I’ve been a fan of the Tour de France for many years. I’ve always been a keen cyclist but as a mountain biker the tactical and physical magnificence of the Grand Tours had always eluded me. It wasn’t until British Cycling’s wave of success swept the nation along that I began to take an interest […]
Tour de France pimples, dimples, trips and chevrons: are vortex generators in cycling worth the effort?
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 […]
CSER @ The Jump! 2017
In February 2017 CSER jetted off to Austria for the third year in a row. We have been providing measuring services for The Jump! A Channel 4 reality show in which celebrities and sports stars compete in a series of Winter sports events. In 2015 we helped TwoFour (the production behind the show) to measure […]
Complete our survey on injuries in football!
The use of electronic devices to track player performance is growing. In football, the use of wearable EPTS (Electronic Performance Tracking Systems) was approved (in principle) in 2015. More recently, a proposal to define a global standard for these devices was approved; FIFA are undertaking work to develop this standard. The EPTS standard will include minimum […]
CSER PhD Opportunities
It’s the new year and we have some great opportunities for PhD study at the Centre for Sports Engineering Research. Vice-Chancellor Scholarship Sheffield Hallam University’s Vice-Chancellor scholarship program is a competitive process which will award the best students with a bursary which covers tuition fees and living costs. The University has a large number of […]
Problems With Power
By Professor Edward Winter Introduction During the recent Rio Olympics, I was struck by the number of times commentators used the terms “power” and “powerful”. Examples were, “That was a powerful performance”, “What a powerful run!”, “What power she displayed”. Moreover, in my latest issue of Squash Player, there was a prominent advertisement from a […]
Fantastic Team GB
After a sensational summer of Sport it is time to reflect on the spectacular successes of the British Olympic and Paralympic teams. Both squads finished second in the medal table (behind the U.S.A and China) but how do they compare to each other? The Centre for Sports Engineering Research at Sheffield Hallam University in collaboration […]
Unconventional aero. How did he go so fast?
Like Chris Froome in an unconventional riding position, the Summer seems to have flown by (I’m an engineer, similes do not come easily). Thankfully there’s been a bumper crop of sporting spectacles to sate our appetites. In this post I’d like to focus on a pet topic of mine, cycling aerodynamics. Right at the start […]
Graphing Athletics: The story of the marathon – update on the 2 hour barrier
The marathon event, is the longest running event held at the Olympic Games, where competitors race over a distance of 42.195 km (26.219 miles) on a set road course. The marathon distance became standardised in 1921 but a version of the marathon event was held at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. The women’s marathon […]
Graphing Athletics: The story of the shot put – evidence of a doped fuelled era?
Datasheets in the shot put have now been produced and have highlighted some interesting trends in both the men’s and women’s event. Check out the shot put datasheets here: The shot put is one of the simplest athletic field events, dominated by the impulse that an athlete can produce. The aim of the shot put it […]