Exploring Tracking Needs and Practices of Recreational Athletes

Sports are the primary physical activity for over 52 million people in the United States, a vast majority of which are recreational athletes. The general tracking practices and needs of this population have not been studied. In this paper, we explore how recreational athletes use tracking technologies to track their sports performance. We conducted interviews with 25 recreational athletes that are runners, soccer, tennis, and basketball players. We found our participants engaged in supplementary physical activities like exercise and strength training to improve their sports performance. They used wearables and mobile applications to track general physical activity data. However, they were unable to track sport-specific techniques due to limitations of tracking technologies, and desired better tracking support for the same. We present design opportunities for future personal informatics tools to better support the needs of recreational athletes.