What have other sports done?

[Garland Bayley]

What have other sports done?
Has baseball gotten rid of the sewn together ball to replace it with a solid ball?
Have the major leagues abandoned the wooden bat?
Have American and foreign football increased the performance of their footballs so they can be kicked farther?
Has basketball replaced the leather ball?
Have chess pieces been granted new powers?
Have springboards been added to the high jump, pole vault, long, and triple jump runways?
Have basketball courts been changed in size?
Has baseball lengthened the base paths? The distance from mound to plate?
Has football increased the size of the field?
Do basketball players use distance measuring devises to shoot?
Do Am. football quarterbacks use distance measuring devises to throw passes?
Do basketball players use segways?
Does any sport beside golf use segways?

[jeffwarne]

Golf's got it right. 
One major golf organization is building new tees as fast as possible for future championships and another is telling us to tee it forward.

If you had $250 million in the bank you wouldn't want anyone to sue you would you?

[John_Conley]

Garland, other sports have seen a significant change in the level of play.  You cite a number of examples, almost all team sports.  If both the players fighting for a rebound in basketball are taller, there might not be a reason to raise the hoop.

Darts and pool are similar to golf and I am not aware of any significant changes in either.  Bowling has seen specialized balls.

[Jon Wiggett]

Garland,

football (soccer) has seen massive changes to the ball. Polevaulting poles are made out of different materials than 50 years ago, snooker balls are lighter then they used to be. On the other side, the javelin has been altered to make it fly less far though I guess they had to when they ran out of stadium

Jon

[David_Tepper]

Garland -

Whether it is the equipment, the playing field or technique, alll sports have changed over time. No sport is played as it was 100 years ago.

In baseball, it has been the size & shape of gloves, the designated hitter and the pitching specialists coming out of the bull pen. Banning the spitball was a significant rule change as well.

In professional football, the rules are constantly being changed to impact how the game is played. The equipment the players wear has changed enormously over the years. In point of fact, there are now special balls used when a team is kicking a field goal.

In track & field, the fiberglass pole replaced the steel pole, which replaced the bamboo pole in the pole vault. Techniques in high-jumping and shot-putting have changed/evolved as well. Obviously, the rubber-ized track has changed the sport vs. the cinder track of 50-100 years ago.

Whether it is tennis, basketball, swimming, etc., the list goes on and on.

DT

P.S. After posting this in reply to your post on another thread, I thought of a few more examples of how baseball have changed repeatedly over the years.

In fact, baseball did deliberately juice up the ball 100 years or so ago to generate more offense and home runs. Even back then they knew "chicks dig the long ball." I have heard pitchers who pitched 20-30 years ago claim the current baseballs are harder and harder to grip, which makes throwing a breaking ball more difficult. The height of pitching mounds has been raised and lowered to change the game. Fences in ballparks get moved in or moved back regularly.

[Wayne_Kozun]

I am not sure if your questions are rhetorical or not, but here are a few things to think about.

Football did kind of increase the size of the field in 1974 goal posts were moved frm the goal line to the end of the end zones, making all field goals attempts 10 yards longer.

The NBA did try to change to synthetic leather balls a few years ago but they moved back to real leather.

Hockey does now use composite sticks that allow a player to increase the speed of his shot.  Hockey has also changed the distance from the goal line to the end boards and have standardized on the size of the playing surface which used to vary quite a bit.

The Pole vault saw a large increase in the heights jumped when they went to flexible fiber poles.

High jump saw much higher heights attained with new jumping methodologies, helped by larger padding - you wouldn't want to do a Fosbury Flop into a sand pit.

Soccer balls are now made from synthetic leather rather than real leather.  I remember using real leather balls as a kid and those things weighed a ton whent they got wet.  Rugby also uses synthetic leather balls that go much farther.

[Kalen Braley]

I hereby nominate this thread...

...most absurd thread premise of the year!   

[PCCraig]

Who cares what other sports have done. They are different sports.

[Ed Oden]

What have other sports done?  I think most have changed just as much or more than golf.
Has baseball gotten rid of the sewn together ball to replace it with a solid ball?  No, but the ball clearly changed with the invention of the cork ball in the early 1900s which ended the dead ball era.  Since then there have been many allegations that the ball has been manipulated to promote more offense.
Have the major leagues abandoned the wooden bat?  No, but every other level of baseball has switched to the alluminum bat which has unquestionably altered the game.
Have American and foreign football increased the performance of their footballs so they can be kicked farther?  Absolutely.  Have you ever seen an old football?  Try kicking this 63 yards....

Has basketball replaced the leather ball?  http://www.livestrong.com/article/345063-the-history-of-basketball-balls/
Have chess pieces been granted new powers?
Have springboards been added to the high jump, pole vault, long, and triple jump runways?  I guarantee you that the same person can jump or vault higher off of today's state of the art track surfaces as he or she could off of a similar state of the art surface from days past.
Have basketball courts been changed in size?  No, but the interior of the court has with changes to the lane, the charge circle and the three point line.
Has baseball lengthened the base paths? The distance from mound to plate?  No, but the height of the pitching mound was lowered in 1968 in an effort to counter the dominance of pitching.
Has football increased the size of the field?  No, but the goal posts have been moved from the goal line to the back of the endzone and the kickoff line has moved several times.
Do basketball players use distance measuring devises to shoot?  No, but they all know the dimensions of the lane, the foul line and the three point line, which is pretty close to the same thing.
Do Am. football quarterbacks use distance measuring devises to throw passes?  There are yardage markers on the field.
Do basketball players use segways? http://nwba.org/
Does any sport beside golf use segways?

[Garland Bayley]

Garland,

football (soccer) has seen massive changes to the ball.

You didn't answer my question.

Polevaulting poles are made out of different materials than 50 years ago,

reliability issue

snooker balls are lighter then they used to be. On the other side, the javelin has been altered to make it fly less far though I guess they had to when they ran out of stadium

Jon

[Howard Riefs]

Who cares what other sports have done. They are different sports.

I'm waiting for an opportune time to introduce 16" softball into this discussion.

[David_Tepper]

I believe the width of the goalposts in football has been narrowed over time, as has the width of the hash marks on the field. Both have had an impact on scoring.

[Wayne_Kozun]

And other sports have changed their scoring - the three point shot in basketball, rugby has changed the points awarded for trys, and has "penalty trys" where the referee essentially awards points.

Overtime has been added to sports like football and hockey.  Shootouts are held in soccer and hockey.  Hockey changed the number of players on each team from 7 to 6, forward passing was not allowed in hockey at times, etc.

[Wayne_Kozun]

Polevaulting poles are made out of different materials than 50 years ago,

reliability issue

The flexibility in modern poles allows for much higher jumps.

[Kalen Braley]

The forward pass wasn't allowed in American football by the original rules. It wasn't even allowed until the 20th century.

Can you imagine todays NFL and college football without the forward pass?  It wouldn't even be the same sport....

[PCCraig]

The next thing you know they will start replacing baseball umpires with instant replay!!!!


Oh....wait. 

[Garland Bayley]

Garland -

Whether it is the equipment, the playing field or technique, alll sports have changed over time. No sport is played as it was 100 years ago.

My question was not about technique.

In baseball, it has been the size & shape of gloves, Perhaps you can inform me of any applicable rules. Is there a size limit, as there is on the size of drivers? If all things change why limit the size of drivers?

 the designated hitter and the pitching specialists coming out of the bull pen.

Banning the spitball was a significant rule change as well.Vaseline is the analog

In professional football, the rules are constantly being changed to impact how the game is played. The equipment the players wear has changed enormously over the years. Safety issue

In point of fact, there are now special balls used when a team is kicking a field goal.Not familiar with this. What is the purpose

In track & field, the fiberglass pole replaced the steel pole, which replaced the bamboo pole in the pole vault. I'll grant you the pole improvements to improve performance
Techniques in high-jumping and shot-putting have changed/evolved as well. Technique
Obviously, the rubber-ized track has changed the sport vs. the cinder track of 50-100 years ago.Reliability


Whether it is tennis, basketball, swimming, etc., the list goes on and on.

DT

P.S. After posting this in reply to your post on another thread, I thought of a few more examples of how baseball have changed repeatedly over the years.

In fact, baseball did deliberately juice up the ball 100 years or so ago to generate more offense and home runs. Even back then they knew "chicks dig the long ball." I have heard pitchers who pitched 20-30 years ago claim the current baseballs are harder and harder to grip, which makes throwing a breaking ball more difficult. The height of pitching mounds has been raised and lowered to change the game. Fences in ballparks get moved in or moved back regularly.

Are you overselling the fence moving? I think so. Perhaps the did juice up the ball, but is not the ball highly regulated to keep the game relatively stable? Is not the height of pitching mounds highly regulated to keep the game relatively stable?

I'll give you the pole vault pole. Other than that it seems you are taking shots in the dark, or bringing up items not analogous to what my questions were about.

[David_Tepper]

Garland -

Re: special balls used for kicking in the NFL

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_different_footballs_used_in_the_NFL_for_passing_and_kicking

DT

[Garland Bayley]

I am not sure if your questions are rhetorical or not, but here are a few things to think about.

Football did kind of increase the size of the field in 1974 goal posts were moved frm the goal line to the end of the end zones, making all field goals attempts 10 yards longer. Practical safety issue

The NBA did try to change to synthetic leather balls a few years ago but they moved back to real leather.So the realized it is a mistake to misapply progress

Hockey does now use composite sticks that allow a player to increase the speed of his shot.  Is that the reason? Aren't new sticks more a reliability issue?
Hockey has also changed the distance from the goal line to the end boards and have standardized on the size of the playing surface which used to vary quite a bit.So they added regulation, thanks for the supporting example.


The Pole vault saw a large increase in the heights jumped when they went to flexible fiber poles.granted

High jump saw much higher heights attained with new jumping methodologies, helped by larger padding - you wouldn't want to do a Fosbury Flop into a sand pit. technique change. Besides, which came first the improved pit for safety, or the flop?

Soccer balls are now made from synthetic leather rather than real leather.  I remember using real leather balls as a kid and those things weighed a ton whent they got wet. Reliable performance issue Rugby also uses synthetic leather balls that go much farther.Who cares about Rugby? "much farther?" I guess I will have to ask my Rugby expert about that one.

[David_Tepper]

Garland -

One of the biggest equipment changes in hockey was when players realized the benefits of having curved blades on their sticks, which I am guessing occurred about 50 years ago. Players soaked the blades of their sticks in water to soften them so that they could mold them into curved shapes. This allowed them to elevate and curve their shots on goal.

The list goes on and on.

One further comment regarding changing the size of the playing fields of other sports compared to golf. All those other sports have had the dimensions of their playing fields stated in the rules & regulations of those sports. The big difference is, to the best of my knowledge, golf has never had any rules regarding the dimensions of what constitutes a golf course.     

DT  

[Kalen Braley]

Sorry Garland.....no digging out of this one, your comebacks are falling way short.

The thread is officially busted, even though I'm sure you'll keep it going in official MM style.  Have fun, I'm out.

[Garland Bayley]

Do basketball players use distance measuring devises to shoot?  No, but they all know the dimensions of the lane, the foul line and the three point line, which is pretty close to the same thing.
Do Am. football quarterbacks use distance measuring devises to throw passes?  There are yardage markers on the field.
Do basketball players use segways? http://nwba.org/
Does any sport beside golf use segways?

Kalen wants absurd. Here is some of the absurdest stuff I have seen in awhile.

[Garland Bayley]

I believe the width of the goalposts in football has been narrowed over time, as has the width of the hash marks on the field. Both have had an impact on scoring.

Reference please.

[Garland Bayley]

Garland -

Re: special balls used for kicking in the NFL

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_different_footballs_used_in_the_NFL_for_passing_and_kicking

DT

So it's done for reliability, not performance.

[Tommy Williamsen]

As someone who has skied most of my life, I would not want to return to leather ski boots, wooden skis with no edges, and the old bindings.  Most sports have made many changes to help the participant be better.

That said, I do miss the sound of balata on persimmon and my Haig Ultra irons.  Every once in a while I will play with my old clubs.  After I have, I am no longer nostalgic.