Mightier than the Sword
The Science Behind Playing Hard
A man in Kenya runs barefoot over the sun-baked earth, pursued only by his footprints. The fire in his muscles encourages him to push harder; he is driven feverishly to win the race against himself. The human body is extraordinary in that the harder it is pushed, the better it performs. The more it is punished, the stronger it becomes. This characteristic creates the platform from which athletes can jump beyond yesterday's limitations. Indeed, it forms the basis for all athletic competition. Contests that pit man against man test each individual's strength, speed, prowess and will. Is there room for mathematics and science in this elementally human arena? Can engineering and technology blend gracefully with blood and sweat to produce a faster race, a closer match or a better game? It can, and in fact, it already has.In order to keep up with the evolution of competitive sports, sporting equipment has undergone a continuous development of its own. From the first leather football helmets to the lightweight composites of today's mountain bikes, equipment reflects the demands made by athletes for high performance and safety. Some manufacturers even claim their products will improve your performance. If you are willing to pay about 10 times the price of an average aluminum baseball bat, you can buy one that reportedly makes you a better hitter. The piezoelectric" bats convert mechanical energy to heat, which lessens the sting of an off-center hit while reducing vibrations and, in effect, enlarging the sweet spot. Active Control eXperts, or ACX, markets the piezoelectric sensors that turn mechanical energy (vibrations) into electrical energy (heat) to dampen, isolate or otherwise eliminate vibration and noise. The sensors detect dynamic forces and generate a proportional electric charge. This charge is then applied across a shunt circuit and dissipates as heat energy.
Piezoelectric technology is also available in mountain bike suspensions. By continually detecting forces applied to the compression damping shock, the actuator regulates the flow of oil through the valve in the shock, which adjusts the level of damping. This variable shock adsorption optimizes the ride by automatically adapting to the terrain and speed of the bike. Piezoelectric technology has even found its way onto the sprawling white slopes of skiers and snowboarders. The K2 Electra snowboard uses the vibration dampers to reduce the amplitude of vibrations by as much as 80 percent. The partnership between K2 and ACX also produced the Smart Ski, which has become the top selling ski in America. The smoother, more comfortable ride and heightened performance of products like these appeal to casual and professional athletes alike, but some of the newer technology is specifically designed to bring the more serious athlete to new levels.
The Aquanex Hydrodynamic Measurement System uses body-mounted sensors and software to gather drag and force data from swimmers as they perform the strokes. Sensors attached to any part of the swimmer's body monitor the forces exerted in real time and send this information to a poolside computer, which subsequently analyzes force and time variables to produce stroke-by-stroke force curves. The system simultaneously records and processes 50 samples per second from each of up to eight sensors in the aquatic environment. The force curves can reveal problems in a swimmer's technique and show exactly where speed is lost.
Body-mounted sensors also played a part in the training of the Finnish Olympic archery team. These electromyographic sensors, similar to those used for electrocardiograms, measure the electrical activity within the muscles of the athlete. Previously, monitoring of this type required that needles and fine wires be inserted directly into the muscle. The new noninvasive method, developed by Noraxon USA, involves attaching electrodes to the muscle of interest to create an input channel. Analysis of the active muscles at various points in the range of motion will allow coaches to help eliminate wasted effort and improve precision before the next summer Olympics.
As the Olympians fight for their medals and high school dreamers see their professional goals come to fruition, the world will be watching. Advancing technology has also changed the way we watch our favorite sports. Because of increasing audiences and broadening demographics, networks are finding ways to help the audience better understand the sport. FoxSports, for example, introduced "FoxTrax" to help home viewers keep track of the puck during NHL games. As the puck reaches high speeds, it appears to glow, but the "glow" is actually graphically inserted into the video stream in real time. This concept also has a place on the gridiron where ESPN's 1st and Ten paints a virtual first down line on the field.
The idea, developed by ESPN and sports technology firm SporTVision Systems, has been well-received nationwide by Sunday Night Football viewers, although most probably don't understand exactly how intricate the process is. After ESPN's statisticians enter the location of the first-down marker, Silicon Graphics computers compile this information with each game camera's pan, tilt, focus and zoom functions to produce the yellow line stretching across the field. The 1st and Ten line, unlike traditional chalkboard telestrators, doesn't cover up the ball or players- both appear to pass right over the line. The computers analyze the placement of the line 30 times per second and determine if the objects onscreen are players, referees, the field or the ball. They also must be able to distinguish between the grass on the field and the green of a Philadelphia Eagles jersey. Advertisers also recognize the value of real time streaming and the profits to be made from the immense popularity of spectator sports around the world. Dubbed "virtual advertising," the technique is similar to 1st and Ten in that it inserts sponsors' names and logos into each frame during a broadcast so that they appear to be printed right on the court, field or stadium. Also like 1st and Ten, players and their shadows pass over the ads naturally and the computers continuously adjust placement to account for the changing camera angles and tilts. The result is worldwide advertising without compromising the neatness of the event's location or distracting the athletes.
The man in Kenya will probably never have his strides analyzed by a computer. He will never consult a laptop or a set of force curves after a run. He has a way of engineering his own triumphs. Technology can help athletes train more productively and it can produce better equipment for them to use, but the key to success will not be a microchip or a polymer or software package. It cannot be bought, sold or manufactured. In the last seconds of the game or the final meters of the race, an athlete's most powerful tools are the drive, determination and heart that carried him to that moment.