Information of Sports Engineering

The historical nature of sports engineering is considered and an attempt for the recent

popularity of sports engineering is given. The development of sports engineering in the

1990's is described and the interaction of technology and sport assessed with the

conclusion that technology causes step jumps in performance while coaching, nutrition

and training produces for larger increases in performance. The global sports engineering

community is described and the size assessed as approximately 1000 researchers.

Finally, a warning is given on the dangers of the misuse of technology in sport.

KEYWORDS: Sports engineering, technology, economics of sport.

INTRODUCTION: Sports engineering is a new area of study that has existed for many

years. This contradictory comment is explained if it considered that the mechanics of tennis

was discussed by Sir Isaac Newton over three hundred years ago (Newton, 1671) and by

Lord Rayleigh over a hundred years ago (Rayleigh, 1877). Indeed, many of the world's great

scientists have used sport to explain science and vice versa. Sir JJ Thomson (discoverer of

the electron) gave a treatise on the dynamics of golf balls to the Royal Society earlier this

century (Thomson, 1910). It is only recently, however, that the term 'Sports Engineering' has

been used. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the following definitions,

sport n Pastime, game, outdoor pastime

engineering n Application of science for the control and use of power, esp. by means

of machines.

The term 'sports engineering', therefore, implies the design, development and research into

external devices used by athletes, sports men and sports women to enhance their

performance. Sports engineering is sometimes confused with sports sci...

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Conferences in Japan and the USA will expand the International Sports Engineering

Association to levels similar to the societies in the biomechanics communities.

THE PROS AND CONS OF SPORTS ENGINEERING: Sports Engineering has the ability to

help athletes and sports men and women improve performance. The rules of sport exist,

however, to protect the integrity of sport. Technology can be dangerous if the implications

are not considered and often ruling bodies find it difficult if not impossible to reverse

decisions (Gelberg. 1998). Sometimes technology goes too far and changes the sport so

much that legitimate sporting comparisons become impossible. Sports Engineers have the

ability both to enhance and destroy sport and care must be taken that they do not do the

latter. In some ways sports engineering is the new cold war - it only works if everybody has it.