Physics Of America's Most Popular Sports: Basketball, And Soccer

The value of physics goes beyond answering the “big questions” of how the universe was

created and why the Earth orbits the sun. Physics can also have everyday real-life applications as

well. One of the major ways to explore physics and how it relates to the real world is through

sports because essentially every sport utilizes multiple physics principles. Indeed, physicists are

able to connect the mechanism of a ball or an athlete in action to the laws of motion that govern

the way objects move on this planet. Fastballs, 3-point shots, and free kicks can all be analyzed

and broken down using physical concepts like gravity, momentum, force, and acceleration.

Doing so can explain why certain phenomena occur in the major leagues,

Although the equations and calculations of these ideas may appear only theoretical,

sometimes they may be used to one’s advantage by changing a technique a certain way to

produce positive results. The goal of this paper will be to examine the physics behind three of

America’s most popular sports: baseball, basketball, and soccer. The focus will be to use physics

to find what determines the trajectory of a basketball shot, the speed of a pitch, or the curve of a

soccer kick. It will also, through the use of concepts in physics, describe what constitutes or

influences the “perfect” basketball free throw, baseball pitch, or soccer kick.

In basketball, shooting is one of, if not, the most fundamental aspect of basketball. A

team that shoots well will obviously score a lot of points and probably win the game regardless

of the opponent’s offence. Great passing and fancy footwork are nice, but ultimately, the main

point of basketball is to try to put the ball in the basket. Thus, it is crucial to explore the various

physical aspects of the shot. This is possible because according to legendary coach Jerry

Tarkanian, shooting a basketball is actually a science because it involves mechanical

Moreover, once it leaves a shooters hand, it rises and

falls in a fixed parabolic path that can be calculated using Newton’s laws of motion (White).

Therefore, in combining the physics of the shooter before the shot and the projectile of the ball

after the shot, physicists are able to discuss the physics behind the “perfect shot.” In pursuit of

this idea, two engineers and NC State University studied hundreds of thousands of trajectories of

free throws made by some exceptional free throw shooters. They concluded that first of all,

players should shoot with three hertz of back spin, which is equal to the ball making three back

spinning revolutions before hitting the hoop. Backspin slows down the ball when it bounces on

the backboard, making it closer to the rim and giving it a greater chance to fall through the net

(Nothing But Net: The Physics of Free-Throw Shooting). Furthermore, the two engineers state

that the ball should be launched 52 degrees above the horizontal because a launch angle of