One training session can tell you a lot about a player's performance.
How far did they run? How much high-speed running did they complete? How many accelerations and decelerations did they record?
But sport doesn't happen one session at a time.
Players train several times during the week, compete at weekends and repeat that cycle throughout a season. Looking only at today's session can therefore leave out an important part of the picture: how that workload has been building over time.
That's where Cumulative Load comes in.
What is Cumulative Load?
Cumulative Load in PitcheroGPS helps players and coaches understand how a player's recent workload compares with their established workload.
Instead of looking at a training session or match in isolation, it brings together performance data from multiple sessions.
Within the PitcheroGPS Team App, the selected metric recorded across the last seven days is compared with the player's average weekly load across the previous 28 days.
This creates a straightforward view of whether the player's recent workload is lighter than, similar to or heavier than their established level.
Recent load vs established load
There are two important parts of the calculation.
Recent load is the total amount of the selected metric a player has recorded during the previous seven days.
Established load represents the player's usual weekly workload, calculated from their previous 28 days of data.
Looking at the relationship between the two provides more context than a single session total.
For example, two players might both record 7km during a match.
For one player, that might sit within the workload they have consistently recorded over recent weeks.
For another player, it could form part of a much larger change compared with their established workload.
The individual match number is the same. The wider workload picture is different.
Which metrics can you use?
GPS data gives players and coaches several ways to understand physical output.
PitcheroGPS metrics include:
- Total distance
- High-Speed Running distance
- High-Speed Running count
- Accelerations
- Decelerations
- Impacts
Different metrics can tell different parts of the workload story.
A coach may want to understand overall running volume through total distance, for example, while high-speed running gives greater detail about faster efforts.
The important point is that Cumulative Load takes the analysis beyond “What happened in this session?” and adds the question “How does this fit with everything the player has done recently?”
Why look beyond individual sessions?
A player's training week might include:
- A weekend match
- A recovery session
- Two team training sessions
- An additional conditioning session
- Another match
Looking at each session individually shows the output from that particular activity.
Looking across them together provides a clearer picture of the overall workload being accumulated.
That can make longer-term patterns easier to see.
Instead of relying on memory or manually comparing several separate session reports, coaches can view recent workload alongside the player's established workload.
Cumulative Load for football
Football performance involves repeated changes in speed and intensity.
A player might cover significant total distance during a match while also recording periods of high-speed running, rapid accelerations and decelerations.
Tracking these metrics across the week gives greater context to the demands placed on the player across both training and competition.
Explore GPS tracking for football
Cumulative Load for rugby
Rugby adds another important dimension: physical impacts.
Alongside running metrics, PitcheroGPS can record impacts above a chosen G-force threshold, giving coaches another way to understand the physical demands of different sessions.
Bringing these metrics together across training and matches creates a wider view of player workload.
Learn more about GPS tracking in rugby.
Cumulative Load for hockey
Hockey combines continuous movement with repeated periods of higher-speed activity.
Looking at distance, speed and intensity across multiple sessions allows players and coaches to compare training with match demands and follow changes throughout the season.
Explore GPS tracking for hockey.
From individual sessions to the bigger picture
GPS tracking has traditionally made it easy to answer questions about a particular session:
- How far did the player run?
- What was their top speed?
- How much high-speed running did they complete?
- Cumulative Load adds another layer.
- It brings several sessions together to provide a longer-term picture of workload.
That means the value of GPS data doesn't end when today's session has been analysed. Every recorded training session and match contributes to a growing performance history.
Track workload with PitcheroGPS
PitcheroGPS is available for both individual players and teams.
The Player Bundle provides individual players with a GPS tracker, performance vest and access to the PitcheroGPS Player App.
The Team Bundle gives coaches the tools to record and analyse performance across an entire squad using the PitcheroGPS Team App, including Cumulative Load and historical performance analysis.
See the bigger picture behind every session.
Explore the PitcheroGPS Team Bundle and see how GPS performance data can help you understand workload across your squad.