APR 21, 2016

The Science of Basketball

WRITTEN BY: Jennifer Ellis
With the NBA playoffs underway, basketball is a popular topic these days. Not to mention that with summer around the corner, kids everywhere will be running out to the courts to shoot hoops with friends.
 
Initially, basketball seems so simple with just a ball and net, but there is actually a lot of science involved in the sport. Players can engage their muscles, cardio-vascular systems, hand-eye coordination, and agility. And there are scientific principles involved in every play. Trajectory, force, gravity, energy, motion, air pressure, percentage all interplay to make a successful game. Consider this…despite what most people might think, aiming for the center of the basket actually decreases the likelihood of a successful shot!

Sources:
www.scientificamerican.com
www.coachlikeapro.com
www.sciencedaily.com
www.sciencebuddies.org
www.sportsnscience.utah.edu
www.huffingtonpost.com
www2.hesston.edu
www.fearofphyics.com
www.sciencemag.org
www.personal.psu.eduall
www.wired.com
www.npr.org
www.scienceline.ucsb.edu
www.hyperphysics.phy
www.popularmechanics.com