Inspiring Sports Technology
Sports materials
Rob Blenkinsopp’s first visit to ISPO Munich 2012
Friday, March 2nd, 2012
At ISPO 2012 Munich, for me, the reality of the sports product industry was brought sharply into focus. Set over 16 exhibition halls just under 2000 sports brands were out to promote their new products and technologies across a number of different sporting areas.
With an R&D background, the more fashion/style brands passed me by somewhat, these guys, some the biggest names in their respective sport, were no doubt paying top dollar for their stands and were there with the sole aim to secure big contracts for their new product lines. Don’t get me wrong, it was great to see their products, see the direction they were going, but when you’ve seen the latest coat/jacket/snowboard/gym equipment for one or two companies, you’ve probably seen them all.
The best bit of ISPO for me, were the smaller stands, around the perimeter of the halls, where the (usually) smaller up and coming companies were based. What I enjoyed most about these stands was the fact the people you were talking to, due to the size of the company, would be the owner or high level manager of the company. This is where you could really talk about their products; ask questions and make contacts more easily than on the bigger stands, where if you weren’t going to be making a substantial order for their products, they understandably weren’t as inclined to give you as much time.
The ISPO ‘Brand New’ 2012 area of the show exemplified this so well. This is a competition focussing on innovative products, run each year for start up brands. The finalists of the competition get a booth at the show and the exposure this creates. It was products from this area that a couple of my highlights come:
Dual Snowboards
In my opinion a new snow sports product that could really catch on: a split snowboard design which essentially gives you a small snowboard on each foot. This split design seemingly gives you freedom of movement and manoeuvrability and the videos of tricks are impressive. However, whether this is a product restricted to snow parks or as a training aid for snowboarders isn’t clear, but if it can translate to the slopes for recreational skiers/boarders then with the right marketing this product could be big.
Koroyd
A really interesting and exciting technology that has potential applications in numerous sporting products. Koroyd is a tubular core created from a patented manufacturing process which thermally welds tubular shapes together. The 100% consistent thermal weld removes the inconsistencies associated with adhesive bonding of traditional honeycomb structures, additionally the tubular shape of the core means it behaves consistently no matter which way the core is orientated. It is claimed that Koroyd is also a better energy absorber than EPS and foams as well as being breathable and fully recyclable. It has been used in snowboards impressively reducing core weight by 70% whilst retaining strength and flex.
The potential applications of this technology are numerous, especially in the personal protective equipment market where weight can be reduced whilst improving performance related to energy absorption.
If you have aspirations to work in the sporting goods industry, are interested in innovation or just want to get a feel for the industry, then I would highly recommend going to ISPO without a doubt. For me it was an eye opener and has reinvigorated my love for what I do and given me motivation for what I want to do in the future.
ISPO 2012 Munich – 1st time highlights from Dr David Rogers
Monday, February 13th, 2012
A huge 10m inflatable wall and a double decker bus plastered with extreme sports photography were a few of the advertising mediums manufacturers used to showcase their flagship products for the 2012-2013 season. Once inside, it was clear this was the place to be if you had a passion for sport and sports equipment. An eclectic mix of people, some in suits, some in board shorts on skateboards, but somehow it just seemed to work. Looking around you could see people meeting up with old acquaintances or making a new contact. The passion and energy in the room was contagious. Picking up the map of the conference layout was when it really hit home how massive ISPO was. There were 15 separate units split into sport specific categories. To put the scale into context, each unit could probably hold 2, or even 3, football pitches.
The exciting element of the conference for me was visiting the smaller brands, who were trying to increase their market presence and potential catch the eye of a big game player. Three products stood out to me and I have highlighted them below. I will be writing more detailed reviews of each product shortly.
It was my first visit to ISPO and personally I found it had a great buzz and energy about it. If you are involved in this industry, or aspire to be, ISPO is a must attend event in 2013.
1) Go Pro (Hero 2) – Extreme Sports Video
Their core product is a video/camera that in essence is capable of capturing extreme sports from unique perspectives. The Hero 2 can capture footage in HD at 120 fps and comes with a protection case that is suitable for underwater filming. This is a company for the future, look out for them – Be a HERO.
2) Recon Instruments – Head up displays
Velocity, distance, height of jump, friend finder, are just a small selection of tools available to the wearer. A head up display located in a pair of ski goggles that uses accelerometers and GPS technology to provide the wear with more information than they could hope for – Knowledge is power.
3) Kali Protective Helmets – Protect your assets
Quality looking helmets with the added benefit of improved protection. This is achieved through a patented manufacturing technique to improve the energy absorption characteristics – Use your head.
Article by David Rogers
Kelly Slater Showcases Quiksilver’s Innovative Wetsuit
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Eleven times ASP world surfing champion Kelly Slater is the first to try Quiksilver’s Xplosive prototype wetsuit during the pipeline maters in Hawaii. The R&D team at quicksilver have integrated POWER LINES into the suit design based on advice from leading physiotherapists and engineers. The principle of these power lines is to store and release elastic energy back to the athlete through activation of major muscle groups.
“The power lines have been designed to mimic the naturally-occurring stretch reflexes within the body, by adding these lines to the already established reflexes, we can amplify the body response of action and reaction”.
Quiksilver also claim their suit improves proprioception and has injury prevention properties.
“The athlete’s awareness of their body is both complemented and enhanced by the suit. The wetsuit aids the control of major muscles during explosive actions and also allows for smooth movement. This is highly important in injury prevention.’
Quiksilver are not the first to add an elastic material to sporting apparel, indeed adidas were the first to market with their TECHFIT™ PowerWEB™ boldly claiming figures of improvements in power of up to 5%.
Whether the Xplosive suit is assistive, or indeed resistive remains to be seen until or if scientific data is published, wetsuits are almost resistance suits in themselves due to the nature of neoprene wrapped around the joints. Whether it reduces injury may be a question for Mr Slater as a long term and large scale study would be required to properly get a handle on this.
Article by David Rogers
Nike Vapor Flash Reflective Jacket – inspiration!
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Over the past couple of years, the team at Progressive Sports Technologies have been investigating running clothing reflectivity. It is a very new field to sports companies and one that has had little research or development. Indeed the team have developed many novel ways to assess reflectivity, contrast, and fabric brightness. In a survey of current night-time running jackets, there were a few brands who have delivered adequate solutions, but still consumers are frustrated by the need for the bright colours (yellow, orange, green) and silver 3M bands that are not very attractive in the daylight, nor are they very aesthetically pleasing. However, to me, Nike have created a fantastic solution, particularly if the developments of this fabric stem into different colourways to provide contrast in different environments. The Nike Vapor Flash running jacket appears matte in the daylight, but reflective at night! Of course, this would have little effect when there is no light present such as in the countryside at night, but for urban running this could be the optimum solution. Although we haven’t been able to get one in person, it appears to be a novel fabric using 3M reflective spheres. Much better and more attractive that the typical bands we see at the minute. Great job Nike – a truly unique innovation in this market!
Article by Bryan Roberts
Euro 2012 football – adidas TANGO 12 ball
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
Not just a football more a highly engineered sporting sphere
A busy year of sport is eagerly expected for 2012 and 2013 including some of the most widely viewed events around the world: The London Olympics Games, The Rugby Lions Tour of Australia and of course the UEFA European Football Championship held by joint hosts Poland and Ukraine.
The 2008 European championships, or Euros, held in Austria and Switzerland attracted circa 155 million live TV viewers over the tournament, a 33.9% increase on the 2004 Euros.
It is tradition that a new football is designed for every UEFA Euros and FIFA World Cup. The 2012 UEFA Euros is no exception and adidas, the official match ball supplier have designed the novel TANGO 12 football.
This ball is based on the modern FIFA 2010 World Cup football the ‘Jabulani’ (The most widely purchased football of all time, selling over 13 million replicas in 2010) and the balls of yesteryear; Tango River Plate (1980), Tango Mundial (1984) and Tango European (1988).
The TANGO 12 ball incorporates a 32 panel construction where the panels are thermally bounded together. This method forms the seams that are commonly expected on modern footballs, and then a protruding micro surface texture is applied to the outer surface. With 100’s of hours spent on wind tunnel testing, robot kicking trials and player testing, the design, dimensions and distribution of the surface textures (seams and micro texture) have been extensively measured and optimised. This ensures the ball produces a favourable performance, in terms of dynamic and aerodynamic characteristics. It also meets all FIFA denomination programme regulations and undergone rigorous durability tests as shown in the video in the link below:
It is clear from this video that footballs are much more than just the fancy graphics and advertising…
So next time you pick up a football take a closer look and see whether it is glued or stitched, 32 or 24 panels, smooth or micro surface textured.
Sports engineering is still in its infancy and the sophisticated equipment like this with the help of the adidas innovation team, Loughborough Sports Technology Institute and other innovative technical departments, within sporting goods brands, are all helping to push forward the boundaries of science in sport that gives benefits to every sports enthusiast.
Article by David Rogers
