Chris Skitt maps out his path to peak Shrewsbury Town fitness
The development of sports science, medicine and equipment means physios, fitness coaches and therapists never stop learning.
One addition to Greenhous Meadow this season drastically improved the way players’ fitness levels can be charted and analysed.
Kindly donated by the Super Blues last summer, GPS trackers have been a revelation, according to Shrewsbury physio Chris Skitt. They’re now such a crucial aspect of recovery and general training, and utilised so much by boss Paul Hurst, that Town have a GPS analysist in place, George Bunce, to help crunch the appropriate numbers.
“GPS affects everything we do, from looking at the week players have had previously, the previous game, to forecasting where we need to be in terms of statistics,” said Skitt, who’s been with Town since 2011.
“It’s absolutely huge with the insights into players on when they might be having a little dip or feeling a little bit short of energy.
“Or conversely, when they’re looking to improve and come towards their peak again.”
The strapped devices, which players wear throughout training and on matchdays, can also be crucial in rehab – as Abu Ogogo found out on the pathway to recovery from his medial knee ligament injury.
“It lets me know where I need to get players back to,” added Skitt. “We use Abs as the example. I knew what distance he covered in a week in terms of the total distance he ran. But I also know the sprint distance, the acceleration and deceleration he did and exactly what he’d produce in a game.
“Later on in his rehab I was looking to try and recreate those game values so when I gave him back to the gaffer for training, he’d know the match intensity.”
Hurst was not too familiar with the devices when he was appointed but, according to Skitt, was a keen student and can now reel off facts, figures and statistics inside out.
It makes you wonder, just where next for sports science?
