FC Bayern Munich invests in soccer simulator skills.lab

2019-10-16 | Corporate

FC Bayern Munich will open the world’s leading soccer training simulator at its youth performance center in the middle of 2020. skills.lab uses high-precision ball service machines, cinema-quality projectors, laser sensors, and highspeed cameras to create perfect virtual soccer worlds setting the basis for performance optimization.

The soccer training of the future will not just happen on the pitch – it will also take place in the lab. High-precision measuring instruments, combined with precise data from engineers and sports scientists, make skills.lab the perfect solution for FC Bayern. skills.lab measures the speed of a player's overall pace and play, while providing precise quantitative data on precision, technique and cognitive recognition of tactical situations. In addition, skills.lab measures and evaluates each player's individual soccer-specific performance. "Modern soccer is going through a technical revolution. Measurement technology, data analysis, and statistics play an increasingly strong role in daily training and scouting of players," Dr. Friedrich Santner, CEO of Anton Paar Group, says. "Anton Paar SportsTec GmbH was founded because, as a measurement engineering company with a high affinity for soccerl, it seemed natural to invest in this development area."

 

Soccer meets high-tech
Inside the 320 m² skills.lab arena, multiple cinema projectors simulate dynamic on-field scenarios for players who are fed precise passes by automated ball machines. Each ball machine provides service with pinpoint, repeatable trajectory and a pace of up to 130 km/h. Players are then measured for their ability to control the pass and execute the correct tactical play with precision and sound technique. skills.lab can also provide the perfect workout intensity for all players and situations, as each ball machine is able to provide up to 20 passes to the player per minute. The simulator offers every type of workout to help every type of player measure and improve their precision and technique. "skills.lab offers more than 50 different training sessions that each offer five difficulty levels," Dr. Johannes Tändl, CEO of Anton Paar SportsTec, explains. "We cover the entire performance spectrum, providing highly specific training targets for every type of player and every position on the field. The training contents will be continuously extended and improved using the know-how of FC Bayern."

 

Various applications for performance enhancement
Triggered by Sports Director Hasan Salihamidžić, FC Bayern developed a concept for their newly founded Innovation Center, that aims towards a holistic use of skills.lab. "Our target is to measure the performance of every individual player to create a basis for training management and decision making. skills.lab delivers valuable information about strengths and weaknesses of our players. Our know-how and experiences, in return, will be used to further develop skills.lab. That is a clear win-win situation for both parties", Hasan Salihamidžić explains. Michael Niemeyer, Head of FC Bayern’s Innovation Center, identifies additional values that skills.lab will add to their training approach: "Targeted individual training of players, screening of try-out players, or adding objective parameters to a complex player monitoring – the fields of application are manifold."

 

Anton Paar SportsTec GmbH

Anton Paar SportsTec GmbH is a subsidiary of Anton Paar Group, an Austrian group with its headquarters in Graz. The core business of Anton Paar Group is developing, producing, and distributing analytical instruments. The foundation of Anton Paar SportsTec GmbH in 2016 and the following launch into the ball sports business are based on the Santner family’s passion for sports as well as metrology. Anton Paar is owned by the charitable Santner Foundation. As the world market leader in various fields of measuring technology, Anton Paar has used this know-how in skills.lab, to support athletes in the improvement of their performance.