jackson. "Our market
research showed coaches were crying out for better ways to assess player fitness", he says.
The Grunt 3000 feeds into a computer that calculates the player's force and peak power. This allows players to train in
the correct planes by replicating game movements, so that coaches can focus training in the area that gives the greatest
return. "Rather than wasting time building up an area that won't make a difference to an individual's play, training
occurs where it counts", Mr Jackson says.
Using the Grunt 3000 means that each player's power profile is objectively measured. "It's then simply a matter of
matching up the right players to get the best team mix," says Mr Jackson.
While New Zealand looks set to have the edge this season, Sportstec plans to market the Grunt 3000 internationally. Mr
Jackson says that America has been quick to recognise the Grunt 3000's awesome power. Leading fitness and strength
trainers, Velocity Performance Inc in Atlanta are using the system in May 2000 as part of their elite assessment
programme involving up to 300 top college footballers.
"We've had strong buyer interest from Gridiron, sumo wrestling trainers, and other rugby nations," Mr Jackson says. "But
we're delighted to give NZ rugby the edge this season before the rest of the world catches up", he says.
Three leading-edge products have put Sportstec centre-stage in the drive to maximise individual and team performance.
"Our products have been designed by academic and sporting institutes in NZ and Australia for athletes, so losing is not
an option for them," says Mr Jackson. "We're totally focused on tools for peak performance." The unique technology
developed by the Human Performance Centre at Otago University, such as the Grunt 3000 and the only sports timing system
manufactured in NZ, is supplied solely by Sportstec.
"We've also introduced Sports Code, a state-of-the-art computer-aided coaching tool to analyse any combination of play,
by player or type of play," says Mr Jackson. "This is an exciting user-friendly tool that provides complex analysis
quickly and simply," he says "and it's been picked up by the NZ Sports Foundation to assist in elite coaching."
To support its Olympic hopes, Australia has given all Olympic teams and individual athletes access to Sports Code. Mr
Jackson says New Zealand coaches won't be far behind in adopting this new technology in their build-up to Sydney 2000.
"There's not a lot of choice out there when it comes to high-end products like this that users can self-customise to
meet their needs. The increasing professionalism of all sports means that we can't afford to be left behind", he says.
"Sports Code's a great advantage to pinpoint a player's game accurately. You can produce a timeline and mini film clip
of each tagged event with the touch of a button," he says, "it's so easy to locate each move and review it."
Sportstec is a Wellington-based manufacturer of innovative, high-end products engineered by academic and sporting
institutes to obtain a competitive edge across a wide range of sports.
ENDS