Science In Sports

“There’s a hat trick!! Another of Dhoni’s helicopters! What’s Warner saying to Kohli? Clean-bowled? Of course not! Didn’t have to blink an eye before Kohli swung his bat right into a hundred! Hurrah! Touched two hundred! India!! Three cheers!!”

Your lungs are ‘pounding’ with patriotism.

Turn to page thirty five of your Biology book and trace your finger to ‘Muscle Movements’. You will find an elaborate diagram with blobs hanging out like strawberry gelatine intended to explain what you are experiencing.

But what they really want you to realise is that this ‘strawberry-gelatine’ lines in a dent inside you, and before this moment, you would never have guessed so! Textbooks might never have seemed more than a cartload of theory to be penned on the examination paper in the right places. You’re pointing a finger to what exactly today’s dilemma is- THE DEFINITION OF SCIENCE HAS BEEN DISTORTED.

Science, according to Wikipedia, is ‘the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment’. As the days roll by, Science is becoming more and more important in our lives.  Right from the plants in your garden to the satellite orbiting Pluto, Science has made its mark everywhere! There are surgeons, space engineers, chemists, physicists or psychologists perhaps every fifth door you knock at.  Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Sociology and are some of its broad sectors. The concise descriptions of your Biology textbook on what a stem looks like, the line-diagrams of your Physics book, the mechanical way in which your Chemistry book describes what sulphur would do with iron might make you think that Science is a concept several notches above your conception! But the truth is that, in an obscure nook of its own, Science has been coiled with our daily lives right from the time the universe was born. There is science in everything around us! Or, as Thomas Huxley puts it, ‘Science is simply common sense at its best’.  

Wikipedia states that sport is ‘an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against others.’ A more humane way of putting this would be to say that in sport, there’s spirit! Team spirit, sportsman spirit, winning and losing spirit! There’s a concealed grit that gushes out through every game! Sport is not mere exercise of the limbs- there’s a lot of perspiration and tactics (instinctive or planned) involved. By playing a sport, you also ensure that you keep yourself fit. There are indoor sports such as wrestling, outdoor sports such as tennis, individual sports such as javelin-throw, and team sports such as volleyball.

While sitting at a cricket stadium, considering what science means, or what it comprises, you might think that you are doing injustice to your brain. But actually not! Science is right in front of you, at its level best! You are savouring science every moment that your eyes are glued to the game! We have drawn such a thick line of distinction between sport and science that we have overlooked how big a role science plays in sports. Archery might either seem child’s-play or beyond-reach to you, but either way, ask yourself if it could really be true that Deepika Kumari could aim bull’s-eye without understanding through practice and experience how an arrow flew and how the air resisted it. Question how Christoph Harting managed to bag gold in the Rio Olympics without knowing how much force to throw the discus with, and at what angle. Look up the diet that Michael Phelps follows. Watch Sindhu’s Rio Final to see how well she tackled Carolina’s ‘victory antics’ with her own understanding of human nature. Observe closely the Australian cricket team’s play after the wonderful analysis they have made of the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. Recall Shaunae Miller’s thrilling finish in the 400m finals at Rio. Would she have been able to make it without just a straight-cut goal in mind? Would she have been able to chest the Finish Line without restricting her mind, eager for Gold, from panic? You will see, clearly, the contribution of science to sport.

Biology plays an important role in sports. It is the backbone of a player- his fitness, nutrition, diet and his build. Michael Phelps’ arms extend 80 inches tip to tip, helping him manage a narrow finish! This can somewhat be attributed to genetics. Without the vigorous workout that Virat Kohli indulges in, we would never have been able to see the proficiency and charisma with which he handles the ball on the field! If Sindhu and Saaina hadn’t been compelled to follow a non-vegetarian, protein-rich diet, in spite of being vegetarians, by their coach Pullela Gopichand, India mightn’t have been able to bag the Badminton bronze and silver Olympic medals that it has today!  A gymnast needs great power in his or her limbs to pull off a perfect vault, while a hammer-thrower must be exceptionally tall with long arms. Sport owes a lot to physiotherapy too. Every team or individual sportsman has a physiotherapist accompanying them. If the Indian cricket team hadn’t had one to help an injured player rehabilitate from a sprain, a fracture or a muscle-pull, think of the long-term losses the team and the player himself would have suffered due to this injury.

Physics is a core element of sports. If you have to tap the shuttle across the net, such that it falls in a location inaccessible to your opponent, you need to know exactly how much force to swing your racket with.  Aditi Ashok would have needed to estimate the exact force and direction with which to get the golf-ball into the hole in order to make it to the Rio Olympics. Olympic Gold medallist Jeff Henderson surely needed to figure out how much push it would need to jump the distance he had set aside in mind! Archery, rifle-shooting, javelin-throw and discus-throw also have a lot to do with the laws of physics. One needs to know how much air resistance is being thrust on the rifle or the arrow to get a ‘bull’s-eye’. A javelin or discus thrower must be able to use his approximation of his distance from the target and the correct position, momentum, angle, trajectory and force to reach great heights in his field.

Medicine, drugs (though not ethical) and energy-drinks contribute to the success of sportspeople and hence, Chemistry aids sports in its unobtrusive way.

Sports clothing and equipment is vital to all players. Attire is designed to be aerodynamic and comfortable, and foot-gear, such as studs for grip, in football, should enable friction between the player and the ground.  There are several brands competing for better quality of baseball gloves!  This is primarily for one reason- each company claims to manufacture gloves with better ‘tack’ (grip). So if you ever goal-keep in a baseball match, be sure to note that your gloves have been lined with dry adhesive to help you do a better job! 

In 2007, Speedo developed a swimsuit that could eliminate 5% of the drag of the body in water.  So a swimmer attired in this suit would have wedged through the water while his opponents trudged!!

Why do you think a shuttle is replaced as soon as even the most minor of defects is noticed in it? Have you ever observed while playing badminton that the racket rarely touches the feathers in the shuttlecock? The shuttle is designed such that it descends with a trajectory that keeps the ‘cork face’ towards both players. So if you ever notice that your opponent has gained an unfair advantage over you in the game, check your shuttlecock! 

Golf is said to be a sport played in leisure, but one wouldn’t think so if one knew the actual science behind it! A golf-player needs to be extremely choosy about the golf clubs he buys, as stated in an article by Trevor Stoddard ,“If the player uses a club with a flexible shaft, the act of swinging adds an additional measure of torque as the head of the club also propels forward to connect with the ball.  The head of the club has grooves that increase the friction between the club and the ball, allowing the club to more effectively focus the area of contact.”

Do you recall lagging behind in a 200 metre race by a considerable distance? Where exactly was your start-point? Was it in the inner-most lane? If so, you are justified. It’s tougher to grasp momentum while turning in the inner lanes than in the outer ones.

Sport is psychology itself! Be it analysis of faults and strengths, pursuit of a goal as clear as clear as crystal, enthusiasm, spirit, on the spur reactions, sledging, or spontaneous brain-games, sport has it all! In the 2016 IPL semi-final match of the Delhi Daredevils versus the Royal Challengers Bangalore, DD captain Zahir Khan managed to penetrate through one of RCB’s key batsmen- Virat Kohli’s flaws by placing slip fielders by the wickets. The trick worked fine to trap Kohli to hit into a fielder’s grip in the slip cordon. Chris Morris’ or David Warner’s sledging an opponent susceptible to over-excitement has always had an impact- it is like a bait that coaxes opponents to prove them wrong and in the process commit hasty blunders. In the Rio Olympic Badminton Final between P.V. Sindhu and Carolina Marin, both the players showed immense will-power, spirit and aggression. Their occasional victory-cries, probably meant to subdue the opponent, might have been a tactic employed to gain control over the game. The smashing finish with which Shaunae Miller clasped an Olympic sGold at the 400 metres at Rio just goes to show how focussed, how determined, how passionate she was for victory. It bears certain reflections on her presence of mind, too.

Think of Pele, Dipa Karmakar and Mary Kom. Think of their years of struggle against odds. Think of the scores of obstacles they had to face before getting a glimpse of success. Think of the stereotypes that might have put them off, but didn’t. Sport has its root in sociology. In her autobiography, Mary Kom says, “My life has been a tough one, and my beginnings were extremely humble. But I don’t wish for it to have been any different. At least in hindsight. Not at all. Because I realise that the hardships I faced in my formative years are the foundation of my strength.”  The science of society, sociology, is what truly makes a sportsperson. The toughness comes from challenges, not comfort.

There are several science-lovers and sportspeople in this world. If you are an outdoor person, it’s time to dig deep to discover the science in the sports you play.  If you are inclined towards bookish-science, there’s so much more to explore!! Just find a sport to suit your fancy, and you’ll see really how much science you’re using every day.

Hence, sports and science don’t merely co-exist- they are entwined together. There is a thread that binds them. There’s no thrill in sports without science (Sports won’t remain enthralling any longer!) and neither is there, especially to every school-going child, thrill in science without much-loved sports!!