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The host nation for the 2022 World Cup will be Qatar, a desert country where temperatures in June and July can reach 50 °C. I find it hard to even imagine that level of heat, let alone play football in it! The extreme temperatures are of obvious concern. So, alternative measures are being considered to ensure games at this tournament are not played at extremely high temperatures. These include playing in the winter or more likely building climate controlled stadiums. At present it looks as though 5 brand new climate controlled stadiums will be built. The primary concern is the detrimental affect of extreme heat on human performance. To a lesser extent, temperature is also likely to effect the physical properties of the ball, changing the speed a player can kick it. This blog will explain the effect of temperature on soccer ball dynamics.
Artist's impression of the Lusail Iconic Stadium
Materials World Magazine recently invited me to write a feature article for a special edition on sports engineering. I was asked to showcase our work (in collaboration with Prince Sports) on a finite element model of a tennis racket.The project aims to develop a model for use in the design of the next generation of tennis rackets, giving ultimate control over the parameters which affect how the racket behaves. The article provides details of the model and project in addition to a discussion on the role of finite element modelling in sports equipment testing, a cutting edge design and analysis tool gaining favour with forward thinking sports technology companies.
If you’d like to read the article,click here.
Tom
Dr Simon Choppin and Dr Tom Allen are acting as guest editors for a special edition of Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology. The issue looks at the use of predictive modelling in sport and how it can be used to predict new behaviour, essentially how technology influences sports performance! If you’re an academic and have some work which you’d like to submit, we have further information here, including progress with the edition and information on how to submit.
Understanding the physics of the groundstroke in tennis is important for the International Tennis Federation, tennis brands and players. As a research centre we recently published a paper in the journal of Sports Sciences on this subject. Following publication the paper was featured in a short article in Men’s Health magazine.
- Cover of Men’s Health Magazine May 2011
The velodrome which will host the track cycling events at the 2012 Olympics in London is now open. The facility is the first to open in the Olympic village and has been given the title of the ‘best in the World’. When a country hosts a major sports event, such as the Olympics, they want to show off their facilities to the world and create a lasting legacy. This usually means impressive architecture, such as the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing, or state-of-the-art transport links and infrastructure. The engineers behind the new velodrome have gone a step further by designing the facility specifically to allow the cyclists to ride faster and hopefully break world records. In addition to a specially designed track, the air temperature in the velodrome will be higher than usual to reduce aerodynamic drag acting on the cyclists. For those of you worried about breaking a sweat whilst you watch, don’t worry the spectator area will be nice and cool!
Alpine skiing events are dominated by countries who have the luxury of snow capped mountains, for obvious reasons. Figure 1 shows that 85% of Alpine skiing medals at the Olympics have been won by only 7 countries. The mountainous countries appear to have a monopoly on the medals and the obvious question is; can countries without established ski resorts really compete on the world stage? I think the simple answer is no, when referring to traditional alpine ski racing. My colleague Leon Foster published a very interesting paper on the relationship between population size and athletic performance which showed that the larger the population participating in a sport, the higher the probability of finding an exceptional athlete. Mountainous countries with extensive high quality ski resorts inevitably have a larger population participating in alpine skiing from a very young age. Hence, the dominance of Austria and Switzerland in figure 1.
- Figure 1. Alpine skiing medals at the Olympics per country.
On 4th December 2009 the new ball for the World Cup in South Africa was unveiled. The product of years of research and development, the ‘Jabulani‘ was the most highly engineered football the world had ever seen. Prior to the launch adidas had even gone to the extent of testing the ball in the Bundesliga, to highlight any potential problems. Yet despite extensive laboratory and field testing the ball has faced heavy criticism from a number of the world’s top players, such as Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar and Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini. England goalkeeper David James has even been quoted as describing the ball as ‘dreadful’ and ‘horrible’.
So, what has gone wrong, why is the most advanced football to date still facing criticsm from the top players?
It might be possible to partly answer to this question by delving into the history of World Cup footballs.
Many tennis commentators decry the demise of the wooden racket, with a smaller head and less forgiving nature, it demanded a more considered and poised form of play. While it is unlikely that a current professional, raised on cutting-edge carbon fibre rackets would revert to lumber, there is an outlawed stringing method which could have more appeal.
As the world’s Tennis elite battle through the early stages of the Australian Open, you have to wonder how many would give anything to get their hands on a racket which would be able to propel them to the latter stages with relative ease. As unlikely as it sounds, such a thing did exist over 30 years ago.
On the 18-20th November, Leipzig (Figure 1) in East Germany played host to the ANSYS Conference & 27th CADFEM Users´ Meeting. John Hart and Tom Allen from the Sports Engineering Research Group were in attendance, leaving behind cold wet Sheffield in exchange for cold wet Leipzig. ANSYS produce Finite Element (FE) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. FE software is generally used for analysing mechanical problems such as a football impact, CFD is generally used for aerodynamic problems such as modelling the flow around a skeleton bobsled.
On the 30th October the world’s best skiers and snowboards, along with thousands of fans/groupies will descend on Battersea power station in London for the Freeze.
The freestyle snowsports competition will involve athletes descending a high run in slope before launching off a massive jump. The organisers have invested heavily in the event and along with the spectators are expecting massive airs and impressive tricks. This is a format which has been applied in cities across the world; although it hasn’t always gone exactly to plan.
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