Impact of Technology in Sports Like Hockey

The world we are living in is full of technologies. Technology has taken over our lives in a way that we can’t even point out the entire impact of it in our daily mundane tasks. Because we are too used to it. 

Sport is the thing, which came a long way with our civilization. People always embraced it spontaneously. It's an ancient system through which people used to have fun. Now with the technologies, the sport rules and applications turned easy and more accurate. 

Hockey is an old sport. The beginning of ice hockey was on the frozen lakes of colder countries. People used branches and twigs as the hockey stick. Frozen dungs were used as pucks.

Boots were strapped with leathers and different animal body parts were used as protection pads. If in this modern-day we see a hockey player like that on ice, we all will surely find it hilarious. 

Hockey has changed a lot since the 1800s. The best change so far is even in hot and humid countries, people can play ice hockey in climate-controlled rinks, at any time of the year. The technology is taking hockey to places where people haven’t even seen hockey earlier. 

Instead of the branches and twigs, players are using composite sticks. Those are long-lasting and have better controls. They are now lighter, stronger, and are in perfect shape to hit the pucks in the right place.

Pucks used on the rinks now is motion-controlled, the shape and the surface of it has so many different dynamics, the engineering even on the pucks are mind-blowing. 

Coming to the gears they wear, the technology has taken the wearability quite ahead. Protective gears are now lighter but give much-increased protection. Earlier the pads were bulky and had bad fittings.

These issues were causing the player injuries and discomforts during the match. Now the gears use 3D mapping technology to measure the shape which will fit the player perfectly.

As a result, we are getting to see the best hockey elbow pads, helmets, shin guards, gloves, etc. The gears are so breathable that players can go for longer matches now. 

The biggest upgrade in the protective gears was the foam technology. Long back people used animal furs to protect themselves from the pucks. Then slowly they started using the layer of the clothes.

After that, they moved towards the foams. The foams were bulky and the breathability was nearly zero. So it was hard for players to stay in those for longer. Later on, they tried to use lighter foams. But those weren’t good enough to give protection.

Another big problem was the energy transfer. The fatter the layer, the greater the loss of energy. It is really important in hockey that the player gets to use his total energy in every movement.

Then the technology came up with memory and composite foams. Those are lighter, fit the body well, very breathable, and gives excellent protection. The foams use three layers.

When the puck hits it, the outer layer squeezes and throws the puck away from the body leaving the skin and bone totally safe. It fits well, so the movement of the player is not compromised. 

Coming down to the boots, technology was used in it the most. Cause the better you get to move, the better the sport is. The blades were shaped so well to grip the ice properly.

Energy transfer in every stride was a huge concern here. So they reduced layers between the boots and the blades. Even in roller hockey, the upgrade was excellent.

The variation in the wheel sizes and use of physics brought some of the best inline hockey skates. All these upgrades made the players perform better than ever before. Technology surely came as blessings for the players. 

Due to technology, hockey training got easier. Now one can use simulators and many more training friendly gears. Playing hockey and getting sufficient training was never this easy.

Players can measure their shot accuracy and easily find out their flaws and can work on those by using technology. With the technologies today, one can never be out of practice.

You can take your game anywhere at any time and start playing. Plus technology has discovered the required physical training for a player. Which made the workouts more specified for the players.

This saves a lot of time and effort for the player. For players with excellent shape and training, hockey is now exciting than ever before. 

Technology made the game more accurate. The application of the rules has been spot on. Earlier people used to have huge debates about rule violations and penalties.

But now every inch of the rink is covered by cameras. It is possible to find out and justify a player’s move and motive, so the fouls are penalties are mostly fair now. The gameplay is easier now. 

 

Lastly, technology has engulfed our life. In our regular life, there are some adversities of it, which is still a concern. But sport is such a field which most probably didn’t face any adversity of the technology. Technology had made games more available and fun for people. 

All these are attracting more people into sports and made sports a huge platform in the world. Technology has really been a blessing to the sports world.