Wlodzimierz S. Erdmann Int. Journal of Engineering Research and Application www.ijera.com ISSN : 2248-9622, Vol. 3, Issue 5, Sep-Oct 2013, pp. 1840-1849 www.ijera.com 1840 | Page Products of Sport Engineering – Systematic Approach Wlodzimierz S. Erdmann Department of Biomechanics and Sport Engineering , J. Sniadecki University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland, EU ABSTRACT There are thousands of different kinds of sports. Every sport with a distinct aim and form requires its own technical support. In modern sport activities, both recreational and professional, for healthy and for disabled sportspersons, there are many activities based on using products of engineering. Those products are used by competitors, coaches, referees, servicepersons, organizers, journalists, sport scientists and other personnel. The groups of engineering products that have been developed over many years and are used today within many sports are those: 1) concerning the body – coatings, garments, accessories, genetics; 2) movable – equipment, vehicles, requisites, tools; 3) immovable – appliances, stands, rooms, buildings; 4) concerning information technology – hardware, software, communication, journalism; 5) miscellaneous – security, setting, trophies, gadgets and others. Keywords – sport engineering products, human body, movable, immovable, IT I. INTRODUCTION The process of training, testing, and competition is complicated. In different sports one has to develop different skills. A model of optimization for the whole process is very important. This is achieved by people from many areas of interest. Besides competitors, coaches, and administrators, the sports profession needs scientists, specialists in medicine, journalists, economists, and lawyers. In the long history of sport, and especially during recent years, special group devoted to sport has played a very important role. This is a group of engineers. There are many different kinds of sports all over the world. Lipoński gathered 8000 of them and he presented 3000 sports in one publication [1]. Every sport with a distinct aim and form requires its own technical support. In a book edited by Kreighbaum and Smith [2] the word equipment was used to describe different engineering products devoted to sports. In modern sport activities, both recreational and professional, for healthy and for disabled sportspersons, there are many activities based on using products of engineering that are much more of different, specific kinds, than presented in the above mentioned book. The aim of this article is to give a more detailed, full division of many creative works of engineering devoted to sports. In order to give to the reader better description of the problem, in this case – products of sport engineering, it is worthy to present it in a systematic form. In this way it is easier to acquire new knowledge of the investigated area. An article would be helpful for young investigators as a guide through very large area of sports engineering products. It will be easier for them to choose a proper branch they will be interested in. II. SPORT REQUIREMENTS Every sport needs some kind of technology. Engineers and technicians since ancient times have produced accessories, equipment, vehicles as well as gymnasia, stadia for utilisation during sports training and competitions. With the foundation of modern sport in the 19th century and the boom in sport in the 20th century, a need for specific sport engineering has been in great demand. In Poland, Pawlowski [3, 4] published early papers devoted to sport engineering. In another paper [5] he gave an example of utilisation of non-sport- based technology in the production of sports equipment. Haake [6] described the impact of technology on sport performance in athletics and cycling. For sportspersons who are of different morphology many sizes have to be produced. What is more, for elite sportspersons garments and equipment are manufactured individually to fit them precisely. Usually, garments or equipment have to be much more resistant to stress than normal products. In particular products must be resistant to overloading forces, to constant sweat touching the product, to high or low temperatures, and to a wet environment. There are no universal products. Products should always be adapted to specific sport and needs [7]. Every engineering product has to be in compliance with the rules of a particular sport discipline. Physical data that must be in accordance with the rules are for example: dimensions, mass, moment of inertia, passing of air, and others. III. GROUPS OF SPORT PRODUCTS The groups of engineering products that have emerged and sophisticated over many years and are RESEARCH ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS