Carbon Fiber in The Sporting Products Industry

Carbon fiber composites have become the material of choice in the sporting goods industry because of their light weight, high strength, and excellent fatigue resistance. The carbon fiber sporting goods market was inspired by the fact that Jim Flood was known as the Edison of golf in the U.S. In 1972, Jim Flood discovered that with carbon fiber golf clubs he could hit a golf ball 30 yards further than with iron golf clubs. Subsequently, carbon fiber was promoted as an alternative to metal in other sports such as badminton, tennis, pickleball, baseball, skateboarding, skiing, cycling, rowing and archery.

The advantages of carbon fiber in terms of weight and strength make it the preferred material for new sports equipment. What are the advantages of carbon fiber application on top of sporting goods?

  (1) Light weight

When people exercise with sporting goods, the lighter of the sporting goods, the more popular for people.

（2）Good mechanical properties
The specific strength and specific modulus of carbon fiber material cannot be surpassed by other materials, and its unique mechanical properties  meet the needs of sports equipment, which is an excellent choice for optional materials for sports equipment.

（3）Safe, hygienic and environmentally friendly

Carbon fiber composite material is an environmentally friendly material, which is also good in terms of hygiene and safety, and belongs to a new type of material with special properties, which is a recyclable resource.

（4）High plasticity

Plasticity is one of the basic conditions for manufacturing sports equipment, and plastics, carbon fiber composites, etc. have a certain degree of plasticity.

（5）Good aging resistance

Sports equipment when put into use need to have good corrosion resistance, aging resistance, etc., especially in the open air environment on the requirements of the more stringent, if the aging resistance is not good will seriously affect the service life of the equipment.

1 Carbon fiber tennis and Carbon fiber badminton rackets

The development trend of tennis racket is large-scale and lightweight. At present, most of the high and medium grade tennis rackets in the world are made of carbon fiber composite material. Large tennis racket needs to be made of carbon fiber composite material with light weight, large specific strength and specific modulus, which can withstand stronger net tension than wooden racket frame to ensure no deformation when hitting the ball. Carbon fiber composites with good vibration damping and damping properties give the player comfort while also allowing the tennis ball to gain a large initial velocity.

Tennis rackets made of composite materials are light but firm, with high rigidity and low strain, which can reduce the deflection of the ball when it contacts the racket, while the good damping property of CFRP can prolong the contact time between the gut and the ball, so that the tennis ball can obtain a large acceleration. For example, the contact time of the wooden racket is 4.33 ms, that of the steel product is 4.09 ms, and that of the CFRP is 4.66 ms, while the corresponding initial velocities of the ball are 1.38 km/h, 149.6 km/h, and 157.4 km/h, respectively.

2 Carbon fiber golf clubs

In 1972, the United States first used carbon fiber composite materials made of clubs, to 1998, the number of carbon fiber golf clubs significantly more than steel rods. Golf clubs by the grip, shaft body, head composition, made of carbon fiber composite materials can reduce the weight of the golf club about 10% ~ 40%. According to the theorem of conservation of momentum, when the total weight of the golf club is certain, the head weight of the club is light to improve the swing speed, which can make the ball get a larger initial velocity. In addition, the carbon fiber composite material has high damping characteristics, which can make the hitting time longer and the ball is hit farther.

3 Carbon fiber skis

Carbon fiber skis have very good bending and elasticity properties, providing better control and stability for athletes in high-speed skiing and slope jumping events. Compared with traditional ski materials, the use of carbon fiber materials can significantly reduce the weight of the board, thereby reducing the fatigue of athletes and improving performance.