Every day, academics and professionals working within the sports industry are creating new ideas and discovering new things. The sports industry is a medley of cross-disciplinary knowledge and collaboration, bringing together engineers, nutritionists, psychologists, physiologist, people managers and coaches, biomechanists, programmers, and even chemists, who are helping to shape and define the future of sport! […]
With a growth in Sports Engineering and Sports Technology prevalence, industry and courses across the globe, we often find the two terms are used interchangeably. But they are different things… and how do they relate to Sports Science? Sports Engineering Sports engineering is the application of math, science and engineering principles and techniques to the […]
Tour de France time-trial stages are often decisive in confirming a rider’s general classification ranking. Riders battle against the clock to win, or lose time against their competitors. The two time-trail stages of the 2017 Tour de France are notable for being relatively short in distance thereby limiting the possible time gains or losses. Stage […]
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 […]
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?
How to win an Olympic gold medal After all the excitement surrounding the recent London Olympic Games, it’s not just me wanting to be part of the gold medal rush in years to come. As our last ‘Ask a sports engineer’ question indicates: “What is the easiest sport in which to win a gold medal?” […]
Number 1: Cycling – Computational modelling of bike design Our final post in this series looks at a technological influence that isn’t focussed so much on the big gains, but more on fine tuning the small details to make a winning difference. As said many times during the Olympics, cycling is all about finding marginal […]
Controversial decisions are always a talking point in sport. In high pressure situations it is not uncommon to see athletes caught up in the moment and argue with officials. This is the theme of our next Ask a sports engineer question. In most games, match officials must make crucial decisions very quickly, this can have […]
Number 2: Tennis – Hawkeye assistant official In second place is tennis – although not the technological influence that may first spring to mind. Normally when referring to technological advances in tennis, racket design is the first on the list. Improvements in materials allowed the rackets to become lighter, stiffer and provide a larger hitting […]
Composite materials in the pole-vault: In third spot, we have the pole vault. The men’s pole vault was one of the first athletic disciplines to feature in the Olympics. In 1896, the pole vault was won with a height of 3.20 m; in 2012 in London, the winning height was 5.97 m – an increase […]
Engineering Sport 