Portsmouth Football Club Get a Hi-Tech upgrade
By admin | Posted in Tech stuff | No CommentsPortsmouth F.C. are a soccer team based on the southern coast of England. Whilst they may not have the glamor and brand association of Manchester United, they certainly are one-up on Manchester when it comes to technology advancements of their soccer kits.
With ionized shirts positively charged ions are able to increase blood flow around the body increasing performance of the player. So is this process illegal? Apparently not. The fabric used is designed by an American company for use originally in protective suits designed for chemical clean up operations. A UK based company then incorporated this technology into soccer shirts. Joe Middleton , chief executive of Canterbury UK, said: ‘With this kit elite athletes can recover more quickly between training sessions and probably train half a day earlier. That’s the feedback we’re getting from these guys. So, it’s big.’
How much of a performance increase are we talking about? Around 3% apparently. Tests done at Loughborough University showed that wearing the IonX garment did increase “mean performance”. Portsmouth certainly think this technology benefits them, as they have prevented other clubs from adopting the tech just now. Bruce Vandenberg, the club’s chief executive, said: ‘It was very important to us that we were the only football club that could wear IonX so we sought to create an exclusive window.’ So it looks like Portsmouth have at least for now a competitive advantage over their rivals.
