Volleyball was invented in 1895 in Holyoke, Massachusetts at the Holyoke YMCA by a student, William Morgan at Springfield College. From its inception and until 1964, volleyball was a very casual noon time game that was played at YMCA's throughout the US. The 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan changed all that when volleyball was introduced as a new Olympic sport. Two things happened at those Olympics which would dramatically change the future of volleyball. Number one the Japanese women's and men's volleyball teams shocked the world by winning gold and bronze medals respectively. The United States teams did not earn a medal in volleyball. The second factor was that the Japanese developed a unique net system that installed the upright posts in a sleeve that was installed below the floor surface. Previously, the net posts rested on the top of the floor usually in a small fitting that prevented the posts from slipping on the floor. In addition, to support the tension on the net, cables extended down from the top of the uprights to floor fittings that reached out about 5' to the sides of the posts. Although the rules allow for players to leave the court to return the ball, you risked serious injury if you challenged the extended cables. The floor sleeve design, without extended cables, allowed the Japanese players to retrieve miss hit shots, roam all over the court surface and keep the ball in play and the Japanese players took full advantage of this new playing style. As a result of these changes, volleyball in 2013 is a fast paced, power game that showcases some of the finest athletes in the world
The US equipment market started to evolve in 1976 when the Japanese company, Senoh, through its Columbus, OH importer and distributor, introduced their sleeve style steel volleyball net systems to the United States. Following a great marketing campaign (and the inception of Title IX), Sports Imports and US manufacturers convinced coaches and administrators to dig holes in their gym floors and purchase heavy steel volleyball uprights - all of which coincided with the addition girl's and women's volleyball teams at the high schools and colleges throughout the United States. Volleyball net systems that weighed 65 to 75 lbs and required a Herculean effort by young coeds to set up and take down, became the standard of the industry.
Over the years, despite the durability and rigidity of steel, it became very apparent that steel volleyball net systems were too heavy and dangerous for young coeds to set up and take down. Consequently, in the mid 1980's, a sports company from Belgium introduced their very lightweight aluminum net system and a new volleyball marketing challenge was born. What appeared to be a very simple solution to heavy steel systems - aluminum is much lighter than steel - is really much more complicated. Volleyball net systems need to be rigid (stiff) to handle the tension at the top of the uprights and the measure of stiffness of a material is a mechanical property called Young's Modulus of Elasticity. Very simply stated, the modulus of steel is 30 million psi and the modulus of aluminum is 10 million psi so aluminum will always bend more than steel. But steel is three times heavier. However, the stiffness of a material is also dependent on the diameter of the upright and the wall thickness.Therefore, you can bring the stiffness of aluminum closer to steel by making the wall very thick which, however, will make the aluminum post as heavy as steel and very expensive. The other solution is to make the outside diameter bigger which will add stiffness. Third option is to extrude a special aluminum post that is square in the middle and since square shapes are stiffer than round, this will add stiffness to the aluminum upright. Schelde chose the larger diameter (4") design and successfully convinced coaches, desperate for a lighter volleyball net system, to dig 4" holes in their gym floors and install aluminum uprights. Although these modifications to the aluminum net systems helps some, they don't totally alter Young's Modulus of Elasticity for aluminum.
In 1995, recognizing the ongoing problems with steel and aluminum volleyball equipment, CarbonMax Sports Technology began the research and development of a carbon fiber volleyball net system. The unique properties and characteristics of composite materials, as they apply to simple volleyball uprights, are clearly superior to steel and aluminum. Although carbon fiber has a Young's Modulus of 13 million psi, a properly designed and fabricated carbon fiber volleyball net system offers the stiffness and durability of steel and is lighter than aluminum and is a perfect replacement for steel and aluminum volleyball equipment. The orientation of the carbon fibers and the flexibility to vary the wall thickness within the upright is two of the many reasons why carbon fiber is being used in dozens of other sports applications. Unfortunately, the research and development phase of making carbon fiber volleyball required traveling the US visiting fabricators, purchasing multiple prototypes and a comprehensive testing program. In late 1999 CarbonMax introduced the "worlds first carbon fiber volleyball net system." As mentioned before, stiffness is a critical component in a high quality volleyball net system. As part of the research and development process, CarbonMax tested all the popular post designs to confirm the that carbon fiber uprights could definitely be fabricated to be as stiff (actually better) steel and much stiffer than aluminum.
Carbon Fiber......3" Steel......3" Alum......3 1/2" Alum......4" Alum
.98" 1.25" 1.97" 2.81" 2.50"
As you can see, carbon fiber is stiffer than steel and is the next generation of volleyball equipment.
In 2005, CarbonMax partnered with Bison Inc in Lincoln, NE in the heartland of America and continues to develop and distribute innovative volleyball and soccer equipment under the Kalbree Sports Equipment, Inc DBA/SafeSoccer Goals names.
The US equipment market started to evolve in 1976 when the Japanese company, Senoh, through its Columbus, OH importer and distributor, introduced their sleeve style steel volleyball net systems to the United States. Following a great marketing campaign (and the inception of Title IX), Sports Imports and US manufacturers convinced coaches and administrators to dig holes in their gym floors and purchase heavy steel volleyball uprights - all of which coincided with the addition girl's and women's volleyball teams at the high schools and colleges throughout the United States. Volleyball net systems that weighed 65 to 75 lbs and required a Herculean effort by young coeds to set up and take down, became the standard of the industry.
Over the years, despite the durability and rigidity of steel, it became very apparent that steel volleyball net systems were too heavy and dangerous for young coeds to set up and take down. Consequently, in the mid 1980's, a sports company from Belgium introduced their very lightweight aluminum net system and a new volleyball marketing challenge was born. What appeared to be a very simple solution to heavy steel systems - aluminum is much lighter than steel - is really much more complicated. Volleyball net systems need to be rigid (stiff) to handle the tension at the top of the uprights and the measure of stiffness of a material is a mechanical property called Young's Modulus of Elasticity. Very simply stated, the modulus of steel is 30 million psi and the modulus of aluminum is 10 million psi so aluminum will always bend more than steel. But steel is three times heavier. However, the stiffness of a material is also dependent on the diameter of the upright and the wall thickness.Therefore, you can bring the stiffness of aluminum closer to steel by making the wall very thick which, however, will make the aluminum post as heavy as steel and very expensive. The other solution is to make the outside diameter bigger which will add stiffness. Third option is to extrude a special aluminum post that is square in the middle and since square shapes are stiffer than round, this will add stiffness to the aluminum upright. Schelde chose the larger diameter (4") design and successfully convinced coaches, desperate for a lighter volleyball net system, to dig 4" holes in their gym floors and install aluminum uprights. Although these modifications to the aluminum net systems helps some, they don't totally alter Young's Modulus of Elasticity for aluminum.
In 1995, recognizing the ongoing problems with steel and aluminum volleyball equipment, CarbonMax Sports Technology began the research and development of a carbon fiber volleyball net system. The unique properties and characteristics of composite materials, as they apply to simple volleyball uprights, are clearly superior to steel and aluminum. Although carbon fiber has a Young's Modulus of 13 million psi, a properly designed and fabricated carbon fiber volleyball net system offers the stiffness and durability of steel and is lighter than aluminum and is a perfect replacement for steel and aluminum volleyball equipment. The orientation of the carbon fibers and the flexibility to vary the wall thickness within the upright is two of the many reasons why carbon fiber is being used in dozens of other sports applications. Unfortunately, the research and development phase of making carbon fiber volleyball required traveling the US visiting fabricators, purchasing multiple prototypes and a comprehensive testing program. In late 1999 CarbonMax introduced the "worlds first carbon fiber volleyball net system." As mentioned before, stiffness is a critical component in a high quality volleyball net system. As part of the research and development process, CarbonMax tested all the popular post designs to confirm the that carbon fiber uprights could definitely be fabricated to be as stiff (actually better) steel and much stiffer than aluminum.
Carbon Fiber......3" Steel......3" Alum......3 1/2" Alum......4" Alum
.98" 1.25" 1.97" 2.81" 2.50"
As you can see, carbon fiber is stiffer than steel and is the next generation of volleyball equipment.
In 2005, CarbonMax partnered with Bison Inc in Lincoln, NE in the heartland of America and continues to develop and distribute innovative volleyball and soccer equipment under the Kalbree Sports Equipment, Inc DBA/SafeSoccer Goals names.
RSS Feed