When you are shooting a jump shot, you mainly want. The physics of basketball introduction any child can pick up a basketball, bounce it a few times, and throw it at the hoop without realizing the complex physics he is involving himself in. Fontanella, a professor of physics at the us naval academy, a former high school and college basketball player, and a past coach for his childrens basketball teams. Youre a college basketball player and your team is down by one. It originally started off as a game played by children in a physical education class. The engineers used a mens basketball for the study. A dunk happens in a game of basketball when a player slams the ball into the basket from above. Drain three pointers, slam dunk easily, and sink that buzzer beater from half court with the help of simple science. Nowadays, of them are part of the olympic games badminton, basketball, beach volley, footballsoccer, golf, handball.
The same is applied to the physics behind the basketball shot. Click download or read online button to get the physics of basketball book now. The article science tells all sports world specials, june 4 contained a discussion of the physics of basketball shooting, and. Bill ingram, executive editor, basketball news services an unusual book, certain to attract both the sports fan and the armchair scientist. Below youll find some commonlyasked questions about the physics of free throw shooting. Rotation for arc and range basketball shooting physics duration. Basketball physics is a funaddicting, one button, 2 player basketball game by. Fontanella, shows how you can improve your game if you take advice from isaac newton. Just press the button to make your funnylooking characters jump towards the ball and, once. The physics of passing a basketball by ashley aeschliman. If it has high air pressure, it keeps the ball from bending when it slams against the court floor. Newtons 2nd law citations friction wmg and fma there are two different size balls. By studying the physics behind a basketball shot, physicists can develop insight into the shooting conditions most likely to result in a successful shot, and therefore may help basketball players. The physics of basketball free pdf, djvu, doc, epub.
Passing is a very important element in the game of basketball. Introduction a great american pastime, basketball raises many interesting questions for the curious physicist. It is found that there is an optimum shooting angle which requires the smallest. Essentially, this tells us that the ball is only being controlled by its environment. Several applications of physical principles to the game of basketball are examined. The kinematics of a basketball shot is studied, and criteria are established for determining the best shooting angle at any given distance from the basket. The physics of basketball takes the game to a whole new level.
The free throw is the single most important shot in the game of basketball, as close to twenty per. The premise is that shots requiring the least energy are the easiest to control and thus have the greatest probability of success. Jumping for the ball, or leaping for a slam dunk, the human body follows the same laws of projectile motion as do other objects. By studying the physics behind a basketball shot, physicists can develop insight into the shooting conditions most likely to result in a successful shot, and therefore may help basketball. The physics of basketball basketball isn t as easy as people depict it to be. A parabola is a special curved line used in math to represent points on a graph. The man exhibited an overwhelming amount of confidence out on the basketball court.
To keep it bouncing, you need to apply energy which is why a lot of dribbling makes u tired. In this picture you can see that there are many forces acting on the basketball as it flies through the air. Now, let us choose \upward to be the positive direction for the. The path of the ball from the players to the hoop is projectile motion.
How can the physics of dribbling a basketball be explained. A physical model is developed, which suggests a pathway to determining the optimal release conditions for a basketball free throw. It is written from the perspective of a fan of the game and then through the eyes of a physicist. Basketball shooting strategies the free throw, direct. Note that the velocity of the basketball is v, because of the perfectly elastic \re ection of the ground. Launch basketballs as you try solve puzzles, collect stars, and make baskets. Does a knowledge of physics help to improve ones basketball skills. Pdf the physics of an optimal basketball free throw semantic. There are many aspects to the physics of basketball. The physics aspect of shooting a free throw involves distance and deviation. Ken zetie physics education fontanella writes with humor and. According to the first law, the basketball is always moving in one direction, unless acted on by another force. The ball used in a game should have high air pressure, which is explained through the law of physics.
The principles include projectile motion and gravity, moment of forces and stability, momentum and collision and viscous drag. Investigating the physics of basketball research paper. The physics of basketball is a nonfiction book by john fontanella first published on november 15, 2006 that explores the scientific side of basketball. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. Normally, physics is a difficult subject but an introduction to the physics of sports does a fine job for the nonscience in all of us. Gravity acts on everything on the earth, pushing everything down. When the ball reaches the ground and bounces back up it is an inelastic collision which means that energy is lost. However, a greater understanding of the sport can be gained by applying the principles of physics to these actions. At the bottom of the page, youll be able to learn even more tips. Instead the physics in basketball is simply interesting to people who really try to break down the art of shooting, passing, and dribbling. Investigating the physics of basketball introduction this paper explores specific principles of physics that find application in basketball. There are a lot of physics happening when you shoot the basketball. Creighton university physics professor gintaras duda even says pro basketball players are instinctual physicists because of what it takes to make the perfect shot on the court, particularly the threepointer.
Physics of basketball hang time jumping is a major component in the physics behind basketball. Hence conclusions about the physics of baseball must depen on approximations and estimates. It should further be noted that female players use a slightly smaller basketball than the male. The physics of freethrow shooting secrets of shooting. Basketball shooting is a basic practice for players. Figuring the physics of basketball can studying the laws of physics help you be a better basketball player. The physics of basketball johns hopkins university press. Physics of basketball american association of physics teachers. Players like dwyane wade pictured above, amare stoudemire, and lebron james have mastered the art of dunking, and dunk on a regular basis. A rationale and geometric parameters for optimal basketball shooting are provided. When an object is thrown in the air it will spend a large percentage.
Drain three pointers, slam dunk easily, and sink that buzz. If you have a greater acceleration than the ball, you will not have control of the ball. Ball sports have been part of human history for thousands of years 1. This book describes the physics of baseball and softball, assuming that the reader has a background in both physics and mathematics at the high school level. Dissecting the physics of basketball bank shots wired. Physics of basketball posted on december, 2012 by i remember being a kid and watching old highlights of larry bird wondering to myself how the heck he was such a consistent shooter. Basketball physics is a one button funny jump basketball game.
What i mean is that the physics in basketball is a product of a persons memory. The different masses of the balls effects the weight of the pass, because of the gravity and the different masses. The physics of basketball download ebook pdf, epub. Although it is hard to expect that a basketball player who steps up to shoot a free throw would think about optimal ball release conditions, knowing. Coach bob has over 20 years of basketball coaching experience. They would throw a soccer ball into a peach basket while another person tried to deflect it. Black mamba physics in basketball is fairly irrelevant. If a ball has a low air pressure, it will form to the floor and not bounce back up, because it has less air molecules to bounce off the ground with.
Indeed, for baseball, some of the best data are derived from the game itself. Dunking is probably the most popular, famous, and exciting move that a player can perform. Newtons 3rd law as we learned back in physics 211 we understand fully that newtons 3rd law states that with every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Robert adair is the sterling professor of physics emeritus at reliable experimental data. It wants to stay in motion so the ball pushes into the ground when it hits, compressing the air inside. This is because as a basketball player, you need be able to tun without and with the basketball while keeping it under control. It might help you find the best angle for your jump shot. A little bit of physics and a lot of practice can make everyone a better shooter from the freethrow line. Shoot basketballs out of your cannon as you try to get at least one ball into each basket. Today, the rules, skills used to play, equipment, and. Mechanics of the basketball free throw university of manitoba. On this page, i will show you how kinematics, forces, and energy relate to passing a basketball.
Running is probably the most important skill in basketball. The basketball, the center of the game, is almost continuously in motion. Basketball may not look like a sport for scientists, but researchers suggest that the makings of the perfect freethrow or threepoint shot may come largely down to physics. When a basketball player jumps in the air to make a shot he can appear to be suspended in midair during the high point of the jump.
Passing is the fastest way to get the ball down the court into the opponents end. John fontanella has been a physics professor at the united states naval academy since 1971 and was a college basketball player for westminster. The kinematics of the ball movement are modelled and simulated for the free throw, for the direct shot, and for the bank shot off the backboard the layup. Physics of basketball, the american journal of physics. Most people who study the physics of basketball get deep into the art of shooting, passing, and dribbling instead of actually playing the sport. The physics of a three point shot the university physics. As you can see in figure 1 to the right, you can see just how newtons 3rd law works. Use backspin specifically, 3hz of backspin, which means the ball would make about three full rotations before getting to the ring.
700 1012 991 1401 1328 543 365 608 530 964 1491 1199 1448 818 1072 845 1139 1051 1419 1289 211 100 686 890 1097 853 340 1470 893 448