Playing their part: load cells and sports events July 2023
There’s a shedload of sport happening this July 2023, and load cells are very much playing a part in training, testing and development of both the sports kit and the competitors.
TENNIS
It’s hard to miss the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon, even if the UK players won’t be featuring in the single’s final, sadly.
Not getting through to the final is not the only shock tennis players experience. According to a comparison study by racket manufacturers Donnay.
“Air molded racquets transmit over 43,000 lbs of force per match on the arm. Solid multicore racquets transmit less than 14,000 lbs of force.”
Donnay described the methodology in which 4 different brands of tennis racket were tested:
“A 2.5lb weight dropped 18″ along a guide to precisely hit the center of each racquet head. This is equivalent to an 80 mph tennis ball. … The (racquet) grip was mounted to a load cell on a calibrated MTS materials test machine. Since each grip varied, the grips were all mounted to the load cell in the same consistent fashion with the butt end of the grip in line with the edge of the load cell … The load was directly read from the grip mounted to the load cell.”
For more innovative uses of load cells in testing tennis shoe grip, racket vibration and string strength, see our previous blog:
Getting a grip: load cells and tennis equipment testing
And of course, load cells would have been involved in weighing the vast quantities of soft fruit consumed:
“Each year more than 38.4 tons of strawberries (1.92 million strawberries to be precise) and 445kg of raspberries are picked and consumed during the tournament.”
3-16 July 2023
2023 Wimbledon Championships
All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, London, England
FOOTBALL
Fancy a trip Down Under? The FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off on 20th July with co-host nation New Zealand playing Norway. The English Lionesses play Haiti on Saturday 22 July at 10:30am local time.
Interested in load cells and football? Of course you are! Check out our previous articles here:
Measuring the strain: load cells and football
Back to work: the UK’s top football players and load cells
20 July – 20 August 2023
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023
Taking place in nine host cities in Australia and New Zealand
CYCLING
British rider Mark Cavandish was aiming for a record-breaking 35th stage win in the Tour de France when he crashed and fell just 60kms from the finish on stage 8. Cavandish broke his collarbone, on what Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme termed:
“An emotional day. … He’s the best sprinter in the history of the Tour de France… We thought he would succeed in doing his goal, and today, it’s over. So he is sad, we are sad, Le Tour de France is sad.”
However, the legacy of Britain’s success on two wheels continues, with 6.5 million Brits participating in cycling either for sport, leisure or travel. Load cells have helped in the development of their bikes, whether recreational or elite sports model. See our article on
Wind tunnel bike testing and curries
1-23 July 2023
Tour de France
France and Basque Country, Spain
CRICKET
“Cricket appeals to poets and people who read poetry, because of all sports, It is the most revelatory of character.”
Paul Edwards, cricket writer and former left-arm spinner for Southport & Birkdale
Cricket balls are constructed by winding yarn tightly around a cork core, and encased in a leather cover which has slightly raised stitching. Once stitched, the leather is then given a protective coating.
“To investigate the impact behaviour of the cricket ball … the apparatus used for the experiments consisted of a load cell mounted on a heavy brass rod and a speed gate. To obtain a suitable ball speed for testing, the ball can be dropped from a predetermined height or it can be fired through a cannon gun or a pitching machine.”
The new generation of cricket smart balls from Kookaburra Sports takes this to a new level of data capture:
“The smart cricket ball measures the speed and revolutions of the ball the moment the bowler releases the ball and just before it hits the pitch. It also logs the speed of the ball after hitting the pitch … The smart cricket ball has the microchip wired into a round socket and then fitted into the quilt of the ball – a small, spherical object the size of a quail’s egg made of rubber and cork.”
What’s more, as the Australian cricket ball manufacturer explained:
“Traditionally making Cricket balls is a time consuming, painstaking procedure, while the weight accuracy of the leather cups is crucial to the final quality and grading. Any saving in manufacturing time means increased output and any higher weight accuracy ensuring better quality.”
The company came up with a solution involving oil dampened load cells which resulted in a time/labor saving of 28%.
19-23 July 2023
Ashes 4th Test: England vs. Australia
Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
27-31 July 2023
Ashes 5th Test: England vs. Australia
The Kia Oval, London
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