How Hawk-Eye changed the Game(s)

Mar 20, 2020
2 min read

Updated: Mar 31, 2020

In May, 2001, a standard test cricket match between England and Pakistan changed the face of sports. A new, groundbreaking technology called Hawk-Eye was being trialed by Channel 4 to track the trajectory of balls in flight using a number of cameras placed around the ground. From it’s humble beginning in test cricket, Hawk-Eye has expanded to over 9 different sports, completely changing the playing and viewing experiences of millions around the globe. By reducing subjectivity and increasing pace of game, our modern world of sport would not be the same without Hawk-Eye’s influence.

Here are the many sports that have been changed by Hawk-Eye:

Tennis

Hawk-Eye is used in Tennis to determine whether a shot is in or out. Initially, the implimentation of Hawk-Eye in Tennis encountered resistance, as the players and the umpires claimed they instinctively knew when a ball was legal. A challenge system was introduced, where players could use 2 Hawk-Eye challenges a game to contest the umpire‘s decision. It was found that the player’s challenges were successful only 46% of the time, which shows that Hawk-Eye is a more accurate adjudicator.

Hawk-Eye is not currently used at the French Open, as it is played on a clay surface. The ball leaves a mark on clay, which the adjudicator can use to check a shot’s validity. It is interesting to note that Hawk-Eye is still used on TV for the French Open, which can potentially lead to some interesting conflicting calls.

Soccer

As previously discussed on this website by Conor Corry, Hawk-Eye is one of the technologies approved by FIFA to operate goal-line checks. These checks are used to make sure the ball has completely crossed the line when awarding a goal. While there are several goal line technology systems currently in use around the world, Hawk-Eye is the system of choice for The Premier League in England and the Bundesliga in Germany.

Snooker

In contrast to Soccer’s use of Hawk-Eye in an adjudicatory capacity, Snooker has historically relied on Hawk-Eye only to enhance the viewing experience. The BBC have used Hawk-Eye in the past to highlight when players have been ‘snookered’, and also to display the trajectory of the shot that the player may have been attempting, should they be unsuccessful.

Gaelic Football and Hurling

Hawk-Eye is used in both Gaelic Football and Hurling to check if points have gone between the posts. The same infrastructure is used for both sports, calibrated for the differing sizes in ball. This has lead to incidents in the past, as points have been marked as wide even though the graphic displayed the ball inside the posts. The most significant of these errors occurred in a Minor Hurling Semi-Final between Limerick and Galway in 2013, where a point was rejected due to the system expecting the larger Football to hit the post, whereas in actuality the smaller sliotar did not. This error led to the suspension of the system for the proceeding senior game.