SSI’s Motion Capture System.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORT INSTITUTE
Identifying and grooming Singapore’s elite athletes is a tall order! Lots of resources are channelled towards helping our sportsmen and women, because we want them to be able to perform their best when they fly our flag at sports meets.
Sporting performance is determined by several factors, which include our physical, physiological, psychological, technical and tactical attributes. This is why the Singapore Sport Institute (SSI), located within Singapore Sports Hub, utilises many different high-tech systems, in order to provide our Singaporean athletes with holistic and multidisciplinary training.
The Motion Capture System
The ability to move with great precision and execute sport-specific technical skills is crucial to achieving optimal performance and avoiding injury. In SSI, Sport Biomechanists utilise a high-resolution 3D motion capture (mocap) system to capture, visualise, quantify and assess specific movements in sports. The system comprises infrared cameras that track the movement of retroreflective markers placed on an athlete’s body with sub-millimetre precision.
“Movement information captured using the 3D mocap system is used to enhance training and coaching processes,” explains Pamela Leow, who is a Sport Biomechanist with SSI. “Coaching teams can make more-informed decisions based on a better understanding of proper form and movement within their sport. Every athlete is unique. We analyse their technical movements to help them produce peak performance, whether it is to move faster, further, higher, or with greater precision. This leads to better athlete development.”
Leveraging this technology, Sport Biomechanists, coaches and athletes can accurately track sports performance, set specific goals, refine training plans and monitor recovery based on reliable, objective data. Team Singapore athletes like national kayakers Stephanie Chen and Mervyn Toh, sprinter Shanti Pereira, para-archer and 2019 World Champion Nur Syahidah Alim, and para-athlete shot-putter Muhammad Diroy Noordin have all trained with and benefitted from SSI’s 3D mocap system.
SSI’s Environmental Chamber.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORT INSTITUTE
The Environmental Chamber
How do local athletes prepare before competing in countries with very different climates and altitudes? Fortunately, the Environmental Chamber is capable of simulating a wide range of ambient conditions: temperatures from 0°C to 50°C, and humidity from 20% to 98%. It comprises an air heater, boiler and cooling coils that change the temperature and amount of water vapour in the chamber.
“Insulated walls and flooring keep these conditions constant, while carbon dioxide produced by athletes can be removed by the chamber’s air scrubber system,” elaborates Dr Choo Hui Cheng, who works as a Sport Physiologist in SSI. “This spacious chamber allows multiple athletes to train at the same time inside it.”
Shooters Martina Veloso and Jasmine Ser, fencer Kiria Tikanah, swimmer Chantal Liew and Laser Sailor Ryan Lo have all used the Environment Chamber to train for competitions. The chamber allows the scientists to control ambient environmental stressors that athletes are exposed to, and also track and monitor their performance in different conditions.
SSI’s Vienna Test System.
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SPORTS INSTITUTE
The Vienna Test System
This digital system allows psychological tests to be administered while also providing automatic and comprehensive scoring. First developed in 1947 by Dr Felix Schuhfried of the Schuhfried company, this system’s most modern version has many features and can analyse profiles, assess talent and develop training plans quickly.
“Parameters like reaction time, decision-making, reactive stress tolerance, coordination and peripheral perception are calibrated very precisely by the Vienna Test System,” shares Stevenson Lai, who is the Head of Sport Psychology at SSI. “This data is conveyed in an easy-to-understand manner to coaching teams, who can then use this data to customise athletes’ individual training programmes.”
Besides Team Singapore, the Austrian and German football associations and the Greek national basketball team also use the Vienna Test System to identify and resolve high levels of stress, limited attention and low motivation.
These and many other advanced training facilities help our athletes improve their training programmes and competition performance. If you’re curious, you can read more about Sport Singapore and sport science here.
