Andrea Pirlo, world champion of 2006, once said: “Football is played with the head.” As a defensive midfielder, he recognized the indispensability of cognitive skills. This includes perception, attention, solving problems and processing information, says sports psychologist Marius Schröder.
Tammo Neubauer thought like Pirlo. As a trainer in the youth training center of the Unterhaching game association, he noticed in the summer of 2018 that his protégés on the pitch often made decisions that were too slow and wrong. “The players have to be able to perceive situations and make decisions much faster these days,” explains the former Werder Bremen scout. However, suitable training methods were lacking.
That’s why he developed the Reswitch training bibs: bibs printed with two colors (red and white), two numbers (1 and 2), two letters (A and B) and two symbols (diamond and circle). He has been marketing them with Alexander Bitzke and Jan Vomacka since the beginning of 2019 via Matchconcept UG from Grünwald. The three are supported by freelancers.
Rapid, unpredictable changes
How does Reswitch work? In training, two teams play against each other, separated by the shirt colors red and white, for example. With the “switch” signal, the coach can change the composition of the teams in a matter of seconds without the players having to change their overshirts. So that the teams know which goal they have to defend, they are provided with markings on the posts.
“Due to fast, unpredictable changes in team constellations and directions, the players are constantly faced with the challenge of perceiving situations in a new way and making quick, but above all correct decisions,” explains Neubauer. Sports psychologist Schröder, who teaches at the Triagon Academy in Ismaning, also praises: “With Re-switch, the perception and decision-making processes as well as the recognition of situations can be trained in a supportive manner in the area of cognitive function training. This allows footballers to recognize game situations faster and make tactical decisions faster and more efficiently.”
The market for such practices is growing. Thus, sales of the vests have steadily increased, says Neubauer. In total, almost 1,500 sets were sold and sales of around 300,000 euros were generated. “This year we will probably approach the 2,000 customers since the company was founded.” Another supplier is the Skillshirtz brand. However, Reswitch is the market leader in the niche market for cognitive vests.
Various sets are offered; they cost 70 to 300 euros. Orders have been received from a good twenty countries. Professionals are also customers, such as the German women’s national soccer team, the soccer clubs TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, VfL Wolfsburg, SC Freiburg and FC St. Pauli as well as the basketball players from Alba Berlin. Reswitch cooperates with the “Kicker”. The magazine makes the vests better known, but the kicker logo is emblazoned on them.
The article comes from the student project “Youth and Business”, which the FAZ organizes together with the Association of German Banks.