You can’t do without them! Electronic helpers support us in sports ever more often and comprehensively. The spectrum of gadgets ranges from SmartWatches, to software for custom designs, to veritable health-gurus. A look at ISPO Munich 2018 proves it: Digital tools, apps, smart devices are used or presented at almost every exhibition stand. Whether outdoor, health & fitness, snowsports or smart devices in another segment, sportsmen and women play a decisive role. ISPO.com has collected a few examples.

Pain, tension or training backlogs: In Bluetens, pads glued to the body work together with the smartphone. This is to combat muscular problems.

Bluetens' product manager Sébastien Espinosa explains: "First you choose the body part and the desired effect. The pictures in the app explain how to put on the pads, which program and intensity to choose."

GoTele is an off-grid tracker, which means that the GPS device works completely without Wifi or mobile phone network and can still send signals. The finalist at ISPO Brandnew thus gives outdoor athletes the security they need when they are out and about in the wilderness.

How can skiers improve faster? The product developers at Elan asked themselves this question and developed a smart ski that measures and evaluates all the skier's movements.

Melanja Šober, Head of Product Management Elan:"We have installed a whole range of sensors in the ski. They're connected to each other. This accumulates information from which we can draw useful data."

At ISPO Munich 2018, many other products supporting the athlete were on show: Controllers that simultaneously measure the stress level of the players, warming socks that can be controlled by an app, or wireless in-ear headphones that give the runner feedback on fitness.

Yannis Pitsiladis from the University of Brighton is "Professor of Sport and Exercise Science", he is already looking to the near future when it comes to electronic innovations in the field of sports: "The most exciting innovation for me will be the implantable sensor. Real-time information on biochemical processes in the body linked to nanotechnology and the information we receive from the sensors of the clothing itself."