Photos by Josh Wilson, August 2024, Women’s Golf, The Walker Course, Clemson University
Women’s Golf Month is celebrated throughout June each year. This June, we celebrate Clemson Women’s Golf which has a strong history of elite performance and camaraderie with the academics at Clemson University.
Over the years, various faculty at Clemson have studied the science behind the game and its players.
Faculty from Clemson University’s Department of Bioengineering, including Interim Director of the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute, John DesJardins, Ph.D., have studied ‘balance improvements and golf swing kinematic consistency with eight-week balance interventions.’ The purpose of the study, conducted in 2020, was to determine if a training program targeted specifically at balance could enhance players’ overall performance by improving postural stability and swing consistency. After studying eight NCAA Division I players, it was determined that balance training would enhance posture but, while no negative effects were measured, swing consistency did not improve. Another benefit of the study showed the importance of conducting research to help coaches and players understand both the positive and negative effects of their training programs and to potentially make modifications based on that data. While the original study was conducted with male golfers, its conclusions can be applied across teams. Click here to read the full article in the Journal of Sports Research.
Another Clemson faculty member, Gregory Cranmer, Ph.D., from the Department of Communication and fellow of the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute, has studied ‘female golfer’s uncertainty management during their transition into professional golf.’ The 2020 study offers potential strategies for collegiate organizations and professional associations to prepare student-athletes for the uncertain transition into professional golf.
On August 28-29, the Tiger Golf Gathering (TGG) Foundation will host the 2025 Tiger Golf Gathering in Clemson, an annual fundraising event that benefits the Clemson Golf program. The event features a Thursday Open at The Walker Course and Auction Party in the afternoon at the Madren Conference Center and Inn. Friday morning features the Tiger-Am at The Cliffs at Keowee Springs. Meet current and former Tigers and bid on some amazing items to support your Clemson golfers. Sponsorships and online donations are also available.
Click here to learn more about Clemson’s sports science faculty.
In 2025, Clemson’s Headgear Impact Performance (CHIP) Lab continues pushing boundaries in helmet safety research, making significant progress through innovative, student-engaged projects. Led by Dr. John DesJardins, professor of bioengineering and interim director of the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute (RHBSSI), and Dr. Greg Batt, associate professor of packaging science and faculty fellow of RHBSSI, the lab focuses on enhancing how protective headgear is tested and developed, particularly for high-impact sports like football. The goal: bring greater accuracy and real-world relevance to helmet testing systems to better protect athletes from concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
In recent years, the team received a patent for their novel testing method and a Technology Maturation Grant from the Clemson University Research Foundation (CURF), the technology transfer and innovation office for Clemson, to make a benchtop testing machine that they can market. Within just the first few months of 2025, Clemson students achieved the publication of three research articles (featured at the bottom of this post) showcasing this momentum. Much of the content was centered around improvements to testing equipment, especially the crash test dummy.
Anthony Marino working in the CHIP Lab
One significant contribution came from the lab’s involvement in a collaborative, multi-site study comparing two standard neck models used in helmet testing, one produced by Humanetics and the other by Jasti Co., both manufacturers of anthropometric test devices (ATDs). Although both neck forms meet federal safety standards, little has been done to compare their performance under sports-specific conditions. Working alongside the University of Southern Mississippi, Clemson Ph.D. student Anthony Marino conducted impact tests with each neck form and found subtle, yet meaningful, differences in how the head accelerated and moved. These insights are critical, especially for labs that standardize results across different testing setups.
Building on this, the student-engaged team set out to improve how realistic and reliable these test dummies are. Many commonly used models, like the Hybrid III, were initially designed for car crash testing, not the unpredictable, multi-directional impacts seen in sports. To address this, the Clemson group experimented with modifications to the dummy’s neck, adjusting cable stiffness and accounting for asymmetrical design features. Even minor tweaks led to significant changes in how the head moved during impact, offering a deeper understanding of how minor variations can influence helmet safety data. These findings help fine-tune testing protocols to reflect real-world conditions on the field.
Madysn Cardinal (left) and Anthony Marino (right)
Meanwhile, a separate research group took testing innovation even further by designing a new method for future concussion research. Led by Ph.D. student Madysn Cardinal, they developed and validated an inverted testing fixture, essentially flipping the dummy upside down to better simulate the effects of brain fluid movement during impacts. This setup could be especially valuable when using cadaveric specimens to study how cerebrospinal fluid and blood shift in response to trauma. After running a full comparison between the inverted and traditional upright test methods, they found strong alignment in critical measurements like angular velocity and linear acceleration. This confirmed the new system’s reliability and potential to support more advanced brain injury studies.
Now with the Technology Maturation Grant from CURF, the team is working to turn their initial patent claims into a working prototype. They are focused on developing a new testing setup specifically designed to evaluate the safety of faceguards, a critical but often overlooked component of protective sports gear. A new Clemson Master’s students will play a key role in advancing this project, gaining hands-on experience while pushing innovation forward in the field of sports science.
Together, these projects highlight Clemson’s growing role as a leader in sports safety research. By challenging outdated standards, refining testing tools and fostering cross-lab collaboration, the CHIP Lab is redefining how we evaluate helmet performance. The CHIP Lab deeply engages its graduate and undergraduate student members, gaining hands-on experience while directly contributing to the future of athlete protection. With continued leadership from Dr. DesJardins, Dr. Batt and support from the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute, Clemson is helping make sports safer, one carefully measured impact at a time.
Check out these recent publications from Spring 2025:
Marino AP, Jesunathadas M, Landry T, Piland SG, DesJardins JD, Batt GS. Comparison of dynamic performance of Jasti and Humanetics neckforms with an inter-lab validation. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology. 2025;0(0). doi:10.1177/17543371241312829
Cardinal MD, Marino AP, DesJardins JD, Batt G. Development and validation of inverted head form orientation for helmet testing using a pneumatic linear impact system. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology. 2025;0(0). doi:10.1177/17543371241309998
Marino AP, Cardinal MD, Garrison A, Batt GS, DesJardins JD. Effects of varied stiffness and design asymmetry of neck anthropometric test devices on quasi-static and dynamic loading response to football head impacts. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology. 2025;0(0). doi:10.1177/17543371251322217
This April, Dr. Ashlyn Hardie, Institute fellow from the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, co-led the first-ever Starting Block Accelerator in London, England with Dr. Per Svensson from Louisiana State University. This innovative initiative is the first of its kind, eliciting pioneering research in the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) sector. Funded by RHBSSI through a seed grant awarded in 2024, this research has already led to notable, practical impacts, scholarly implications and industry partnerships.
The goal of the Starting Block Accelerator is to support nonprofit leaders, and subsequently their SDP organizations and beneficiaries, regarding various aspects of capacity building. The Starting Block Accelerator’s most distinct contribution to the SDP sector and the research within sport management is that the accelerator is entirely evidence-based and designed to bridge the gap between practice and research in SDP.
Five SDP organizations joined Hardie’s crew in London for a four-day intensive workshop where grassroots leaders from around the world were flown in to participate in a research-backed capacity building accelerator. The five organizations selected were invited because they all met the following criteria: their organizations (1) are operating in the late-start-up or early-growth life cycle stages and (2) have diverse geographic locations, cultural contents and/or sports for implementation.
According to Hardie, the goal of the Starting Block is to “bring in these organizations who have been around for a couple of years and are already doing really great things. But, despite how incredible their work is, they struggle to secure resources and make ends meet. Most SDP leaders are coaches and educators in their educational and training background, so we want to support them in developing the managerial and business-oriented skill sets needed to move further into the growth and maturation life cycle stages.”
Meet the team
The SDP organizations, represented by their founders in London, included: X-SUBA, a multi-sport mechanism for youth development based in Uganda; Atoot!, a women and girls empowerment soccer organization based in Nepal; Lwandi Surf, a surf academy for local youth in Mozambique; EmpowerVan, a mobile martial arts and self defense initiative for refugees in Athens, Greece; and Free Movement Skateboarding, a skateboarding initiative for local youth participants, also based in Athens.
Accompanying Hardie, Svensson and these SDP leaders in London, was Dr. Kat Raw from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. Though unable to attend in London, Dr. Gareth Jones from Temple University is also a research affiliate of the initiative – ultimately demonstrating the vast networking and collaborative efforts of the Starting Block Accelerator. These collaborations are not just with practitioners and industry leaders but have also led to multi-institutional academic partnerships.
The workshop
After the groups arrived in London, the first workshop day focused on foundational concepts of nonprofit management in SDP. Topics included mission statements, programmatic goals and alignment, and analyzing partnerships and surrounding operational environments for their success. Participants engaged in a series of activities to help challenge, support, refine and rewrite organizational aspects as needed. Having this strong foundation in place allowed for deeper work in the following days to ensure optimal outcomes.
“Day one was very foundational stuff, like ‘Let’s go through all these things, let’s break down the structure of your organization and really understand where you might have any gaps, whatever it is, so we can focus on where to build,’” Hardie said.
Hardie (far left) with her research team and SDP founders on day two of the workshop
Day two focused on various aspects of monitoring and evaluation, analyzing how each organization collects its data and suggesting how to build strong arguments for potential stakeholders by using data to provide evidence of their outcomes to potential partners and funders. Each organizational leader was prompted through a series of activities to contemplate their own data, access to data and opportunities for data collection that could serve their need to demonstrate effectiveness of their outcomes. Consulting was provided regarding data collection, analysis and, ultimately, the storytelling necessary to turn that data into something accessible for potential partners, funders and others.
The next day involved higher-level managerial concepts, discussing various strategies for securing funding, and practical methods for accessing and digesting evidence-based research in SDP. Given the goal of this initiative is to bridge the gap between research and practice, Hardie stated, “Our aim was to help improve their capacities to conduct their own research through developing skills and knowledge on monitoring and evaluation techniques, but also to help them understand what academic research is open-access and available to them, as well as tactics for making this research digestible for practical use.”
Hardie and her team felt this was an essential part of the accelerator, to ensure their participants knew how to access notable findings on SDP organizations. According to Hardie, so many organizations are using trial and error methods on what works and what does not, because so much of scholarly research is buried behind paywalls or written in academic language that is tough to understand for non-native English speakers.
The group working on strategies for organizational improvement in London
“There’s a massive gap, specifically in sport for development, because of the paywall and then the language barrier to such an international industry,” she said. “So, what we did on that third day was really focus on translating… how are we taking research and providing it to them in a way that has no cost and is easy to access and comprehend.”
The fourth and final day focused on developing capacities for innovation within the SDP sector. The content focused on practical techniques that each group could use to be innovative in its leadership, utilize modern resources like artificial intelligence, and strategically innovative in their brand, positioning and partnerships.
To wrap up the initiative, at the end of day four, Hardie and team hosted a networking event for the five participating founders to meet with a group of industry-leading representatives from various globally renowned funding bodies in SDP.
“We set it up like a speed dating event,” said Hardie. “At the start, each of our five participants were able to give a 5-10 minute ‘elevator pitch’ for their organization to the group of funders. Then, we created a rotation of 15-minute cycles where SDP leaders could get personalized feedback from the attending funders – likely individuals who have reviewed their applications in the past or will review applications of theirs in the future.”
A “massive success”
At the end of it all, the event was a “massive success” according to Hardie. Not only did the research team gain valuable feedback and insight from the co-design element of the pilot accelerator but, practically, there were noteworthy developments seen for each organizational leader and the capacities they developed over the week. Networking across the research team, practitioner participants and industry funders was a key takeaway from the event, as it has led to new collaborations, friendships and future funding, research and applied opportunities.
“It was really collaborative and the participants all became seemingly real friends over the course of a few days. It was really special to watch,” she said. “I think, from a positive culture and facilitation standpoint, it was a massive success. But, also from an outcome standpoint, we were so pleased with the engagement and some of the developments, ideas and next steps that came out of the week.”
Starting Block practitioners, SDP organization founders and potential funders meeting on the final day of the workshop
The organizations have expressed immense gratitude for the support they received over the week in London. Historically, SDP groups desperately look for support, seeking resources, partnerships and/or funding – all of which lead to routine rejection and feelings of defeat. To this end, Hardie noted:
“I think just participating in something like this, on its own – regardless of outcomes – restores faith for people. It heals some of their burnout. It heals some of the trauma that these organizational leaders go through by constantly feeling like they’re just hitting dead end after dead end after dead end, or getting rejected consistently by the same funding groups. It kind of breathes life into people in a way. Just like it did for our research team. It heals some of our burnout, some of our frustrations. It restored heightened levels of inspiration and motivation for our research team and those industry leaders too.”
The future of Starting Block
As for the future, Hardie’s team is collecting follow-up data from the Starting Block in London and will continue collecting longitudinal data on the outcomes from the accelerator over the next year. The cohort format is something that the research team plans to keep, bringing in five new organizations in the next cycle, potentially with the mentorship and support from organizations who participated in the cohort before them. In terms of long-term goals, Hardie hopes to finalize an adaptable curriculum and network that allows the Starting Block to support SDP organizations on a pathway out of their start-up phases, into desired positions of growth and organizational stability.
This pilot for the Starting Block Accelerator is hopefully only the start of a multi-prong initiative with resource-providing platforms, with no barrier to entry for the global community of SDP leaders.
“This type of initiative is so wildly innovative, and something that’s so hard and unprecedented to get funding for, especially in sport for development,” Hardie said. “We are sincerely grateful for the RHBSSI seed funding, because it gives really impactful and powerful initiatives like this a chance! A chance to give proof of concept, to collect pilot data to go for bigger funding and, individually, a chance for those practitioners and our research team to engage in once-in-a-lifetime work. So, for that, I am sincerely thankful.”
Amy Pope analyzing Lucas Mahlstedt’s pitching data (photo by Natalie Bell)
By Griffin Barfield
Lucas Mahlstedt, senior Physics major, has joined forces with Physics lecturer, Amy Pope, to analyze pitching data to examine how the mechanics of a baseball pitch relate to pitch velocity. . One of Clemson Baseball’s top relief pitchers, Mahlstedt is combining his love for the sport and physics to complete his senior thesis this semester.
Mahlstedtdemonstrating throwing motion (photo by Natalie Bell)
“Our main goal is to figure out what increases pitch velocity the most because there’s so many different ways,” said Mahlstedt. “So many different pitchers have different mechanics. You’ve got guys who throw from the side, up top, guys with different arm action.”
Mahlstedt’s throwing motion is a ‘submarine’ throw, which means his toss closely resembles an underhand throw by whipping his arm around his body, allowing the ball to come from different angles. The motion is untraditional compared to a pitcher that throws over their shoulder. Regardless of throwing motion, size and age, Mahlstedt is interested in establishing a consistent variable through physics that pitchers can use to improve their game.
“So, we’re trying to find something consistent that every pitcher could use at different levels,” he said.
The physics of sport
Pope teaches the physics of sport at Clemson. Her work intersects with different sports like football and, most recently, breakdancing which was introduced in the 2024 Paris Olympics. She has also worked closely with golf and ski jumping. This is her first time working with baseball student-athletes.
From golf to baseball, Pope describes how ball material makes this study different from one she had conducted with Clemson Golf students.
“I’ve worked with some of my students who have been in golf and we’ve looked at Trackman data for that,” Pope said. “Golf is difficult because the balls have dimples, which give a lot of additional air flow and make the ball stay in the air longer.”
Using a Newtforce Mound to collect data, Mahlstedt has narrowed down variables that could help detect a linear relationship for faster pitches.
“The Newtforce Mound looks like a piece of plywood that’s at a little bit of an incline,” Pope explained, “and whenever you are stepping on the plate, it’s recording all of the forces that are acting on it in three dimensions at one time.”
A radar gun is also used to detect the speed of each pitch.
Mahlstedtgearing up to pitch.
With the help of these tools, Mahlstedt believes that the acceleration impulse of the pitch, or the ground force measured from the pitcher’s leg lift, could be the variable he’s been looking for.
The two compared Mahlstedt’s data with other pitchers and managers on the team, who participated in the research, and they saw a linear correlation.
“For multiple pitchers, we have observed that the larger the impulse put into the ground during the pitch, and conversely, the harder the ground pushes up on the player, the faster the exit velocity of the ball,” Pope said.
While there are various details that could be factors, such as stride length in the pitcher, their arm strength and effective kinetic chain of their arm movement, the two are putting their attention to how the ground forces affect the exit velocity of the ball.
“I think we narrowed it on mainly focusing on the lower half of the body,” Mahlstedt said.
With a full-body sport like baseball, there is high injury incidence at all levels. Baseball pitchers face risk of serious injury throughout their careers; therefore, performance cannot be fostered without a serious look at injury prevention.
“We can talk about injury prevention because if you can get that lower half of your body into it, you’re going to be able to throw the ball faster without risking your throwing arm as much,” Pope said.
“If you can generate more velocity from [your lower body], it should be less from [your upper body], at least,” Mahlstedt agreed.
The results are in
For the Clemson pitcher, the results have been working. As of April 2, the pitcher has a 1.09 earned run average(ERA), striking out 34 in 24.2 innings pitched this season, and an opposing batting average of .180. Mahlstedt has also noticed that he has “been throwing harder” over the course of this season.
Pope and Mahlstedtreviewing results
The senior has been using a larger acceleration impulse for his pitches, heightening the force that he puts in the ground from his leg lift. From this force, and according to Newton’s third law of motion, the opposite reaction that the ground gives him the force that he needs to throw faster.
If this variable is important, how, then, does an athlete train to increase their acceleration impulse?
“A lot of water bag drills,” said Mahlstedt. “It’s used for stability, but if you take a water bag and you move it and you kind of rock, you almost feel this impulse with the water sloshing back and forth. It just improves stability.”
Jumping exercises, such as one leg jumps, have helped Mahlstedt’s transfer of force, which would allow for a linear increase.
“That has led to that increase in acceleration impulse and then an increase in velocity,” he said.
As for the future, Mahlstedt and Pope will be further researching how the upper and lower body interact during a pitcher’s career progression, hypothesizing that measuring the lower half of the body could lead to more findings that will help pitcher training.
“The kinetics with the ground forces in the lower half is easier because we have to do the force itself,” Mahlstedt said.
“We’re looking at ways that we can quantitatively say that most players, if they do this, they should be throwing the ball faster,” Pope added. “Each athlete is very individualized with their body mechanics and in what they do, so we’re just trying to look at some overall metrics that a player might be able to look at to see if they can improve that metric and, thereby, improving their pitching speed.”
Injury prevention was another future topic mentioned, due to the amount of pitchers that suffer upper body injuries from body fatigue. Most of the research released about baseball pitchers is about injury prevention, and the two are interested in evaluating how their research on lower body forces can add to prevention.
“If you can focus on the lower half to increase the speed of the pitch,” Pope said, “that’s probably less damaging to the arm. Not a lot of pitchers go out because they injure the lower half.”
Whether the MLB Draft or a future in baseball is in the cards, Mahlstedt hopes that his research will be the continuation of something important, whether in pitcher development or injury prevention, on the baseball diamond.
SunWoo Park, Clemson Ph.D. candidate, presents her research on the college football sport experience at a CSRI poster session
Clemson University’s Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute (RHBSSI) recently showcased at the College Sport Research Institute’s (CSRI) annual conference on college sport held March 19-21 in Columbia, South Carolina.
CSRI’s mission is to encourage and support interdisciplinary and inter-university college sport research, serve as the research consortium for college sport researchers from across the United States, and disseminate college sport research results to academics, college practitioners, and the general public.
As a premiere sponsor of the event, RHBSSI contributed to the success of the conference and engaged in meaningful discussions with scholars, practitioners and industry leaders studying college sport. Several RHBSSI faculty fellows and Clemson students attended, gaining valuable insights and sharing their cutting-edge research and innovation in sport. This gathering highlighted the Institute’s commitment to advancing research, education and collaboration on issues in intercollegiate athletics.
Clemson expertise on college sport
Faculty and Ph.D. students from the following Clemson departments attended the conference on behalf of RHBSSI and presented their research on college sport.
Chris Corr, Clemson University / Robert Hoffman, The Pennsylvania State University Abington / Richard M. Southall, University of South Carolina / Christopher Atwater, Troy University
Sarah Stokowski, Clemson University / Alex E. Chisholm, Clemson University / Andrew Rudd, Franklin Pierce University / Michael Godfrey, Clemson University
“‘Thank you to the Institute for supporting me to attend CSRI,” said Sarah Stokowski, associate professor of athletic leadership in the Clemson University Department of Education and Organizational Leadership Development. “I had the best time! It was also nice to see so many of my Clemson colleagues in attendance.”
Sponsorship impact
RHBSSI Assistant Director, Kayla Rogers, at the sponsorship table
“The CSRI conference provided an engaging venue to meet experts from across the country leading the academic study of college sport,” said John DesJardins, interim director of RHBSSI. “Our faculty fellows from Clemson’s College of Education have a rich history of attending, presenting at, and leading the conference, and we were honored to be involved this year and support several faculty and students to attend and present.”
RHBSSI set up a table at the event, providing an established space to meet attendees and talk about potential cross-over.
“Partnering with CSRI was the perfect opportunity to support Clemson faculty in the field and facilitate more cross-collaboration – between our faculty and those at other universities studying intercollegiate athletics,” said Kayla Rogers, assistant director of RHBSSI.
“Brooks helped make the conference be the best that it could be and I’m beyond appreciative and grateful,” said Chris Corr, executive director of CSRI and senior lecturer at Clemson University.
Since 2013, World Tennis Day has been celebrated the first Monday of March each year, kicking off tennis season in North America.
Dr. Angeline Scheinbaum, Department of Marketing
At Clemson, Dr. Angeline Scheinbaum, Dan Duncan Professor of Sports Marketing, has partnered with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) since 2021 to study the perceptions of tennis league play and pandemic impact. Her research explains and predicts linkages among consumer attitude, affect, cognition, behavioral intent and consumer behavior.
A former Clemson women’s tennis player at practice
Her work with the USTA, which engages students at the University, is ongoing. Dr. Scheinbaum is now working with Dr. Sarah Stokowski in the College of Education to study similarities between the USTA’s and USA Ultimate’s post-pandemic concerns about female participation in their respective sports.
Scheinbaum competes for the USTA
“It appears that there may have been a similar decline in the participation among young female athletes in both tennis and Ultimate Frisbee after the COVID-19 pandemic,” noted Scheinbaum. “We have just begun to compare data sets from these national associations to see if we can glean any important information on the decline, and how to reinvigorate participation from this demographic across the nation.”
Celebrate World Tennis Day with the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute this week by picking up a racket and hitting the court, learning about the history of tennis, and staying tuned on Clemson’s research with the USTA.
Drs. Erica Walker and Amanda Bridges’ research discovers different strategies to ensure the University’s brand colors remain consistent on athletic apparel
Most sports fans own at least one t-shirt donning the brand of their favorite team or jersey representing their favorite athlete. When they are preparing to join the crowd at a field, rink or stadium, sports fans expect their regalia to look on-brand.
According to Drs. Erica Walker and Amanda Bridges, Clemson faculty in the Department of Graphic Communications, “Branded athletic apparel is a multi-billion dollar business expanding year over year. Sports teams and their fans expect brand accuracy and durability across all types of textile-based products from clothing to home decor. Color is a vital part of a brand’s identity and printing consistent, durable and accurate brand colors across different materials can be challenging for manufacturers.”
Clemson Orange is printed on different textiles and laundered to see how true-to-brand the color of the Clemson paw remains.
The pair have examined the accuracy and durability of two Clemson brand colors, Clemson Orange and Regalia (purple), “specified by the brand as Pantone and CMYK values and measured as LAB values using a spectrophotometer, and printed on three textiles commonly used for clothing.”
Late in 2024, Walker and Bridges received international recognition for their research presented at conferences in Montreal, Canada (Color and Imaging Conference, October 2024) and Seville, Spain (International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, November 2024). Additionally, they will present in Boulder, Colorado this March at the Technical Association of Graphic Arts (TAGA) conference.
Walker shared some of the challenges their research aimed to address.
“Orange is an especially difficult color to match in any medium,” she said. “Our eyes are pretty sensitive to variations in this color range so branded content creators have to be especially vigilant to ensure a consistent visual match.
Another challenge is the variety of materials and places that the color appears. We see Clemson Orange on the TV screen, on printed t-shirts, painted on the grass on the athletic fields, on the plastic seat backs, on metal decorative art outside, and so many other surfaces. Each backing material and process must be carefully chosen and controlled to ensure accurate brand color.”
During their investigation, the two provided opportunities for freshmen-level experiential learning with a direct-to-garment (DTG) printer and worked closely with Clemson Athletics to assess how the University’s brand colors are affected by commercial washing processes, looking at color degradation.
Walker shared advice for printers and manufacturers to achieve color accuracy and durability.
Bridges (left) and Walker (right) attended the CIC Conference in Montreal, Canada last November.
“You can never have too much quality control throughout the process. Everyone who touches the artwork or product from the beginning design to manufacturing to the sales floor has a role in ensuring brand accurate colors,” she said. “This even includes fans! How we launder brand-color products can help the colors stay accurate for longer.
There are definitely some combinations of textiles and processes that will provide more accurate colors both initially and after multiple washes, so manufacturers take that into consideration when developing new products and deciding how to manufacture them.”
At the end of the day, one question remains above all in Walker’s and Bridges’ research: How can the University engage with textile manufacturers, printers and launderers to ensure the brand stays true on apparel and other products?
“This project helped me connect my color work on screen to what the cameras actually record live—the uniforms of the players and the branded fan gear,” Walker said. “The current study attempts to back the solution up further than ColorNet, which fixed the brand colors after they were recorded on camera. Wouldn’t it be great to get the color more closely aligned both on and offscreen to provide a unified, cohesive brand experience?”
Walker has been a faculty fellow at the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute for many years. The proposals she submitted for ‘director’s funding’ were reviewed and approved by RHBSSI leadership, and the Institute was pleased to fund the purchase of the DTG printer and offer financial assistance to participate in the conferences.
“It was a very [special] international conference and the first time either of us had attended it,” Walker said about CIC. “[It] would definitely be a valuable event to visit again and we really appreciate the support which allowed us to go to both CIC and TAGA this academic year.”
On February 21, Clemson University held an engaging event for Tigers of all backgrounds to join the launch of the University’s new capital campaign, Fiercely Forward, the driving force to achieve the bold initiatives of the University’s strategic plan, Clemson Elevate.
Partners of the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute showcased their sports science technologies, research and creative endeavors in a fun-filled display of helmet-hitting, off-road vehicle exploring and exoskeleton viewing.
Bioengineers, packaging scientists, and automotive and industrial engineers from the Institute’s fellows cohort participated in the event, engaging with guests and explaining how their lines of inquiry and new innovations are making an impact in the greater Clemson community and across the globe.
For the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute, this campaign is a launching ground for new initiatives in support of the University’s strategic plan, positioning RHBSSI to become a national leader in sports science and equipping students with the skills, experiences and connections to thrive in a dynamic industry of sports enthusiasts of all backgrounds.
Placed among mini golf holes and poster presentations, live demonstrations and activities representing the sports sciences will be on display at the Institute’s RECESS Symposium on October 24. Located in the Madren Center’s Grand Ballroom, the demonstrations will include:
Headgear Impact Performance: Greg Batt, Ph.D.
The Clemson Headgear Impact Performance (CHIP) Lab at Clemson tests the strength of sports helmet faceguards. According to Batt, these masks are made to protect players from many injuries but fail more often than one might think. Using a pneumatic canon, the impact on the helmet is recorded. Testing in the lab, done by students, hopes the data collected will one day make sports safer for everyone. The CHIP Lab will demo various equipment at RECESS like helmets, a head and neck form, a hammer and a computer that will be used to acquire acceleration response of the head. The team will be available to discuss more about the outcomes of their testing and answer questions.
Rowing Motion Capture: Anthony Marino and John DesJardins, Ph.D.
Collegiate rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States, and has a prestigious historical tradition among American universities dating back to 1852 (Harvard Magazine). Unfortunately, the sport has long been considered a men’s-only sport it took over 100 years for women gain recognition. A collaboration between Clemson Bioengineering and the Clemson Women’s Rowing program has investigated questions specific to women’s rowing and enhanced the training, health and performance of our athletes. A 3D motion capture technology has been used at Clemson to test novel foot plates during rowing. At RECESS, participants will be able to interact with this system and learn more about the outcomes for rowers.
Virtual Reality Soccer: Felipe Tobar, Ph.D.
Tobar’s research initiative integrates virtual reality (VR) technology, electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring, and artificial intelligence (AI) to understand the experiences of Olympic and Paralympic soccer athletes using VR simulators for training purposes. The long-term goals of this project are to develop more effective VR soccer training experiences that enable skill transfer to improve on-field player performance for competitive athletes, and develop more inclusive VR soccer experiences, both as training tools and for recreation, for persons with disabilities. Participants at RECESS will enter a simulation to experience real soccer gameplay by making quick decisions on the field and passing forward. Challenge yourself and enjoy a cutting-edge, sports-based VR technology that merges fun with athletic training.
Exoskeleton Demonstration: Jessica Avilés, Ph.D.
Exoskeletons are devices worn outside the body to assist with movement. They come in a wide variety for the upper and lower body, some powered by batteries and motors, some by hydraulics and some by springs. Avilés’ research aims to help people with spinal cord injuries find the best exoskeletons and training plans so they can participate in sports. Her goal is to turn exoskeleton racing into a Paralympic and collegiate adaptive sport.
Open Cap Makerless Motion Capture for Hamstrings: Reed Gurchiek, Ph.D.
Gurchiek’s makerless motion capture technology, Open Cap, measures an athlete’s hamstring pain. He has developed a wearable device that uses a passive elastic band to assist the hamstring muscles during running. This device is designed to rehabilitate hamstring strain injuries more effectively than is currently possible, addressing a growing and widespread problem as hamstring strains are currently the most prevalent time-loss injury in field-based sports. Currently being tested, the device should reduce hamstring muscle activity without altering running motion. Get familiar with this technology when you attend RECESS.
The Physics of Breakdancing: Amy Pope, Ph.D.
The conservation of angular momentum can be demonstrated using a rotating stool and weights. When a person sits on a frictionless rotating stool with arms extended while holding weights, they start spinning at a certain speed. As they pull the weights inward, their moment of inertia decreases and to conserve angular momentum, their rotational speed increases. This demonstrates how angular velocity adjusts to changes in the moment of inertia when no external torques act on the system, similar to how breakdancers, divers or skaters spin faster by pulling in their limbs. Give it a go at RECESS!
A Demonstration of Force Measurement using Force Plates and Accelerometer: Adam Schiferl, Clemson student
This demonstration presents an interactive approach to understanding introductory kinematics and mechanics by leveraging sports to make physics concepts more relatable. Participants will kick a soccer ball in a controlled way and get force readings. Analysis of this data will explain the force vs. time graph stage by stage illustrating how forces acting on an athlete vary during different phases of exercise.
“Tiger 24,” A Student-Designed Formula One Race Car: Clemson Formula SAE team
The Clemson University Formula SAE (CUFSAE) team is a student-run organization dedicated to designing, manufacturing and competing with a formula-style race car. They aim to provide students with the tools to learn relevant skills while exploring the possibilities of employment in the automotive industry. This year’s student-designed Formula One race car, the Tiger 24, which has been competing in student competitions across the nation, will be on display and the team will be available to answer questions.
To view all these amazing live demonstrations at RECESS, RSVP here.
