From paragliding to golf: how 3D printing is elevating sports

Within the consumer AM market—which in 2023 was responsible for the production of 37 million 3D printed parts—sport remains one of the leading areas where 3D printing has made a big impact. The eager adoption of 3D printing in the sporting goods realm is owed to a few factors, like the never-ending mission to design more comfortable, safe and high-performance products, as well as the need to offer greater customization options for both professional and amateur athletes. In this article, we want to highlight four areas in the broader sports industry where 3D printing is really helping to elevate the standard.

Safer football helmets

Player safety is an increasingly important part of professional football, a game where players are at significant risk of concussion and brain damage. In recent years, 3D printing innovations have helped to improve helmet performance, with brands like Riddell, VICIS, and Xenith all using the technology in some of their professional-grade products.

Designed for elite players, including quarterbacks and offensive/defensive linemen, Riddell’s Axiom 3D helmets were introduced in April 2024 and combine the sports equipment manufacturer’s Axiom helmet technology with 3D printed lattice liner technology. Players undergo a head scan to find the perfect fit, then custom lattice padding based on the scan data is 3D printed via Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology.

Riddell says their partly 3D printed helmets “create an individualized combination of energy-managing interior padding with unique thicknesses, shapes, and contours, providing comfort and protection benefits.” Today, a growing number of professional football players in the NFL are opting to wear helmets with 3D printed padding, with some estimates citing over 240 players wearing them.

Lightweight golf clubs

The growing accessibility of metal additive manufacturing has helped the golf equipment industry develop new lightweight clubs that can improve player performance. One of the biggest rollouts of 3D printing in thr production of golf products comes from COBRA, which—following a successful limited edition series 3D printed iron—now markets a 3D printed iron as part of its standard range.

The COBRA 3D Printed TOUR Iron is a 3D printed iron based on the LIMIT3D and KING TOUR irons, produced using LPBF. The innovative club integrates a complex additive-enabled lattice structure for 33% weight savings, while its internal design moves mass to lower in the clubhead. This results in a lower center of gravity and higher moment of inertia (MOI).

Another company using 3D printing to make high-end gold clubs is Avoda Golf, whose custom 3D printed club was used by Bryson DeChambeau as he won the 2024 US Open.

Optimized bike saddles

The sport of competitive cycling is no stranger to 3D printing technologies, and one key area of application in recent years has been the development of lightweight, rider-optimized saddles. Saddle design needs to balance rider comfort, weight and performance, and data-driven lattice design combined with 3D printing can help achieve that goal.

One brand racing ahead in this field is Italian company Fizik, whose collaboration with Carbon in 2019 helped bring its standard Adaptive 3D printed saddle to market. Since then, Fizik has launched the One-to-One saddle, a fully rider-specific custom product that leverages rider pressure map data—sourced using technology from GebioMized, a German company that specializes in bike fitting and pressure map data— to generate custom lattices. These designs are then realized using Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) technology.

Other performance cycling brands, like Hanglun Technology, No. 22 Bicycle Company, and TITAN SUPER BOND, specialize in using 3D printing to produce optimized and lightweight bike frames from materials like titanium and aluminum.

Custom paraglider parts

Since November 2024, paraglider design and manufacturing company Ozone has been using 3D printing to make adjustable riser control handles for maximum pilot control. These crucial parts, known as elevator handles in the paragliding world, can now be fully customized to suit the pilot’s body type. The result is better stability management during straight flight and greater precision when turning.

The 3D printing initiative came about as a result of a partnership with French 3D printing bureau Sculpteo, whose on-demand 3D printing services enable Ozone to market these custom parts with short lead times. The rapid process also makes it faster to test and validate prototypes.

“We can now offer standardized parts to our customers in record time,” said Nicolas Cochet, Marketing Manager and paraglider pilot at Ozone. “Our pilots benefit from high-performance, fully customized equipment for an even safer flying experience.”