15 Sports and recreation

Sports is a beautiful laboratory for physics. Indeed, many books exist that explore the physics of specific sports. The physics of impacts and trajectories governs most sports involving balls. Aerodynamics and fluid dynamics are key to optimal performance in a wide range of sporting events. Sports equipment – from tennis racquets to downhill skis – are exquisitely designed to use materials in clever ways. Professional and Olympic-level sports are so highly competitive that the contribution of any measure to shave a few milliseconds off of a race will attract interest. Of course, methods to improve safety for sports are very important. And for amateurs, the thoughtful design of sports equipment – making it more lightweight, durable, affordable, and easier to use – can improve enjoyment. This is especially true of equipment for fitness and outdoor recreation (hiking, biking, etc.) where an arduous task may become challenging but pleasurable thanks to good equipment. Sports clothing is equally essential to good enjoyment and even to safety and health; the design of footwear is the basis of large and well-recognized industries. Advanced technologies are enlisted to film and broadcast sporting events, including first-person viewpoints obtained with wearable cameras. Finally, and importantly, physical technologies expand the opportunity of sports and recreation to people whose injuries and physical impairments would have historically prevented participation. Events like the para Olympics and special Olympics show how much universal joy is achieved when ingenuity and compassion let all humans reveal their mental drive and physical capacities through sports.

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