Effects of weather on sport
Encyclopedia
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
s are invalid if set under certain weather conditions. While outdoor sports are most affected, those played indoors can still be impacted by adverse or advantageous weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
conditions.
Temperature
TemperatureTemperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
has a significant impact of the performance of athletes. High temperature can cause various heat illness
Heat illness
Heat illness or heat-related illness is a spectrum of disorders due to environmental heat exposure. It includes minor conditions such as heat cramps, heat syncope, and heat exhaustion as well as the more severe condition known as heat stroke....
es such as heat cramps
Heat cramps
Heat cramps are muscle spasms that result from loss of large amount of salt and water through exercise. Heat cramps are associated with cramping in the abdomen, arms and calves. This can be caused by inadequate consumption of fluids or electrolytes. Frequently, they don't occur until sometime...
and heat stroke, while very low temperatures may lead to hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
.
Some major sporting events cannot be held when the temperature is too high. When FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
selected Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
as the host of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup
2011 AFC Asian Cup
The 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Qatar on 7–29 January 2011. It was the fifteenth time the tournament has been held, and the second time it has been hosted by Qatar, the other being the 1988 AFC Asian Cup...
they opted to run the event in the January window rather than July or August because they considered it to be "too hot in the Gulf region". However, the 2022 FIFA World Cup
2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the 22nd FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that is scheduled to take place in 2022 in Qatar. The competition is scheduled to take place in June and July, although proposals have been made for a winter season. The tournament will involve...
, also set to be held in Qatar, is scheduled for the Summer months (see 2022 FIFA World Cup#Weather).
Training
Training
The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of...
regimes may include methods of heat acclimatisation
Acclimatization
Acclimatisation or acclimation is the process of an individual organism adjusting to a gradual change in its environment, allowing it to maintain performance across a range of environmental conditions...
, and regulations in some sports stipulate the intensity of some schedules. The National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA) in North America requires teams to build up the level of training in hot weather. Such preparation intends to improve performance and reduce the potentially fatal risk of heat stroke.
Precipitation
Some sports are cancelled because of precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
. Some are deemed too dangerous to play when the ground is damp because of the danger of injury to a player through slipping.
When played professionally, the following sports do not usually take place during any level of precipitation:
- BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
- CricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
- TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
When the rain is excessive an event might be cancelled because of a waterlogged pitch
Waterlogging (agriculture)
Waterlogging refers to the saturation of soil with water. Soil may be regarded as waterlogged when the water table of the groundwater is too high to conveniently permit an anticipated activity, like agriculture....
. Winter sport
Winter sport
A winter sport is a sport which is played on snow or ice. Most such sports are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally such sports were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and ice allow more flexibility...
s can sometimes be cancelled due to the amount of snow on the ground, be it too little or too much.
Wind
WindWind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
can blow the equipment in a sporting even, changing the direction or travel of a ball. In golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
the wind levels may influence the way a shot is taken.
A headwind can slow runners, while they may gain wind assistance
Wind assistance
Wind assistance is a term in track and field, which refers to the wind level during a race or event as registered by a wind gauge. Wind is one of many forms of weather which can affect sport....
from a tailwind
Tailwind
A tailwind is a wind that blows in the direction of travel of an object, while a headwind blows against the direction of travel. A tailwind increases the object's speed and reduces the time required to reach its destination, while a headwind has the opposite effect...
.
Some sports rely on the presence of wind, especially surface water sports
Surface water sports
The following is a list of surface water sports; these are sports which are performed atop a body of water.-Discing:Discing consists of standing on a circular wooden disc and being towed behind the boat. The disc supports the rider by means of spreading the weight out evenly across the water...
.
Visibility
Some sports cannot be played if there is insufficient visibilityVisibility
In meteorology, visibility is a measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. It is reported within surface weather observations and METAR code either in meters or statute miles, depending upon the country. Visibility affects all forms of traffic: roads, sailing...
as it can make them dangerous or can be disadvantageous to a competitor. Cricket test matches often finish when the umpire decides that the light level is too low and the timing of this can sometimes be controversial. The difficulties of playing in bad light conditions is also disputed. Some events are called off when there is heavy fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
.
The position of the sun can be a disadvantage to some competitors. In some circumstances a player may have their vision impaired by the brightness of the sun.
See also
- Altitude trainingAltitude trainingAltitude training is the practice by some endurance athletes of training for several weeks at high altitude, preferably over above sea level, though more commonly at intermediate altitudes due to the shortage of suitable high-altitude locations...
and the effects of high altitude on humansEffects of high altitude on humansThe effects of high altitude on humans are considerable. The percentage saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen determines the content of oxygen in our blood. After the human body reaches around 2,100 m above sea level, the saturation of oxyhemoglobin begins to plummet... - High altitude football controversyHigh altitude football controversyThe High altitude football controversy arose in May 2007 when FIFA introduced a ban on international matches at more than above sea level, citing concerns about players' health and the "unfair" advantage to acclimatised home teams...
- Magnus effectMagnus effectThe Magnus effect is the phenomenon whereby a spinning object flying in a fluid creates a whirlpool of fluid around itself, and experiences a force perpendicular to the line of motion...