IT Advancements in Sports
The world of sport is continuously changing over the years, and new advancements in the field of information technology had made a great impact on many sports in the modern day. Technology has changed the sports to a great deal. It has improved the accuracy, enjoyment and experience of both athletes and spectators at sporting events. The technological advancements had led to a rapid evaluation of sports equipment, footwear, clothing and accessories.
In the sport of football/soccer, technology has helped a lot to make the sport better. There is a great need for goal-line technology in football/soccer. Goal-line technology is a technical means of instantly determining whether the whole of the ball has crossed the goal line. The International Football Association Board requires the goal-line technology does not interfere with the game. The FIFA Quality Programme for Football focuses on the ball, ongoing developments and improvements aim to meet the increasing demand of the game. The FIFA Football Technology Innovation Department is working on the standardization of electronic performance and tracking system and thereby looking to provide guidance to football’s stakeholders.
Over the years cricket has incorporated a lot of new technological advancements and has become more interesting. In international cricket, the third umpire has been used to supplement the role of the two umpires on the ground. the third umpire is equally qualified and sits off the ground and through advanced IT systems, keeps a close eye to the situation and advise the central umpires. Decision review system (DRS) is another big outcome of use of technology in cricket. Players allowed to challenge decision made by on-field umpires, and have them refer to the TV official. Hawkeye is a computer system used for showing the path of a cricket ball. A very sensitive microphone located in one of the stumps. Which can pick up the sound when the ball nicks the bat is called snick-o-meter. The hot spot technology is used to review whether the ball has hit the bat, particularly when there is small nick.
Other useful technologies introduced in cricket include helmet cams, use of stump camera to determine close catching decisions, use of biodegradable paint to color the infield and outfield, etc.
In the sport of tennis, some revolutionary changes are made with the help of technology, in modern day. Technology has enabled the players to challenge a number of umpire’s decision by using the technology of hawk-eye line-calling system. This system track the ball from different angles and displays its path as a moving 3D image. Radar sensors at the baseline of the court record the speed of ball once it’s hit.
Racing is another very popular sport, which include car racing, cycling, boat riding, running, swimming and many other newly introduced racing sports. With the recent technological advancements, the new models of technologically developed sport cars are introduced. Also the cloths, helmet, shoes and other accessories for one to drive this sport car in a racing competition is technologically enhanced in recent decades. Today, we have more efficient bikes for cycle race by making advancements such as introducing gears. In running, we have high-tech cameras that can capture 3,000 photos per second to track winners in the race. Today, we have DiveCam to steadily film each diver’s motion in free fall. Similarly, in all type of sports, technological developments has a huge contribution.