Hockey is not the only sport to be affected by this type of change. My father is a great golfer and I have played the sport on and off for most of my life. Golf clubs have been produced in all shapes and sizes, and in all different materials. Back in the day, all clubs used to be wooden, until the first steel-shafted clubs were developed. Even then, the heads of the golf clubs remained wooden. It wasn’t until about the 80’s that they started making clubs entirely from new composite, fiber-reinforced materials.
Golf club technology today is astounding. Designers use computer-aided programs and automated manufacturing techniques to build the clubs. One of the more recent advances in driver technology is the addition of adjustable weights to the head of the club. This allows the golfer to easy add or remove weight to the club, according to how said golfer prefers his or her ball trajectory. My dad tells me it is nearly impossible to find a new driver nowadays that doesn’t feature the adjustable weight system.
Even the golf ball has seen some drastic changes over the years. It too used to be produced completely from wood. Today, golf balls are comprised of a gel or liquid solid core, rubber thread windings, and a hard plastic exoskeleton. The plastic cover features a dimple pattern to add to the flight performance.
Hockey sticks have gone through a similar development pattern as golf clubs; hardwoods and laminate wood used to be the go-to for every stick design. Now, players are using composite sticks made from carbon fiber and fiberglass, and are launching pucks faster than ever. These sticks are designed to “flex” when a shot is taken so the torque on the blade shoots the puck at higher velocities. These sticks are much more lightweight as well; however, some professionals will snap/wear out up to 3 or 4 sticks a game!
Although these are only a few examples, it shows that, in most sports, equipment technology has really changed the face of these games. Golfer’s are hitting the ball farther than ever and are dialing in their hooks and slices with the new adjustable weight club systems. Hockey players are ripping shots at ridiculously high speeds (trust me, I have to stand in the way of them).
My question is, have all these new technologies spoiled the traditions of these sports that people have come to know and love? In my opinion, I think not. With all the new gear that hockey players have in their inventory, the speed of the game has increased tenfold. The skating and shots are faster, the hits are harder, and all in all it provides for a very exciting game. For golf, some could argue that they are just making the game easier and easier to play with all these new club designs and technologies. I believe they only make golf even more fun to play (and watch). Professionals are bombing the ball 330+ yards off the tee box, and dialing in iron approaches from 250 yards away!
Although these sports have changed over the years, I believe it is just the natural evolution of the sports. As long as restrictions are in place to maintain the dexterity of them, I thoroughly enjoy seeing new equipment designs that revolutionize these games. I would much rather play and/or watch the newer, up-tempo versions of these sports, and I think most people would agree.
I played soccer for almost fifteen years and I can tell from my own experience that the material the ball was made of was undergoing series of improvements. Over the years, I noticed that the ball was more elastic, more bouncy. It was flying farther and faster. The ball was definitely lighter, stronger, and less air resistant. It was absorbing less moisture during rainy matches. The quality of the ball made the game much faster. We, the players had to run faster and train harder to improve our quickness to the ball. Not only equipment, but also new advanced materials used for athletic shoes and clothing contribute to the faster game too. All these factors push athletes to make their best effort, almost to their limits. I agree that new faster way of playing sports is more exciting for both, the athletes and spectators. It is kind of natural process
ReplyDeleteto speed up the game. I think it goes along and agrees with the way we live now, faster. By the
way, I think we are just fulfilling the meaning of Olympic motto “Faster, Higher, Stronger!”
The only concern is, since all pucks and balls are much harder, travel with greater speed, and
the games are much faster, are we, consequently, more vulnerable to serious injuries?
I would agree in that I don't think that advances in sport technology has taken away from the sports. If anything it's probably made them more fun to watch. Seeing a basball being hit clean out of the massive stadiums we have is quite a sight to see. Personally I find golf to be an extremely boring sport, but even I have to admire a 400 yrd drive with the percision to land withing a few feet of a tiny hold. Usually with a change in technology the sport is quick to adapt to it. Like you said, the game becomes faster and in some respects even more challenging. The unfortunate thing is that it makes it hard to compare athletes of today with those in the past which is always a fun subject of debate among sports fans. Sports have definitely been made safer thanks to our advancements in sport technology. Carbon-fiber has allowed us to make protective equipment that is not only increadibly strong but also lightweight to minimize the performance of the athlete. Weather that's good or bad when it comes to the "spirit" of the sport will always be up to debate. Back at the beginning of professional football the players had very little gear to wear. It can be argued that they were the real athletes, taking the punishment of those hard hits with almost nothing to protect them. What isn't taken in to consideration is that those people weren't hit by some huge 6'5", 300+ lb player running at rediculous speeds. Sports tend to find a way of balancing themselves out quickly to keep the playing field relatively the same.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that new technologies in sport equipment has not taken away from their essence. Just as technology in computers has drastically changed over the course of our lifetimes, so has the level of play of athletes. The new materials developed in these sports have not only been created to keep up with the abilities of these athletes, but have also helped these athletes go beyond their boundaries.
ReplyDeleteLike Thomas I've also played soccer for almost my entire life and the material technology that has come to this sport over the past decades is quite astonishing. Soccer cleats are now made to be extremely light and resistant to various weather conditions. Even the shin guards got thinner, yet stronger and more shock resistant as I was growing up. Perhaps some of the biggest changes have been in the soccer balls. In the last World Cup in 2010 some players actually complained about the "Adidas Jabulani" (the official World Cup 2010 ball) saying that it traveled in supernatural ways and was completely different from any ball they had played with. However many players changed their minds once they got the hang of it. Some of the technology inside this ball includes 8 thermally bonded 3-dimensional panels spherically bonded from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU). Also the surface of the ball was grooved to improve the aerodynamics of the ball, with some players saying the ball could actually be kicked in a perfectly straight line and maintain its direction, making it great for long passes.
This article provides some specs on the Adidas Jabulani
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-12/science-behind-jubulani-adidass-2010-world-cup-soccer-ball