Footbonaut
The Footbonaut is a football training machine which fires balls at different speeds and trajectories at players, who must control and pass the ball into a highlighted square. In addition to honing ball skills, the machine is designed to improve a player's reaction time.[1]
Development
[edit | edit source]Footbonaut was invented by Christian Güttler in Berlin, Germany.[2] The machine is also described as a robotic cage.[3] The Footbanaut, which costs $3.5 million is as large as an apartment with a cube shape and is capable of firing balls from a range of 360 degrees at different speeds and trajectories toward the training players.[4] The players, who are standing inside a circle, must control the ball and pass it through one of 72 gates.[5]
Mario Götze's winning goal of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final has been credited to his years of practice using Footbonaut.[6] It was reported that German team TSG 1899 Hoffenheim achieved its highest finish in the Bundesliga for five years - ninth place - after using the contraption.[5] There are three clubs currently using Footbonaut in their training. [7]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ The making of a Fussballwunder, economist.com.
- ^ Football enters space age with 'Footbonaut', edition.cnn.com.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ The making of a Fussballwunder, economist.com.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
