Before an invention reaches its final stages, it always goes through a slew of revisions. Why? Because creative people all over the world are constantly finding better ways to do something and continually finding solutions to ongoing problems. This is particularly true in sports.
No matter what the sport is, athletes are always looking for the newest and best invention, in order to gain an advantage over their opponents.
As Wimbledon came to a close this Sunday and the winners were crowned, we couldn’t help but explore the interesting world of tennis inventions.
As obvious as it may sound, the tennis racquet is an important piece of equipment for tennis players. With that being said, tennis superstars like Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova rely on new, innovative tennis racquet inventions to help give their game a boost.
The boost in this case, is graphene. So, what is graphene and what makes it so powerful? First of all, it’s no thicker than a single atomic layer of carbon; yet, it’s stronger than diamond and it’s the world’s best conductor of electricity and heat. Not to mention, it is almost completely transparent and is entirely waterproof.
Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov at Manchester University isolated the substance in 2004 and in 2010, the two won the Nobel Prize for their innovation.
In 2013, graphene first made an appearance in the YouTek SPEED racquet series from HEAD. The graphene was present in the racquet’s shaft, which let the bulk of the weight go to where it was useful, in the head and the grip of the racquet.
The design of the racquet optimized the redistribution of weight, which allowed the players to generate more kinetic energy once they hit the ball. This meant less effort and more power, giving opponents a run for their money!
Each and every day, new and innovative ways to solve problems are invented. That’s why in the world of sports, in particular, different inventions and materials are incorporated into the game in an effort to beat the competition. In this case, graphene is much like an ace in tennis in the way that it is helping competitors get a point up on their opponents!
Copyright Inventionland 2014
Sources:
https://gizmodo.com/5975246/graphenes-newest-trick-is-improving-your-tennis-game