Given that most sports rely heavily on physical capabilities, you might not assume that sports could also drive innovation. In practice, however, athletes who are scientists and inventors off the field have made numerous important contributions to sports and society as a whole.
Engineers and sports enthusiasts aren't the only ones who have cooking up new technologies, either. A farmer in southern Illinois, Arthur Ehrat, invented the breakaway basketball rim to stop players from destroying backboards when they dunked the ball. The original rim relied on springs from a John Deere tractor.
After a female jogger reached out to express her frustrations about women's athletic wear, designers Hinda Miller and Polly Palmer Smith purchased some jock straps, cut them up, and re-pieced them together to create the first sports bras. The sports bra has allowed more women to participate in sports and to perform at a high level.
Another legendary performance booster: Gatorade. Physician Robert Cade noticed that players on the University of Florida Gators football team consistently performed worse in the second half of each game. Dr. Cade theorized — and later proved — that dehydration was the problem and not just fatigue. Gatorade, named for the legendary team, was invented to replenish salt and sugar levels and quickly rehydrate the thirsty players.
Sports has had a big impact on safety as well. Today's helmets, whether for football or riding a motorcycle, are vastly superior to options of the past, thanks at least partly to investments in protective gear for athletes. Shawn Springs, CEO of Windpact and a former NFL player himself, recognized that many retired NFL players experienced significant neurological problems. His company now produces helmets that efficiently absorb and disperse energy to protect players and their most valuable assets — their brains.
