Technological development in sports

In sports there is always room for improvement. A lot of that improvement is from the skill of the athletes, but a major factor contributing to the advancement of sports is the advancement of technology. Although many technological developments have contributed to sports throughout the years, the two most significant were the progression of football helmets and the evolution of basketball shoes.

Throughout the history of football, there has undoubtedly been vast amounts of research and development regarding helmets. Since the 1930s when the first plastic helmet was developed, helmets have provided a physical shell to protect the player from taking the brunt of a hit. The question remains, how effective are helmets at protecting players from head injuries?

Helmets don’t soften the hit and they don’t make the wearer’s head stronger. The reason that helmets reduce the risk of injury is because they increase the amount of time that it takes for the force to transfer from one player to another. Since the impulse (or change in momentum) stays the same, the increase of time reduces the force that is transferred to the head.

In order to determine the effectiveness of modern helmets, one must understand that there are two major types of head injuries: skull fractures and concussions. As helmets have evolved, there is no doubt that they better protect against hard impacts that would cause something like a skull fracture. Brain damage, on the other hand, occurs because of rapid movements of the brain inside the head. Since helmets do not actually hold the brain in place, they are only minimally effective in protecting against brain damage.

A study was conducted by researchers from Cleveland Clinic's Spine Research Laboratory and Case Western Reserve University to compare the protection leather and plastic helmets have against concussions. The researchers tested different types of hits on the helmets and found that the modern helmets did not perform as they expected.

“To the researchers surprise, the old and new helmets performed equally in the tests,” Susan Perry said in a 2011 MinnPost article about the study. “In fact, for many of the impacts — particularly frontal hits — the leather helmets performed better.”

The researchers at CCSRL and CWRU also found that even the helmets that performed the best in the tests only reduced the risk of brain damage by 20-30%. In another study done, a researcher at Virginia Tech, Stefan Duma, found that some of the most popular helmets, including the Riddell VSR4 and the Adams A2000 Pro Elite, had marginal to no protection against concussions.

Most modern helmets do provide protection against all types of head injury, and wearing a helmet is definitely recommended when playing football. The technology is available to make helmets more effective. Combining the aspects of leather helmets that outperformed plastic helmets is just one improvement that could be made. While the development of helmets continues to make football safer, basketball shoes are the most important aspect of the safety of basketball players.

Basketball sneakers are highly coveted across the globe, sought after not only for their trendy designs, but the prevention from injury that they provide. In 1917, the first basketball shoe was made by Converse, the All-Star. The All-Star was made up of just a rubber sole and a canvas top. For the next four decades, they were the shoe of choice among basketball players everywhere.

Nike Air Jordan 1 / Kevin from Yardley, Pennsylvania

Then in the 1970s the shoes basketball players preferred started to change. This happened because shoes such as the Nike Blazer started using innovative leather materials. This made players choose the Blazers over the Converse shoes because the shoes made of leather provided more ankle support. Several years later Nike produced the Air Force one which had Nike Air technology.

Nike Air is the technology that brought a new era of shoes to basketball. Nike Air was compressed air that nike would put in the soles of their shoes. The system improved shock absorption and cushioning, and this helps take stress off muscles and tendons when running. This technology was first used in the Air Force ones in the early 1980s and then shortly after that the Air Jordan 1.

 The injury prevention that Nike Air provides is just one of the reasons why basketball sneakers are coveted around the world. The continuing development of shoes, like Nike Air, and football helmets such as the Riddell 360, are just some of the advancements in sports technology. These advancements make sports more competitive and safer for future players.