"Do, or do not. There is no try" - Yoda, 0BBY
The use of technology is sport has increased dramatically over the last twenty (20) years. At the elite level training facilities now routinely include: gyms, biomechanic technology, physiological testing, in-door and outdoor facilities and plenty of training equipment. There have been massive advances in the technology of equipment as well. Equipment such as cricket bats have become larger and lighter, with larger “sweet spots”, tennis rackets are lighter and have longer handles, balls have changed from leather to synthetic, GPS devices are used at training and during competition, and much more.
The HSC PDHPE syllabus though does not want you to focus on the use of technology advances per say, but whether the use of these technologies is fair. They must be considered from an ethical point of view. Technology often has a high cost and is not available to everyone, giving some athletes an advantage not available to others and not based on their abilities or efforts
There is much training innovation in many elite sports, which have become standard practice. One of the many training innovations is the inclusion of specific tests such as the VO2 max test, and lactate threshold testing. In addition to these training innovations, biomechanical analysis of specific movements has become more common in a variety of sport. Generally, the more money an organisation/athlete/team has, the better training they are able to get. This leads to an advantage over poorer athletes or teams who can not afford the training innovations. For example, the Australian Institute of Sport is able to produce elite level athletes for Australia, but a country without the resources to fund something similar, is not able to produce as high-calibre an athlete.
The VO2 max test is a training innovation that measures an athlete’s maximal oxygen consumption in Litre per Minute per Kilogram of body weight, maximum heart rate, ventilation rate, and the efficiency of muscles. In addition the VO2 max test also provides a predictor of lactate threshold. The test is used to set heart rate training zones as a real measure of maximum heart rate is achieved. The VO2 max test also provides feedback on the effects of training. This allows the athlete to train more effectively to improve their cardiovascular endurance. It is particularly beneficial in endurance sports such as: marathons, triathlons, or AFL.
Lactate threshold testing is a training innovation that seeks to identify an athlete’s lactate inflection point (the point when lactate begins to accumulate in the blood). This test provides a lactate threshold heart rate and training pace. Lactate threshold testing helps the athlete to set training zones that are more accurate and beneficial, providing better results, particularly in aerobic sports where the athlete wants to be as close as possible to the lactate inflection point without crossing into the anaerobic training zone. However, lactate threshold testing also helps in anaerobic training to ensure training is forcing the body to deal with lactate overload and recover from it.
Resource: https://youtu.be/wvJZDex_VdU?list=PLesvqngPCeVMmPtdwp1NTQ3EbYUQEFW-t
Biomechanical analysis is a training innovation that analyses the athlete’s technique to ensure their movement is efficient and safe. Biomechanical analysis is done in many sports to analyse: the force through joints, the force absorbed and produced by muscles, ensure technique is correct to produce the most efficient movement possible and that the technique will not lead to injury.
This is a huge benefit in sports that are particularly technical, such as cricket, tennis, golf and baseball. Biomechanical analysis allows the athletes to last longer with more efficient movement patterns, and to achieve better results due to a better technique. This saves energy and provides the athlete with an advantage over others.
Resource: https://youtu.be/79yH4fCXv88?list=PLesvqngPCeVMmPtdwp1NTQ3EbYUQEFW-t
There are also many other forms of training advancements related to equipment such as the use of heart rate monitors, GPS devices and video analysis.
Many equipment advances in sports have caused increases in sports performance that are not due to the athlete’s ability, but due to equipment advances. Equipment advances are specific to sports where the equipment is used. Equipment advances can be in clothing, protective equipment, general equipment, or technological equipment.
Clothing in sport has changed dramatically over time. Clothing is very light, and can be loose or skin tight, depending on the need for performance and safety. For example, swimsuits worn have changed to become whole bodysuits, and even went too far and added structural support (these suits were since banned from competition. RESOURCE: https://youtu.be/HKV0XISPdWg?list=PLesvqngPCeVMmPtdwp1NTQ3EbYUQEFW-t). Clothing in many contact sports has also become tighter to make it harder for the opposition to grab hold of it when tackling (e.g. rugby codes).
Protective equipment in sports has become much lighter. Cricket pads, helmets etc are now lighter allowing for faster and more free movements. Some sports have developed new protective equipment, such as the stem guard in cricket. Shin pad in football and shoulder pads in rugby are other types of protective equipment that have changed over the years to allow better movement in competition.
This is where most advances have occurred in equipment. These types of advances include:
graphite golf clubs
tennis rackets are lighter, longer, have larger heads (stringed area), and nylon strings
cricket bats are larger and lighter
golf balls have specialised dimples and lighter
many sports have converted to synthetic balls over leather (football, rugby codes, AFL, NFL etc)
perspex backboards for basketball
perspex masks for ice-hockey
Technology in sports competition has also changed with the other changes in equipment. The Grand Slam tennis and many international tennis competitions now use “Hawkeye” technology that tracks the ball and is used to determine if the ball is in or out. Ice-hockey use a light system over the goal to determine when the puck has crossed the line. Cricket uses many technologies, from video replays for run outs, to “Hawkeye” to determine LBW decisions. Rugby league is no exception either, using video replays to determine if a try has been scored, though often to the disgust of the commentators.
There are a number of ethical issues related to technology use in sport and there are many who debate the place of technology in sport. Things such as goal line technology and video replays for decisions normally made on the field affect the sport and how they are played. many technological advances have benefited people with disabilities. The changes to wheelchairs, prosthetics and more that enable people with varying disabilities to participate in sport has been a great development, but this access is not the same to all athletes.
There is no simple answer to this question. This is one of the biggest ethical issues related to technology use in sport. Technology should be used to improve sports performance, not replace skill or trained ability in an athlete. Audiences want to see improved performance and athletes want to improve their performance. Improvements in performance will become very rare if technology is removed from it. However, when technology leads to unfair competition should it's use become limited or heavily regulated?
Many of the training innovations are expensive and can only be accessed by athletes or clubs who can afford the testing and equipment. This can create an unfair playing field, particularly when competition is between countries, where one country has access and the other does not (e.g. American female football players playing the female team from the Congo). The ethical considerations revolve around equity of access and money, more than safety. Is it fair or equitable that the more wealthy the team, the better their results? Even if the skill of the athletes might not be necessarily the highest? Technology, access to coaches and facilities, all improve an athlete, and if a less-wealthy athlete does not have access to this, should they be disadvantaged?
The ethical issues related to technology use in sport include equity of access. Accessing technology is expensive, especially when talking about physiological testing or biomechanical analysis. Even some equipment is costly, and if all competitors cannot access technology then the competition is unfair due to inequities in access to technology. However, most sporting competitions involve athletes or clubs who either can or cannot afford technologies. All major sporting competitions such as: NBA, NBL, NFL, AFL, NRL, A-League, EPL, Champions League, etc have plenty of money to access technology. The same goes for many elite individual sports such as golf and tennis.
However, international sports competitions do not have the same level of equity. Individual athletes from poorer developing countries cannot always afford the same technologies as athletes from developed countries, especially from countries that place a high value on sport (America, England and Australia).
• two-way radio transmission for soccer referees
• video replays in Rugby League
• third umpires in cricket
• Hawk Eye technology used during cricket matches, which allows the ball trajectory to be traced
• hot-spot technology in cricket
• carbon-fibre bikes
• aerodynamic equipment
• protective helmets
• cleated shoes and toe clips
• heart-rate monitoring
• watts of power feedback
• distance covered
• average speed
• calories burnt
• carbon-fibre racquets
• tennis ball improvements
• Hawk Eye technology
• clothing and footwear advancements
• synthetic tracks
• starting blocks
• electronic timing
• footwear and clothing advancements
• biomechanical analysis
• high-jump mats
• carbon-fibre pole-vault poles
• GPS technology
• heart-rate monitoring
• power-output measurement
• training load monitoring
• protective equipment
• footwear advancements
• starting blocks
• electronic timing
• swimming goggles
• waveless lane rope technology
• swimming suits
• biomechanical analysis
• protective gloves, pads and helmets
• cricket bat and ball advancements
• cricket pitch technology
• biomechanical analysis