Sportspeople have been trying to get an edge since the 3rd century BC,
when barefoot Olympic runners switched to sandals. For all the cost
and technology of today's gear, most of it is incremental – helping us
run a bit faster or hit the ball a bit further. So hats off to these
inventors, who transformed major sports.
1 The vulcanised rubber tennis ball
Charles Goodyear spent nearly 20 years trying to create a rubber that
didn't stink, melt or crack. Having been imprisoned for debt, nearly
killed himself with nitric acid and worn a foul-smelling rubber suit for
promotional purposes, he finally chanced upon his dream of "vulcanised"
rubber in 1843. Once rubber balls could be pumped up hard enough to
bounce properly off grass, lawn tennis – and modern football – soon
followed.
2 The dartboard For centuries
boards were barrel tops or slices of tree with bull's eyes marked. Then,
in 1896, Bury showman Brian Gamlin devised a 1-20 board, with the
higher scoring segments separated by lower ones to make the game harder.
His layout is one of the best of the myriad possible combinations. But
even that wasn't as clever as the slogan he used to draw punters to his
fairground stall: "No skill required".
3 The lawn mower
Before the lawn mower, all sports fields had to be grazed messily by
sheep, or cut by men with scythes while the dew was still on the grass.
That was until 1830 when West Country engineer Edwin Beard Budding
adapted wool trimming technology to "crop or shear the vegetable surface
of lawns". Once anyone with a few quid could have a reliable playing
surface, the way was open for new games such as croquet and tennis.
4 Longitudinal socks
Now known as cricket pads. "Long" Jack Robinson of Surrey first saved
his shins with a wooden pair in 1800, but it took vulcanised rubber and
batsman Nicholas "Felix" Wanostrocht to make them acceptable. Felix's
enthusiasm for leg protection in the 1840s was no surprise given that
Kent team-mate Alfred Mynn was so badly injured at the wicket that he
almost lost his leg. Footballers adopted shin guards from 1874.
5 The Haskell golf ball
Bouncing a ball of rubber bands paid off for Ohio businessman Coburn
Haskell in 1899. He found that such a ball, coated with traditional
latex or gutta percha, had more spin and "feel" and flew 25 metres
further than existing "gutty" balls. With bumps (which later became
dimples) to reduce their swerve, Haskell's "bounding billies" won
Alexander Herd the 1902 Open, ushering in more challenging courses and
more aggressive play.
6 The rubber-faced table tennis bat
Table tennis would have remained a harmless pat-a-cake had it not been
for London sporting goods manufacturer Frank Bryan. James Gibb's
introduction of the celluloid ball helped, but it was Bryan's 1901
rubber-faced Atropos bat ("A wonderful bat for screwing") that made it a
genuine athletic sport. In fact the spin became so unplayable on serve
that since the 30s the ball has had to be tossed up from the palm.
7 The derailleur gear
Two was the full range of gears available to racing cyclists before
Tullio Campagnolo, competing in the 1927 Gran Premio della Vittoria,
found himself on the snowy Croce d'Aune pass in the Dolomites, trying to
disengage his back wheel and turn it round to employ the other gear for
the descent. Tullio's moment of realisation led to the quick-release
hub and, in 1937, to the first rod-operated derailleur, as used by
Fausto Coppi, above.
8 The racing shell
His rivals cried "foul", but it was Tyneside's Harry Clasper who put
together the first modern rowing boat. Clasper combined a narrow
lightweight hull with cross-braced outriggers so that the crew, now
seated in line, could get the same leverage as on a wider craft. By
replacing tubs with tubes, Harry and his family won the 1845 national
rowing championships and he built his first eight-man "Clasper" three
years later.
9 The rounded cue tip
Before Captain Francois Mingaud invented the rounded cue tip in 1807, a
push and prod was as sophisticated as a billiards shot could be.
Mingaud's tip opened up a whole new level of skill, allowing a ball to
be spun back. Eventually he had 40 shots in his locker, including
glancing blows and raised cue shots. Pros such as Jack Carr made a
living selling special "twisting chalk", until it was discovered that
any old chalk would do.
10 Shorts
The
1947 US and Wimbledon champion Jack Kramer saw artificial surfaces,
metal rackets and cortisone injections – but rated shorts, which he was
the first to wear on Centre Court, the greatest innovation of all.
Credit goes to Loretto School in Musselburgh, where shorts replaced
knickerbockers in football in the 1890s, and where the boys played golf
without coats and pioneered 'anatomical' – left and right-fitting -
boots.
