The world of sports, from training to performance to recovery, has fundamentally changed in key ways to allow people to perform at the absolute peak of their physical ability before safely and efficiently recovering afterwards.
Many of these innovations allow for games to be played safer, more competitively and enable athletes who suffer what were previously considered career-ending injuries to return and continue to perform.
Here are some of the most unique and important innovations in sports.
Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction
The UCL in your elbow is a vital part of the throwing motion, and in sports where a ball is thrown a lot at an extremely high speed, such as Baseball or Cricket, there is the chance that during a particularly hard throw it can rupture and be damaged.
This would, in the past, end a career, but thanks to UCL reconstruction surgery, sometimes better known as Tommy John Surgery due to the first person to receive the treatment, a player has a four-fifths chance of regaining their initial strength and ability after the surgery.
Hawk-Eye
With the stakes for winning sporting contests increasing with each passing year, the importance of ensuring that the right decision is made by referees, judges and umpires become ever more important.
One of the biggest innovations in this regard is Hawk-Eye, a system that was first used in Cricket, but quickly became a vital part of Tennis’ challenge system, the Decision Review System in Cricket, goal-line technology in football and as part of Snooker broadcasts.
One of the greatest examples of it in action was in the 2007 Dubai Tennis Championships, where Rafael Nadal was called out during a point and was irate until the slow-motion cameras showed that the ball had just about stretched and landed on the paint in a manner imperceptible to the human eye.
In-Helmet Radios
In certain sports, the ability to rapidly communicate is a critical part of the sport, particularly for motor racing and American Football.
The in-helmet radio was initially designed in 1956, in secret by a pair of fans of the Cleveland Browns, but it would be banned in the NFL for 38 years, before finally being allowed in 1994 and changing the game for both players and audiences ever since.
For more information and advice from a sports therapist in Maidenhead, get in touch today.
