From Wimbledon to VAR, is technology making sports less dramatic?

“The drama of players shouting challenges, the drama of spectators watching the screen and waiting for Hawkeye’s decision, all that drama is now gone.”

David Bayliss explains the scenes he has seen many times as a Wimbledon line judge and the ones he will never see again at the championships.

Like many other sports that have adopted technology, the All England Club Saying goodbye to the Human Line judges Starting next summer, 147 years later, under the name ‘Maximum Accuracy’.

But does this risk minimizing the drama that Mr Bayliss fondly remembers being a part of and that many of us would like to see?

“It’s sad that we won’t be able to go back to being a line judge,” he said. “The game is played, but never say never.”

He served as a line judge and umpire at Wimbledon for 22 years. Roger Federer sang the line when he won his first Grand Slam in 2003. When he was hit by a ball at more than 100 miles per hour, he joked, “It hurt a lot.”

He says it’s sad to see line judges eliminated, but it’s hard to argue with the logic.

“You essentially have a human and a technology calling on the same line. Electronic line calling can overwhelm the human eye, so why do you need a lineman to make a call?”

Of course, even before Wimbledon was announced Technology has played a big part in the tournament this week with the ball tracking system Hawk-Eye, and organizers are following the example of others.

Last year, the ATP Tour was announced. Human line referees are scheduled to be replaced with electronic systems starting in 2025. The US Open and Australian Open also abolished it. The French Open is the only tournament. Major competition with only human judges remaining.

as follows: BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller explained:Players occasionally complain about calls on electronic lines, but the consensus for some time has been that technology is now more accurate and consistent than humans.

Mr Bayliss admits there is a “high level of trust in electronic line calls”.

He points out: “The only frustration a player can show is with himself for not scoring points.”

Whether the technology works is one thing, and whether it’s worth it is another.

Dr Anna Fitzpatrick, who played at Wimbledon from 2007 to 2013, said: “My first emotion when I heard about the Wimbledon line judging was sadness.”

“The human element of sport is one of the things that draws us in,” the lecturer in sports performance and analysis at Loughborough University told the BBC.

She recognizes that technology can improve athlete performance, but wants us to always keep it in check.

Of course, tennis isn’t the only field embracing technology.

Cricket is another sport that plays a big role, and according to Dr Tom Webb, a sports officiating expert at Coventry University, it has been dominated by broadcasters.

He says that as soon as TV coverage began showing moments of sporting events in a way that referees could not see, he began calling for changes to the game.

“I think we have to be careful,” he told the BBC.

In particular, we need to think carefully about which aspects of human decision-making are being automated, he says.

He argues that the reason goal-line technology has become accepted in soccer is because, like electronic line calls in tennis, it is a measurement that may or may not result in a goal.

However, many people feel uncomfortable because the video assistant referee (VAR) system takes too long to make decisions, and fans in the stadium are not aware of the situation.

“The problem with VAR is that it doesn’t necessarily rely on technical accuracy, it still relies on individual judgment and subjectivity and how you interpret the laws of the game,” he added.

Of course, it’s tempting to think of technology as something new in sports.

But Professor Steve Haake of Sheffield Hallam University said the sport had always evolved with the innovations of the times, with even the Greeks adopting the sprint races of the ancient Olympics.

“It has been a spectacle since the sport began, but we also wanted it to be fair.

“That’s what this technology is about. This is the secret we need to get right.”

Technology is still adding to the spectacle of the sport. Think of the 360-degree swirl photos used to illustrate sports. dramatic conclusion He advanced to the men’s 100m final at this summer Olympics.

While it is true that some traditional jobs, such as line judges, may disappear, technology is fostering the creation of other jobs, especially those related to data.

Take for example Opta, a sports analytics system that allows both athletes and fans to have data streams to measure performance. This process is being accelerated by artificial intelligence (AI).

This may not be the same as a tennis player emotionally exploding at a line umpire, but advocates argue it allows for a more intense connection because people can learn more about the sport and players they love.

And of course, the frequent controversies over systems such as VAR provide plenty of room for technology to get its heart racing.

“People love sports because of the drama,” says Patrick Lucey, chief scientist at Opta developer Stats Perform.

“Technology makes it stronger.”