Global Insights on Wearable Technology Adoption by Coaches: Determinants of Current Use, Decision Making, and Future...

This study examines whether coaches use wearable technologies to individualize training procedures, and which factors influence both their current use and future intention to use such devices.

Based on the technology acceptance model, we developed a questionnaire to assess the use of wearable technology for individualizing training procedures. Following a pilot investigation that included an exploratory analysis of a sample of 36 coaches, multiple regression models were used to confirm these exploratory results in a larger sample of 130 coaches (n = 5 Tier 1, n = 47 Tier 2, n = 52 Tier 3, n = 22 Tier 4, n = 4 Tier 5) from 14 countries.

All surveyed coaches used some form of wearable technology to individualize training procedures. The most frequently used parameters included heart rate-related data (88.5% of participants) and GPS-related data (87.7% of participants). On a 1-7 Likert scale, coaches reported a 4.5 ± 1.4 ("somewhat agree") that wearable technology influences decision making. Current use of wearable technology showed a significant positive association with "perceived job relevance", while the influence of wearable technology on decision-making in training procedures was positively associated with "output quality". The future "intention to use" wearable technologies correlated positively with "perceived usefulness".

All coaches in this study used some wearable technology to individualize training procedures. Coaches "somewhat agree" that wearables have an effect on their decision-making. For wearable technology to effectively influence coaches' decision-making during training, these technologies must provide high quality outputs and must be perceived as useful to increase future adoption. Coaches expressed a need for demonstrable results and they must perceive wearables as useful.