Premier League safety officials have held talks with sports technology giants STATSports ahead of the return to contact training.
STATSports provide equipment and services, which allows clubs to access a myriad of training and match statistics for their players, to 11 top-flight teams including Liverpool and Manchester United.
And top-flight chiefs have approached the firm to help them devise more coronavirus-friendly sessions as clubs prepare to enter phase two of training.
Based on GPS data, STATSports have been able to pinpoint how often players come into contact with each other during training sessions and for how long.
So far clubs are training in groups of up to five but adhering to social distancing guidelines, however clubs will on Wednesday decide on whether to restart contact training.
And Sean O’Connor, co-founder of STATSports has confirmed discussions with the Premier League, saying: ‘We looked at pre-covid sessions and imagined a two metre circle around someone’s feet.
‘You can then evaluate how many times players incurred on other players. So, looking at pre-covid, we had an average of just over three seconds. That was refreshing.
‘People did not realise it was that low. We published a white paper and let the Premier League know what we were doing and they were really excited as it gave them the black and white data to come up with a phased protocol for training.
‘So they can understand the effects of the session and how they can have a positive training session that is influencing tactically, physically and also safe.
‘What we were able to do was work with the Premier League and looked at specific drills pre-covid and worked out which types of drills will have higher incursions.
'It is all very common sense but when you put it in black and white it allows you to make good decisions.
‘Then you look at things that increase incursions and it is things like water breaks when players stand chatting next to each other.
‘It is all common sense but the average time was three seconds pre-covid including water breaks and tactical drills, including small-sided games.
‘We took the approach of taking out factors that increase the chances so we will see an even lower number of incursions.’
STATSports technology has become a staple at training grounds across the Premier League in recent seasons.
But the emergence of GPS data has become even more prevalent in recent months as coaches try to analyse their players’ fitness remotely during lockdown.
While some players may have used the unscheduled break in play to take their foot off the gas, O’Connor says some top-flight stars are using the period to make advances in their game.
‘Bruno Fernandes was one you could see his high speeds, although he’s not one known for high speeds,’ he said.
‘Granit Xhaka and Nemanja Matic as well. Matic recording speeds in excess of 35kph. Harry Maguire another one with top speeds. Jesse Lingard is somebody who's constantly training and putting it up there.'
Source: m.allfootballapp.com