Knitting - The Future of Sport

Sam Thom

Knitting – It’s Everywhere

The craft of knitting and in particular weft knitting is everywhere. Being a Kiwi and a little bit obsessed with the societal power of sport, it is noted that knitting finds it’s way into almost any piece of sporting equipment on earth.

Tennis rackets, time trial bikes, F1 chassis, lacrosse sticks, surfboards, gymnastic mats and even the hulls of America’s Cup yachts contain knitting. Why is that?

It’s because knitting in its many forms is able to conform to almost an organic shape. Imagine, concave, convex, trapezoidal and may more, knits using a unique micro-mechanical structure can stretch and form to each. If they are then embedded with invisible, comfortable and incredibly durable sensors the scope for data collection is unimaginable.

Private, personal data collection about movement, gaining insights that will transform rest, recovery and fatigue management in sport over the next century. No bulky hard “wearables” place at points on the body or sporting equipment that actually don’t measure the limb, muscle or “sweet spot” as stated. Sensors that are invisible, comfortable and accurate over the lifetime of the participant or the product.

Footfalls’ technology is such a system. Knitted sensors embedded in the fabric of your favourite sport. To carry on the theme of last week our technology can easily measure respiration on a human cyclor in the America’s Cup as well as the pressure on the twin skinned mainsails used on the AC75s and finally to the internal flex and load on the composite hulls of said boats.

Knitting exists in each of these places and provides a platform to revolutionise sport. Hopefully it will help humanity get faster, quicker and stronger. At Footfalls we also hope it will make everyone healthier and happier.

Do good.

www.footfallsandheartbeats.com/applications