Role Of Technology In Sport: The Bad, And The Ugly
Technology in Sport: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Introduction
Technology has changed many things in our lives including sports from how they are played to how we watch them. From listening to the game on the radio, to watching the game on television, first in black and white, then in color, then to watching the game online to watching to the game anytime, anywhere you are, on your smartphone. It has changed how sport is played from the equipment used from seal bladders to rubber pucks, and wooden to graphite sticks. It has also impacted participation because less people are spending their time playing sports and spending it online. Technology has dramatically changed how sports are played and viewed, but has this change been positive or negative?
Technologies positive impact on sports
Technology has had a positive impact on sports. Think back to the ancient Olympic games, the sports were basic like running, fighting, and throwing and did not involve any complicated equipment, and if you wanted to spectate you had to show up, no live streaming was available. It was a battle …show more content…
of strength, size and speed in ancient days. Today strength, size, and speed is not all what sports is about. The technology that goes into the equipment used in sport has change drastically and has improved sports for the better.
Hockey was first played on frozen lakes and rivers and players used twigs or sticks to move a frozen seal bladder down the lake or river. Hockey has come a long way since then. The seal bladder was replaced by a rubber cylindrical puck, which moves a lot better on the frozen surface. The twigs players used have come a long. Up until 2000, most hockey sticks were primarily made from wood. Now the sticks are made from carbon fibre, a material lighter and stronger than wood, allowing the player to shoot the puck the puck harder and faster than ever before. The improvements on the equipment do not just affect the professionals but everyone all the way down to juniors. “The sticks have definitely changed the game, probably more for the youngsters than for the guys in the NHL — although it 's changed in the NHL, too,” - Wendel Clark (Feschuk, 2012). This technology has made players better and better.
Technology is making athletes a lot better. It has greatly improved the equipment used in sports but it has also improved the clothing athletes wear. In hockey and football for example, the equipment has greatly changed to improve player safety. In other sports, the clothing as improved to make the athlete better. This is evident because world records that have stood for many years are being broken year after year. “A 100 metre freestyle world record of 46.74 sec lasted a full decade - March 1994 to March 2004 - yet one year after the introduction of high-tech swimsuits, the time ranked 37th on the all-time list and by the end of 2009 it was no longer ranked in the top 100.” (Butler, 2013)
Technology has greatly improved in swimming.
From 1988 to 1992, there was a 0.8% rate of improvement in world records and a 1.1% rate of improvement from 1996 and 2000. In 2008, Speedo was producing swimsuits that were made out certain materials that give the swimmer extra buoyancy. This allows them to float higher in the water and therefore swim faster. Most swimmers started using the Speedo LZR race suit right away and it saw incredible results. In a 23-month period from 2008 and 2009 it shattered 255 records - with a staggering 43 in one week alone at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. This increase was dramatic and many felt it was aiding the swimmer too much and the swimsuits were banned in January 2010 and this saw a considerable drop off in world records, and it appears unlikely any will be
beaten.
Technologies negative impact on sports
It may be hard to think that technology has had any negative impact on sport because of all the positive things it has bough to sport. Technology is improving equipment, which makes athletes better so more people can engage in sports. But do people want to engage in sport? To keep sports growing we need youth to get involved and make sure they are having fun. Fewer kids are playing sports than in recent years. “Sports participation of boys has declined from 66% in 1992 to 56% in 2005. Over the same time period, sports participation of girls has changed little from 49% to 45%” (Statistics Canada, 2008).
(Statistics Canada, 2008)
Years ago when I was a kid, after school everyone would go play outside whether it would be a sport or just fun games, kids were active. Kids went outside to play and see their friends because there was nothing else to do. Today kids are not as active and technology can be blamed for that. Nowadays kids have many things to keep them entertained inside the house like movies, television, Internet, video games, and online gaming. Children don’t have to leave the house to play with their friends. They can play together online, talk over the phone; kids can do many things to keep themselves occupied without leaving the house, which is a one reason why youth participation is declining.
Conclusion
Technology has changed many things in our lives like sports from how they are played to how we watch them. It has had a positive impact on sports, from better equipment that will improve athletes and provide them with more protection. It has also had a negative impact on sports because fewer children are playing sports because they have other ways to entertain themselves and keep them occupied. Technology has had changed drastically over the years and there is no knowing how much it will change in the years to come and what kind of impact it will have on sports. Lets just hope that it is a positive one.
Works Cited
“The sticks have definitely changed the game, probably more for the youngsters than for the guys in the NHL — although it 's changed in the NHL, too,” - Wendel Clark
(Feschuk, 2012)
“A 100 metre freestyle world record of 46.74 sec lasted a full decade - March 1994 to March 2004 - yet one year after the introduction of high-tech swimsuits, the time ranked 37th on the all-time list and by the end of 2009 it was no longer ranked in the top 100.” (Butler, 2013)
“Sports participation of boys has declined from 66% in 1992 to 56% in 2005. Over the same time period, sports participation of girls has changed little from 49% to 45%”
(Statistics Canada, 2008).
Bibliography
Butler, N. (2013, November). Technology has, overall, changed sport for the better. Inside the Games. Retrieved from http://www.insidethegames.biz/blogs/1017006-nick-butler-technology-has-overall-changed-sport-for-the-better
Canwest. (2008, June). Fewer kids playing sports. Canwest News. Retrived from http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=cb6d912e-c397-434b-a20a-0973af8f4c14
Feschuk, D. (2012, December). Stick shift: hockey stick technology is ‘great equalizer '. The Star. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2012/12/22/stick_shift_hockey_stick_technology_is_great_equalizer.html
Statistics Canada. (2008). Sports participation is declining. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2008001/article/10573-eng.htm#a1
Introduction
Technology has changed many things in our lives including sports from how they are played to how we watch them. From listening to the game on the radio, to watching the game on television, first in black and white, then in color, then to watching the game online to watching to the game anytime, anywhere you are, on your smartphone. It has changed how sport is played from the equipment used from seal bladders to rubber pucks, and wooden to graphite sticks. It has also impacted participation because less people are spending their time playing sports and spending it online. Technology has dramatically changed how sports are played and viewed, but has this change been positive or negative?
Technologies positive impact on sports
Technology has had a positive impact on sports. Think back to the ancient Olympic games, the sports were basic like running, fighting, and throwing and did not involve any complicated equipment, and if you wanted to spectate you had to show up, no live streaming was available. It was a battle …show more content…
of strength, size and speed in ancient days. Today strength, size, and speed is not all what sports is about. The technology that goes into the equipment used in sport has change drastically and has improved sports for the better.
Hockey was first played on frozen lakes and rivers and players used twigs or sticks to move a frozen seal bladder down the lake or river. Hockey has come a long way since then. The seal bladder was replaced by a rubber cylindrical puck, which moves a lot better on the frozen surface. The twigs players used have come a long. Up until 2000, most hockey sticks were primarily made from wood. Now the sticks are made from carbon fibre, a material lighter and stronger than wood, allowing the player to shoot the puck the puck harder and faster than ever before. The improvements on the equipment do not just affect the professionals but everyone all the way down to juniors. “The sticks have definitely changed the game, probably more for the youngsters than for the guys in the NHL — although it 's changed in the NHL, too,” - Wendel Clark (Feschuk, 2012). This technology has made players better and better.
Technology is making athletes a lot better. It has greatly improved the equipment used in sports but it has also improved the clothing athletes wear. In hockey and football for example, the equipment has greatly changed to improve player safety. In other sports, the clothing as improved to make the athlete better. This is evident because world records that have stood for many years are being broken year after year. “A 100 metre freestyle world record of 46.74 sec lasted a full decade - March 1994 to March 2004 - yet one year after the introduction of high-tech swimsuits, the time ranked 37th on the all-time list and by the end of 2009 it was no longer ranked in the top 100.” (Butler, 2013)
Technology has greatly improved in swimming.
From 1988 to 1992, there was a 0.8% rate of improvement in world records and a 1.1% rate of improvement from 1996 and 2000. In 2008, Speedo was producing swimsuits that were made out certain materials that give the swimmer extra buoyancy. This allows them to float higher in the water and therefore swim faster. Most swimmers started using the Speedo LZR race suit right away and it saw incredible results. In a 23-month period from 2008 and 2009 it shattered 255 records - with a staggering 43 in one week alone at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. This increase was dramatic and many felt it was aiding the swimmer too much and the swimsuits were banned in January 2010 and this saw a considerable drop off in world records, and it appears unlikely any will be
beaten.
Technologies negative impact on sports
It may be hard to think that technology has had any negative impact on sport because of all the positive things it has bough to sport. Technology is improving equipment, which makes athletes better so more people can engage in sports. But do people want to engage in sport? To keep sports growing we need youth to get involved and make sure they are having fun. Fewer kids are playing sports than in recent years. “Sports participation of boys has declined from 66% in 1992 to 56% in 2005. Over the same time period, sports participation of girls has changed little from 49% to 45%” (Statistics Canada, 2008).
(Statistics Canada, 2008)
Years ago when I was a kid, after school everyone would go play outside whether it would be a sport or just fun games, kids were active. Kids went outside to play and see their friends because there was nothing else to do. Today kids are not as active and technology can be blamed for that. Nowadays kids have many things to keep them entertained inside the house like movies, television, Internet, video games, and online gaming. Children don’t have to leave the house to play with their friends. They can play together online, talk over the phone; kids can do many things to keep themselves occupied without leaving the house, which is a one reason why youth participation is declining.
Conclusion
Technology has changed many things in our lives like sports from how they are played to how we watch them. It has had a positive impact on sports, from better equipment that will improve athletes and provide them with more protection. It has also had a negative impact on sports because fewer children are playing sports because they have other ways to entertain themselves and keep them occupied. Technology has had changed drastically over the years and there is no knowing how much it will change in the years to come and what kind of impact it will have on sports. Lets just hope that it is a positive one.
Works Cited
“The sticks have definitely changed the game, probably more for the youngsters than for the guys in the NHL — although it 's changed in the NHL, too,” - Wendel Clark
(Feschuk, 2012)
“A 100 metre freestyle world record of 46.74 sec lasted a full decade - March 1994 to March 2004 - yet one year after the introduction of high-tech swimsuits, the time ranked 37th on the all-time list and by the end of 2009 it was no longer ranked in the top 100.” (Butler, 2013)
“Sports participation of boys has declined from 66% in 1992 to 56% in 2005. Over the same time period, sports participation of girls has changed little from 49% to 45%”
(Statistics Canada, 2008).
Bibliography
Butler, N. (2013, November). Technology has, overall, changed sport for the better. Inside the Games. Retrieved from http://www.insidethegames.biz/blogs/1017006-nick-butler-technology-has-overall-changed-sport-for-the-better
Canwest. (2008, June). Fewer kids playing sports. Canwest News. Retrived from http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=cb6d912e-c397-434b-a20a-0973af8f4c14
Feschuk, D. (2012, December). Stick shift: hockey stick technology is ‘great equalizer '. The Star. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2012/12/22/stick_shift_hockey_stick_technology_is_great_equalizer.html
Statistics Canada. (2008). Sports participation is declining. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2008001/article/10573-eng.htm#a1