Water skis on snow? Really? Although the idea might sound crazy to you and me, it made perfect sense to the late Shane McConckey, back in 1998. A professional skier and BASE jumper, Shane is considered to be the father of what is known as “rocker” technology, which has revolutionised the ski industry in the […]
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE WOODEN ICE HOCKEY STICK?
Technology has had a profound impact on the sporting world and it is the reason for the sudden disappearance of the wooden ice hockey stick. Over the last decade, there have been large advances in the technology of the ice hockey stick. Material, manufacturing and structural advances in composites have allowed manufacturers to create an ice […]
Why do the Dutch skate so fast? Speed skating: a tale of culture, courage and innovation
The speed skating events in the Olympics this weekend kicked off with a fully orange podium in the men’s 5k event. The woman’s 3k golden medal was also awarded to the Dutch. What is it with this little country that makes them so good at speed skating?
Snurfing! What will be the next big thing in snow sports?
In 1965 American Sherman Poppen fastened two skis together and called it “snurfing”. But why has nobody heard of snurfing? Probably because most people now know it as snowboarding. Why did it take so long for snurfing to develop into one of the most popular snow sports of the 21st century? There is still some […]
Tennis and the slippy clay blues
In the epic 2011 US Open Final, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal mesmerised tennis fans by sliding on hard court surfaces, a technique that had, for the most part, been reserved solely for clay courts. In this year’s tournament Djokovic appeared to have mastered the technique as he slid effortlessly into the final, only to […]
Can the swimsuits of 2012 beat the polyurethane swimsuits of 2009?
Guest blogs have unfortunately taken a back seat recently as the ‘ask a sports engineer’ project has got underway. I’ve had this article sitting in my inbox for a while and I thought it has particular relevance with the Olympic swimming underway and the controversy currently surrounding some of the incredible results we’re seeing in […]
Do minimalist running shoes help prevent injury?
Continuing with our guest blog submissions, we’ve got a great new post looking at the minimalist running shoe craze. As most runners are probably aware, minimalist shoes are currently all the rage. Proponents of these shoes believe that they are beneficial for both performance and health. Opponents, on the other hand, contend that these shoes […]
Is the safety of sports people being compromised in the pursuit of success?
Our third guest blog article comes from one of the students from our University and concerns the safety of motorsport, specifically in Indycar and Moto GP. Are speeds to high to be safe? Do speeds need to be high in order to maintain a vibrant fan base? It would be great if you could contribute […]
Power Measurement in the Weights Room
In what seems like no time at all we have our second guest blog ready for consumption (if you fancy writing something get in touch). This piece discusses a piece of sports technology to measure power in weight lifting, enjoy! “Power is the most desired physical quality for a number of sports because it entails […]
Guest Blog: Shanghai 2011 revisited
This is EngineeringSport’s first guest blog! We are very pleased to present Italian Sports Engineer Nunzio Lanotte’s piece on performance increases in swimming. We now have the requisite infrastructure to accept guest submissions, so if you would like to submit something please get in touch via our contact us page. Shanghai 2011 Revisited The Swimming […]