WOOD AND SPORT

Wood is a material that can be found in many areas of our lives and not only for its use in construction or furniture manufacturing. In this case, we are going to focus on its presence in sports, where it already has a long “career”.

For many years, we have seen how wood has been used as the base material for many instrument sports. This is mainly due to the resistance and versatility of this material. Some examples where it has been recurrent are tennis rackets, golf clubs or skis, although in some of them the use of wood has been disappearing in search of lighter materials. Despite this, some sports have ended up returning to its use, such as skateboarding or surfboards, where the demand for wooden boards has risen considerably in recent times. One of the most widely used wood species for the manufacture of surfboards is undoubtedly paulownia wood, as its lightness, strength and sustainability make it the wood “of choice” for many manufacturers and lovers of this sport.

In other sports, however, wood has never disappeared, as in the manufacture of baseball bats, table tennis paddles, gymnasium backstops or billiard cues. For these instruments, we will need species with good dynamic flexion and ease of turning and bending, the most commonly used species being ayous or beech, among others.

It is also recurrent to see wood in the manufacture of surfaces where sports activities are developed, in order to ensure comfortable practice and reduce the possibility of incidents. It is very common to see this type of surface in sports where the game is played indoors, such as basketball, handball or rhythmic gymnastics. For these cases, hard and resistant wood species are recommended, the most commonly used being maple, beech or ash.

On the other hand, the increase in ecological awareness coupled with the aesthetic value of this material is also causing the positioning and the new trend of wood in sport. It sounds interesting, for example, to surf a wave in the middle of nature, on a unique piece made of a natural material that is also environmentally responsible.

Finally, from MADERAS Y CHAPAS BLANQUER, we support the resurgence of this trend for all the advantages that this material can bring to the world of sport, where we are sure that wood and sport will continue to be allies for many years to come.

BIBLIOGRAPHY .

1. https://instaladorparquetvalencia.es/pavimentos-de-madera-para-superficies-deportivas/
2. https://diagnosisdelamadera.com/la-madera-cultura-tradicion-traves-del-deporte/
3. https://espaciosdemadera.blogspot.com/2018/07/la-madera-en-el-deporte.html
4. https://maderame.com/madera-articulos-deportivos/
5. https://greemap.es/paulownia/la-madera-de-paulownia-y-el-surf/