CSCS Technology & Digital Tools 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: GPS technology worn by team sport athletes primarily captures which performance metrics?
- Muscle fiber recruitment and EMG amplitude
- Total distance, sprint distance, and positional data (Correct answer)
- Joint torque during acceleration and deceleration
- Blood oxygen saturation and heart rate zones
Correct answer: Total distance, sprint distance, and positional data
GPS devices track positional data to derive total distance, high-speed running distance, and sprint counts during training and competition.
Question 2: A velocity-based training (VBT) device attached to a barbell primarily measures:
- Muscle activation amplitude during the lift
- Ground reaction force beneath the athlete
- Bar displacement and instantaneous bar velocity (Correct answer)
- Heart rate variability between sets
Correct answer: Bar displacement and instantaneous bar velocity
VBT devices use linear position transducers or accelerometers to capture bar velocity and displacement throughout each repetition.
Question 3: Which GPS-derived metric is most commonly used to quantify high-intensity running demands in team sports?
- Average session velocity
- Total session distance covered
- High-speed running distance above a set threshold (e.g., >5.5 m/s) (Correct answer)
- Steps-per-minute cadence across the session
Correct answer: High-speed running distance above a set threshold (e.g., >5.5 m/s)
High-speed running distance above a velocity threshold (typically 5.5–7 m/s) specifically quantifies the most demanding locomotive efforts for load management.
Question 4: Wearable accelerometers measure changes in:
- Electrical resistance across muscle fibers
- Rate of change of velocity across three perpendicular axes (Correct answer)
- Oxygen delivery to working muscle tissue
- Thermal gradients across the skin surface
Correct answer: Rate of change of velocity across three perpendicular axes
Accelerometers detect acceleration in the X, Y, and Z planes, enabling calculation of movement intensity, direction, and impact forces.
Question 5: The 'PlayerLoad' metric derived from tri-axial accelerometer data represents:
- Total weight lifted across all sets in a session
- A composite score of acceleration across all three axes reflecting physical stress (Correct answer)
- The total number of high-speed sprints performed
- Peak heart rate attained during a competition bout
Correct answer: A composite score of acceleration across all three axes reflecting physical stress
PlayerLoad aggregates the instantaneous rate of change of acceleration in all three axes, providing a single index of total physical loading.
Question 6: GPS tracking devices experience significant accuracy degradation in which setting?
- Open outdoor grass fields during daylight hours
- Rooftop facilities with a partial sky view
- Indoor arenas lacking line-of-sight to satellites (Correct answer)
- Coastal venues during high humidity conditions
Correct answer: Indoor arenas lacking line-of-sight to satellites
GPS requires satellite signal reception, which is blocked or severely attenuated by indoor ceilings, making it unreliable for indoor sports without supplementary systems.
Question 7: Mean propulsive velocity (MPV) measured by a VBT device is most commonly used to:
- Estimate VO2max from submaximal running data
- Monitor daily neuromuscular readiness and estimate the session 1RM (Correct answer)
- Track hydration changes across a training microcycle
- Identify lactate threshold from blood sampling protocols
Correct answer: Monitor daily neuromuscular readiness and estimate the session 1RM
MPV provides an objective, real-time estimate of readiness; coaches compare daily MPV at a known load against a reference profile to adjust that day's training intensity.
CSCS Technology & Digital Tools 2
GPS technology worn by team sport athletes primarily captures which performance metrics?