The Davis Cup is an international men’s tennis competition that is one of the oldest and most prestigious team events in the sport. It was founded in 1900 by Dwight F. Davis, a Harvard University tennis player, hence the name “Davis Cup.” The tournament is contested annually between more than 130 nation teams and is […]
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 […]
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 […]
Professor Haake has been working with the Royal Institution over the past few months to create a series of impressive videos exploring the world of technology in sport. They are available to view on the website but I’ve also embedded the videos below so you can view them on our blog too. Take a look […]
At first glance, the spectacular conclusion of the men’s singles competition at the Australian Open may seem to suggest that Rafael Nadal is still clueless when it comes to playing the tireless Novak Djokovic. However, there is a difference to Nadal’s game this year compared to last. Nadal, former world number one, surrendered 6 defeats […]
It may seem like I have balls on the brain if my last couple of posts are any indication. Balls are such a big part of sport and Sports Engineers are fascinated by the way they behave as they bounce on the ground and fly through the air. I’ve seen two amazing videos recently which exhibit […]
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 […]
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 […]
Engineering Sport 