Hi-Tech Sports
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Cover Story HI-TECH SPORTS TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION IN SPORTS In an age where fractions of seconds decide winners in sporting events, science and technology is truly working overtime to equip sportspersons with that winning edge that could fetch them glory. N.S. ARUN KUMAR OLA Budd was born in South Today, however, a plethora of Africa. A quarter of a century running shoes are available to fit the ago, she was a teenage runner requirements of different sports. Lace- breaking the women’s 5000 m up croquet shoes with rubber soles and Zrecord by 10 seconds. But how does that canvas uppers went on sale in the 1860s, make her special? Well, she ran bare thanks to the discovery of foot! vulcanisation, the process of curing At the prime of her fame, she was rubber by the addition of sulphur. This brought to Britain and sent to compete made way for the performance in the 1986 Los Angeles Olympics enhancing studded football boots, through a hasty subjugation of spiked running shoes and heel-less citizenship. Her immediate rival was cycling shoes. the American blonde, Mary Decker, But modern sports has progressed Bare-footed Zola challenging her at the women’s 3000 much beyond sporting footwear. In Budd speeding away m. They came head-to-head and when fact, the modern sporting gear has there were three more laps to go, truly become varied and hi-tech. Decker staggered from her line and For instance, you have protective collided with Budd. She fell from the wear, principally applying to sports INSIDE THE BAT’S HANDLE track and was unable to continue but where there is a serious chance of the real damage was inflicted on Budd physical injury. Cricketers are who was wounded by a spike from pampered with leg-guards and Handle Decker’s shoe. donning gloves. Tears streamed from Budd’s face Technology works wonders for the modern cricket bat as she struggled to continue with the Electronic shunt circuit gripping pain in her tendons, Wiring harness fading badly at the end and finishing seventh. It was a Vibration reducing disappointing performance, and technology increases the size the boos and catcalls from the of the bat’s ‘sweet spot’ - the American crowd told as much. zone in which the batsman Perhaps the outcome would have experiences the least been different had Zola Budd Vibrations discomfort when been wearing running shoes. converted hitting the ball There is also the case of into heat the Kenyan athlete Tegla Loroupe who was unable to Damper afford her first pair of shoes until winning a cross-country race in 1986. 8 SCIENCE REPORTER, October 2010 Cover Story Scientists, engineers, technicians, trainers and coaches are striving to give their athletes a slight edge, that could make the difference between winning a medal and going back Performance-enhancing running shoes make today’s runners virtually fly on the track empty handed. Technology has also improved and tennis players. Biomechanics has is often measured in hundredths of almost everything in sports, from turned out to be a specialist area with seconds or fractions of centimeters, training to recovery and diet to the advent of ‘motion analysis’ tools manufacturers of performance clothing. There can hardly be a muscle assisted by sophisticated computer equipment seek to confer every group that is not targeted by a sports programs. allowable advantage on athletes. They machine that is designed to enhance Science and technology have truly do so through design innovations and bone density and ligament tensions. revolutionized sports today. There is by using materials that provide just the There are even machines that can no game that is untouched by this right combination of properties. replicate human opposition— revolution. In competitions where the Some applications call for ”bowling apparatus” for cricketers and difference between winning Olympic lightweight materials that provide ball-launching assemblies for baseball medals and going home empty-handed structural support, vibration dampening, and stiffness. Other applications require materials that are flexible, breathable, and insulating, and that protect against impact, tearing, moisture, and wind. Science in the Game During the first test of the Australia and England Ashes series in 1979-1980, Australia’s fast bowler Dennis Lillee came to the wicket carrying a “brand- new” shining bat. When he drove the ball from England paceman Ian Botham, everybody heard an odd sound—a big clang! It was a blow sure enough to warrant a four but Lillee could run only three runs. Australia’s captain Greg Chappell, sitting in the pavilion blamed the bat for the shortfall, and sent a new bat to Lillee as replacement. England captain Mike Brearley complained to the umpires that Lillee’s pinging bat was damaging the ball. Lillee, however, refused to obey even his captain’s Cricket bowling machine—practicing without the bowler instructions and the game had to stop for a good 10 minutes. The bat was SCIENCE REPORTER, October 2010 9 Cover Story While regular soccer balls are made with 32 hexagonal panels, the Teamgeist for World Cup in Germany 2006 had only 14 panels. The Jabulani ball (above) used in the 2010 South Africa World Cup had an amazing 8 panels. It had a ‘grip n groove’ texturing that aids smooth flight and bonded 3D panels moulded spherically to retain Top range tennis players shape and create a seamless sphere. favour a composite frame There were not worldwide regulations governing the size and construction of tennis rackets up to 1979 and so many technological innovations were experimented with including different types of woods and other alternatives. Technology’s impact on the modern tennis game was mainly used to extend the power of shots. Metal rackets were in widespread use by the The featherie was the first golf ball used, it was tanned leather stuffed 1970s, which employed varieties of with goose feathers (extreme left); next came the guuta percha ball or aluminium and steel. However, top- the guttie ultimately followed by the modern dimpled golf ball range players favoured a composite frame in which graphite was combined examined and it turned out that it was the Australian aborigines had their with a number of materials including Lillee’s own invention, forged out of own version called dumbung. ceramics, boron and Kevlar. The real aluminium! Lillee was ordered to Until about thousand years ago, advantage of the modern graphite complete his innings with a the basic equipments for all the ball racket was its greater stiffness, rather conventional wooden bat. Shortly after games, the early precursors of golf, than lightness because it distorted little this, metal bats were outlawed through cricket, hockey and tennis, remained as it made contact with the ball. an amendment in the laws of cricket. the same. Strangely, the earliest The latest technology includes the This raised an interesting question: reference to a cricket bat is from 1624, incorporation of piezoelectric crystals should games be played as per when a fielder trying to catch the ball into racket frames, which produce conventional laws or could science be got hit with the bat and died because electricity under stress. The current allowed to step in? the bat was made of iron! generated by the ball hitting the If we look into the past history of Similarly, by the late 19th century, strings is sent to the handle, amplified the evolution of sports and sports-gear tennis rackets were made from Ash and returned to the ceramic composites we see that this question has baffled wood carefully steamed and bent into a in the frame. This causes the frame to many. From time immemorial, human round shape. The racket strings were stiffen and the result can be greater beings have been manipulating the fashioned from sheep’s gut, which was power and less vibration. But, there implements used in ball games. The replaced by cow’s gut after the Second are some first class players who still Aztecs invented the rubber ball while World War, as they were found cheaper. prefer traditional wooden rackets. Cool sports wear made from Phase Today’s pole Change Materials vaulters use a highly flexible fiberglass pole Spandex fibre combines the stretchability of rubber and toughness of polyurethane 10 SCIENCE REPORTER, October 2010 Cover Story Modern synthetic surfaces resist heavy use and require no irrigation or trimming Today’s cricket batsman is armoured with several protective guards Golf has had a long enduring like hockey sticks until the emerging Ball of the Rings alliance with technology. At first bowling techniques made it a parallel- In majority of the major games like there were handcrafted clubs carved sided willow bat. Fiercely opposing football, cricket, golf and tennis, the out of heavy hardwood heads of Holly any technological innovations, the physics of the ball plays a crucial part. or Apple trees. These leather-bound specifications of a cricket bat are now Among the most thoroughly shafts continued till the middle of clearly laid down (Law 6) which investigated, golf balls are most th the 18 century right when they were stipulates the wooden blade to be supreme and even the earliest balls replaced with metal heads. Though covered with a material no more than were masterpieces of the technology American Hickory had an intervening 1.56 mm thick. Fortunately, the ‘post- of their days. The ‘guttie’ balls were a presence during the early 19th century, Lillee’ laws leave two areas flexible: revolutionising attempt, which were metal heads remained more common. the handle of the bat and its weight. made from the sap of the Malaysian This fascination prevailed to the The cane and rubber handle of the Sapodilla tree.