Preface
Basketball is an immensely popular sport, and many would be surprised to find out that there are plenty of scientific principles that underlie the game. Each match involves athletes making attempts to throw a basketball into the hoop. To get a good score, the ball has to be thrown in a particular way. The distance from which a basketball is hurled, the velocity of the ball and the angle of the throw are all parameters that matter greatly in hitting a score. Hoops players often attempt to add spin to the ball to increase the chances of making a good hit. Choosing the right spin will help lower the velocity of the basketball at the rim and thus increase the chances of hitting the hoop.
Making a scientific analysis of the game can generate important suggestions on how athletes can improve their performance on the court. Software applications have been developed to help basketball players improve their scoring odds and increase team efficiency during a match.
The application of science and technology to hoops has become indispensable for the clubs in the NBA league. There has been professional research done by scientists of the sport, along with the publishing of papers and books describing the science behind basketball. Further, as the game involves team tactics and strategy, statistical models have been developed for forecasting individual team performance in future matches. The scoring system in the game is very discreet, hence allowing for computer simulations and statistical analysis of selected tournaments.
A basketball scout can use these models to help find better players for the home team. Further, a professional can evaluate tactics and strategies used by the contesting club to better prepare players for the coming match. As there are plenty of scientific principles governing the game of basketball, this article will describe the science behind the sport and how it can be applied to improving the odds of winning in a match.
Main physical forces acting on a basketball
A brief list of forces acting on a ball
A basketball has several physical forces acting on it. As a ball is thrown, passed, or held, a basketball can feel the effects of gravity. The force of gravity applies to all objects on Earth and it pulls the ball towards the ground. When making a shot, an athlete must consider the gravitational pull of Earth, which attracts the ball to the ground. A second force is the drag force. This is the force of the air through which the basketball is moving to reach the hoop. Drag pulls the ball backward, towards the player, decreasing its speed. A third force is the buoyant force, which pulls the basketball up.
As the ball is hollow on the inside and is made of rubber, there is a force acting on it from the ambient air, which pushes the basketball out. The atmosphere around the ball pressures it slightly up, making the ball 1.5% lighter. This is the same physical principle that applies to ships floating on water. The displacement of water by the ship results in a buoyant force, thus preventing the vessel from sinking. A fourth force acting on the basketball is the Magnus effect. This effect is present when the ball is given a spin and the force allows players to curve the ball, hence increasing their chances of scoring.
Relative motion in basketball
When playing hoops, the athletes are running with a high velocity. To make a good hit, it is important to factor in the running speed into the equation. This means that when an athlete is making a moving shot, it is important to consider the speed at which a player is running. New players can often miss the shot by throwing the ball forward. A more experienced player will throw the ball up, thus scoring.
An Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered the principle behind this effect. If a player is running with a speed X and throws the ball upward, while in the air, the basketball will also travel with a speed X. The athlete will move a certain distance and easily catch the ball with their hands. However, should the sportsman push the ball forward during an upward throw, with a speed Y, the basketball will travel with a speed X+Y while being in the air. The player will then need to run faster to catch the ball. The effect is called relative motion and it is best demonstrated by this video. Thus, when taking a moving shot, the athlete’s speed is simply added to the basketball’s speed. Experienced hoops players will simply throw the ball up when moving to make a score.
Another trick is not aiming for the center of the rim. A sportsman, when moving from right to left, will aim to the right of the rim to make the score. Aiming for the center will have the basketball land to the left of the rim.
Increasing the friction between the basketball and the hoop’s rim
Adding backspin to the basketball is a great way to increase the chance of scoring. Many novice players will simply throw the ball at the hoop and expect the basketball to fall right in. But this is often not the case. Experienced athletes will, however, shoot the ball from their fingertips rather than from their palms. This way, the chances of the ball falling into the hoop are greatly increased. What the player wants is for the ball to stop moving once it hits the rim, thus making a great shot. Backspin can greatly increase the chances of making a score and many professionals apply a slight spinning force to the basketball. A ball with no backspin will receive some friction from the rim, thus slowing it down. However, a ball with backspin will experience much greater friction. This way, the basketball will come to an almost complete halt at the rim and easily fall into the hoop.
To explain this, consider a basketball that is not spinning. The ball’s top and bottom parts travel at the same speed. The speed with which the basketball was thrown towards the hoop. When the ball hits the rim of the hoop, its bottom touches the rim and experiences some friction, thus slowing the basketball down. But should the ball have a little backspin, its motion is now composed of two parts: the speed at which the basketball itself is flying and the speed of the spin. Adding these two components together, the result is that the bottom of the ball is now travelling faster. When the basketball hits the rim, the collision between the rim and the basketball is happening at a greater speed. Thus, the ball experiences higher friction, which slows the ball down more, hence making it lose additional energy. If a basketball is traveling at a slower speed near the hoop, it is more likely to fall inside the hoop. Therefore, shooting the ball from fingertips and adding some backspin to it can greatly increase the chances of having a lucky strike.
The Magnus effect
The described force is present in all the spherical bodies that spin while travelling through the air. This phenomenon was described by a German physicist Gustav Magnus in 1852. The Magnus force allows a spherical object to deflect while on its path. Hence a basketball that is thrown at the hoop with a spin can take a curved path to the target. This is due to the uneven drag the basketball experiences while making its journey through the ambient air towards the hoop. This effect can result in the path of the ball to curve in a nice way. Even though the degree of the curvature can be small, the effect can nevertheless be noticeable when playing the game. Spinning the ball correctly to take advantage of the Magnus effect can allow an athlete to score from a very disadvantaged position. Should the player be surrounded by opponents, adding a slight spin to the basketball can help the athlete throw a ball bypassing the opposite team’s defenses. The basketball will take a curved path to the hoop and will be hard to catch. This video demonstrates the principle on an enlarged scale and explains the Magnus effect very well. Note that the magnitude of the curvature of the basketball in the video is considerable. The physics behind curved paths in the sport boils down to the effects of the basketball spinning. As the ball is travelling, while spinning, through the air two things happen. First, the air on one side of the basketball is travelling in the direction of the spin, thus being deflected behind the ball. Second, on the other side of the basketball, the air is travelling against the direction of the spin, thus being deflected away from the ball. The two deflected flows of air, one going behind the ball and the other going away from the ball, cause the basketball to curve on its path. This is the physics behind making curved hits in the sport.
The use of technology in basketball
As basketball is a sport with a lot of scientific principles behind the game, it is no surprise that applications have been developed to support both coaches and players. Analyzing the match statistically and developing good models for the sport is paramount to successfully winning a tournament. One of the applications useful to a coach is called HomeCourt. The program allows tracking of individual player’s movements and helps in making informed decisions by providing good statistics about each game. The use of STEM principles in basketball helps to improve the performance of a team in a championship. These can broadly be defined as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Using science and technology has allowed to generate a new type of strategy for the game, the triangle offense. Here an analysis of games and matches has allowed to create a winning strategy by spacing the sportsmen correctly on the field. The triangle offense has been made possible through the use of the STEM principles. The tactic requires good spacing between the topside and rotational players on the field. Further, mathematical analysis was done to see what is the correct spacing for both the defensive and offensive players. Last, the movement of the basketball and its motion relative to the players was analyzed. Resultantly the triangle offense method was employed by the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers, helping the teams win nine championships.
The sport is heavy in statistics, with a lot of data regarding different sportsmen’s performance and scoring records. Basketball thus provides an excellent playground for gamblers. Many of the best betting websites allow for the placing of money wagers on various hoops clubs. The NBA is extremely popular in the United States, with colossal resources being used to fund the participating teams. Computer models have been employed by basketball scouts to better predict an opposing team’s performance. As the game is competitive and has discreet player positions and movements, a computer algorithm can be used to analyze the performance of a select team or an athlete. STEM principles allow basketball scouts to both prepare the home team for a victory and find perfect players to join the club. Science and technology can be used to analyze each athlete’s characteristics to increase the harmony within a team. Computer programs can help a coach better train a player or a scout find a suitable replacement from another club. As basketball provides a set of discrete scores, mathematical algorithms can be used to analyze each tournament.
Ending
Basketball is a great sport with a large player base and plenty of supporters of various clubs. Each game has scientific principles behind it. Mathematicians and computer analysts have been recruited to study the game and improve match performance. Amazing physics principles govern the motion of a basketball through the ambient air. Understanding these principles and knowing how to apply the laws of physics correctly can help a home team win a major tournament. From the relative motion of the ball to the Magnus effect, there are plenty of scientific explanations for the sport.