SmartGoals as an interactive solution for sports clubs and public spaces

As with so many things, interactive sport has its supporters and critics. A possible drawback is that athletes are guided and therefore have to think less for themselves. We believe that interactive sport, with our mobile SmartGoals at clubs or a SmartGoals Urban SkillCourt in public spaces, actually has many advantages and challenges users in an attractive way. To support this, we let two sports professionals who already use SmartGoals in training have their say.

The possibilities of mobile SmartGoals

SmartGoals is an interactive training method that works with light signals. The lit SmartGoals are the target: they light up orange or blue, and you can also work with both colours at once. Tasks keep appearing in different and possibly multiple places, so players must look around carefully and react quickly to constantly changing situations.

According to performance trainer Jesse Caron, the aim of functional training is for athletes to learn skills rather than exercises or tricks. "Training should be built up in phases, from part exercises to full movements and game forms. It must also be highly varied: every movement starts as a signal in the brain. The brain's control of the muscles, neuromuscular control, is best trained through lots of variation. This engages a wider network and makes athletes better at solving unpredictable match situations. That's important in ball sports, where a ball or opponent constantly changes direction.

SmartGoals stimulate scanning behaviour and create unpredictable situations fully automatically. That makes it one of the best all-round exercises for training action speed. SmartGoals can be controlled with a remote or a phone or tablet, which also records data and results. This makes it suitable as a measuring system for functional speed tests."

Timo Kleinhesselink, owner of Sportbrein, believes SmartGoals stimulate athletes visually so they can train cognitively. "There are various technical tools on the market to develop athletes' cognition, but not all of them are easily accessible for a club. SmartGoals is. When we talk about cognition in football, it quickly comes down to fast information processing, learning ability and spatial awareness. Executive functions, including working memory, play an important role. The space and time footballers have to make a choice decreases as the level rises, so at a higher level you need to decide even faster. SmartGoals is excellent for training this.

SmartGoals aren't just for football, but also for other sports where cognition plays a role. The possibilities are enormous: you can devise many different exercises to make athletes cognitively stronger."

SmartGoals Urban SkillCourt for public spaces

Besides mobile SmartGoals, we developed the Urban SkillCourt together with SmartGoals: a permanent SmartGoals set-up that is very suitable for public spaces. The concept responds to the changing needs of young people and adults to exercise, move and test themselves whenever they choose. No coach is needed. It combines sport and gaming: users play a game and save their scores and times in a personal, anonymised profile. What could be more fun than playing interactive games with friends in a public space?

Unlike the mobile SmartGoals, the court's posts work via a Wi-Fi network. Motion sensors detect all movement between the gates and are connected to a local Wi-Fi network. We programme the software (exercises and games) entirely to the client's wishes, with exercises at all levels for young and old. The client can build a complete court of their choice, with different sizes, positions, numbers of zones and sports. There are also fixed configurations, such as the SmartGoals circle, triangle, square and running track. The permanent posts can also be used in existing exercise concepts, for example in school playgrounds and at sports clubs.

SmartGoals as part of the sports facility of the future

Society is changing, and so is the way people exercise. More people exercise outdoors and there is a growing need for challenge, information, data and statistics.

With SmartGoals SkillCourt technology you create the sports facility of the future. Adults and children can move in a fun way, challenge each other to beat scores or test themselves on speed, intervals and endurance. Add an outdoor fitness station or a SportBox and you have a future-proof sports facility for every target group and level.

Want to know more about SmartGoals or our vision of the sports facility of the future? Contact us on +31 (0) 252 683 300 or at info@whsports.nl.