‘Metamaterials’ could transform our lives – and sports equipment is at the vanguard
Metamaterials – artificially made materials with properties that aren’t found in the natural world – are poised to transform daily life. Their unique properties are enhancing products from sporting goods to consumer electronics and beyond.
As a sports engineer and the person leading on health applications within the UKRI-funded UK Metamaterials Network, I have unique insights into how metamaterials are enhancing sporting goods.
Specifically, they are helping to make sport and exercise more accessible, inclusive, and safer.
Metamaterials are made with meta-atoms (Figure 1). These building blocks have a specific geometry that has been engineered to allow the material to perform specific functions and have particular properties. Their functions may be related to acoustics, chemistry, electromagnetism, magnetism, or the material’s mechanical properties.
Metamaterials and sport
Metamaterials sit between products and materials. They are not materials in the traditional sense because their design is intrinsically linked to that of the product they are used within to enhance performance.
The rapid-uptake, multibillion dollar sporting goods sector has relatively low barriers to market entry, making it an ideal space for testing new and emerging technologies.
As a result, it has been an early adopter of metamaterials, particularly mechanical metamaterials (Figure 2), as described in an Institution of Mechanical Engineers report on sports engineering.
Auxetic metamaterials have been widely explored and adopted within sporting goods. Auxetic behaviour is an example of a “negative property”, achievable with metamaterials (Figure 3). Materials with negative properties behave in the opposite way to conventional expectations. When we stretch a conventional material lengthwise, its cross section will contract.
Auxetic metamaterials behave in the opposite way, with their cross section expanding when we stretch them lengthwise. This unusual and counterintuitive behaviour can improve the performance of sporting goods. The property is described by something called Poisson’s ratio, which is a measure of the deformation in a material in response to the direction of loading (force).
Auxetic metamaterials can improve comfort, fit, and impact protection in products such as body protection and helmets. They exhibit synclastic curvature, meaning they form a “dome shape” when bent, which may improve the fit of helmets and knee pads, for example.
Their enhanced indentation resistance allows for more flexible body protection that can still protect against concentrated loads, such as from impacts with rocks and studs. Auxetics can also control unwanted vibrations, which is useful in equipment like bats, bikes, rackets, skis, and snowboards. Other examples of sporting goods featuring mechanical metamaterial geometries include airless basketballs, bike saddles, and footwear.
The potential for metamaterials extends beyond traditional sporting goods. They could help people with disabilities and injuries to play sport and exercise. Potential applications span braces, prosthetics, orthotics, and rehabilitation devices. Because such items are typically classed as medical devices, they are subject to more stringent regulations than sporting goods, posing challenges for the uptake of metamaterials.
Other types of metamaterials besides mechanical could bring benefits to the sport and exercise sector. This includes metamaterial-enhanced products that could actively adapt their properties to fit the movement pattern, shape, and size of the user. For these reasons, metamaterials have the potential to make sport and exercise products more inclusive for a diverse range of users.
Metamaterial research in the UK
Metamaterials are engineered to have extraordinary properties that make products smaller, lighter, simpler, and more powerful. On December 1, 2025, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers published a policy report on unlocking the potential of metamaterials. The report was produced in partnership with our UK Metamaterials Network. It offers a perspective on how we can harness metamaterials to drive innovation, strengthen industry and address global challenges.
That said, several challenges must be addressed for their full potential to be realised. First, the UK must continue doing fundamental research to remain globally competitive in this field. Second, adoption by industry is slow, highlighting the need to bridge research and commercialisation.
Third, metamaterial prototypes are often made using methods that are not well-suited for mass production, limiting their potential to be scaled up. Fourth, a skilled workforce is needed to develop and deploy these technologies effectively. Raising awareness, establishing shared definitions, and testing products featuring metamaterials against agreed standards are critical to drive adoption and foster public trust.
Challenges of metamaterials in sport
Appropriate standards and regulations in sport help designers, increase consumer confidence in products, and support international trade. Sports products must often comply with safety standards and rules set by sports governing bodies. There may even be value in having specific standards for metamaterials, offering unified definitions and test frameworks.
Manufacturing presents another challenge. Metamaterials used within sporting goods are typically made using established methods like 3D printing, machining, and injection moulding. Because the enhanced properties of metamaterials often rely on complex geometric arrangements, they can be costly and slow to mass produce. This highlights a need for efficient manufacturing methods.
Despite these challenges, metamaterials are becoming increasingly common in sporting goods. I have only highlighted a few in this article, but I would imagine that they will become even more commonplace in the future. Being able to tailor unique material properties to their function, as well as making them suited to specific individuals, makes metamaterials a powerful tool for sports engineers.
This is a really exciting time for metamaterials in the UK, and in the sports engineering sector, specifically. I am looking forward to seeing this specialised technology continue to make sport and exercise more accessible, inclusive, and safer.
Thomas Allen receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as a co-investigator of the UK Metamaterials Network. He worked with HEAD Sport GmbH on auxetic composites for rackets and supervises a PhD student funded by Rheon Labs Ltd. He was an author of the IMechE reports on metamaterials and sports engineering.