Is there too much tech in sport?
From VAR in football to Garmin watches for athletics, it feels as though technology has invaded all aspects of life, sport in particular. This begs the question: is there too much technology in sport?
In 2024, it’s hard to escape technology and all the companies behind them. It seems like every day there’s a new gadget that is ‘necessary’ in our lives. The situation is the same in the sporting world – everything, even trainers, have some links to technology. People think that for them to get into a sport they need to own and use tech specific to that sport. But in my opinion, that shouldn’t be and isn’t the case.
Personally, I’m an avid runner and my main activity is my local parkrun every Saturday. Originally, I never used any extra tech and did just fine. But now that I’ve ran for 8 months and am keen to take it seriously, I’ve started to use some. My main gadget is my Garmin watch which records my steps, heart rate and logs entire periods of exercise whilst simultaneously tracking my location through GPS and playing downloaded music before instantly uploading it to a recorder app, Strava, when I finish.
On the surface, it sounds incredibly complicated. Realistically, I have to press a start and stop button and the watch does the rest. Strava is very useful in terms of providing statistics and timings that can help improve your fitness. Yet behind all the ease, I feel like it’s cheating in some way. Something as simple as putting one leg in front of the other quickly doesn’t really require numbers and data recording all the time. Similar technology is used by top-level athletes which makes me think that sometimes it’s a bit too influential in these sports in all levels of ability.
If I don’t record a run on Strava it doesn’t feel as though I have ‘completed it’, to some extent. Now I feel there’s a constant but subtle expectation to push yourself to the max once you’ve started recording on your watch. Suddenly the days of just going out and running as far as you like, as quick as you like, are gone. You’re more focused on the numbers and the stats rather than the beautiful scenery and the cool breeze alongside you.
However it’s a similar situation in mainstream sports – when at a Premier League football match, you can’t fully celebrate a goal as there’s a high chance that VAR will disallow it. The feelings of the wait after a goal is more like the stress of a court case rather than pure joy. In rugby, smart gumshields can sense concussion – which has improved the safety of the game. Whatever opinions you have on this, sport is constantly moving away from its enjoyable, treasured, humble roots.
In my opinion, I think there should be a healthy balance between human instincts and the amount of technology used. Overall, I believe the introduction of technology to sport has been very beneficial – especially in areas like athletics which revolve heavily on timings and numbers. But games with simple concepts, like football, do not require a precise, analytical approach all the time. What are your thoughts?
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