Broomball By Jonathan The-Daring McMahon

Image courtesy: Jake Begley

Broomball sticks are the most mysterious complex structures of the entire broomball ecosystem. They shall be mysterious no more!

If one stands back, all broomball sticks seek to offer players several attributes: custom weight, optimized surface area, varying strike zone curvature, and of course, epic colors. Most stick lengths are tightly controlled, and so they are generally fairly uniform.

Force = (mass) x (acceleration)  and    Pressure = (force) / (surface area) 

So Pressure = (mass) x (acceleration) / (surface area)  

Therefore, to pull an acceleration in terms of pressure: 

Acceleration = (pressure) x (surface area) / (mass)   

So what does this mean to a potential broomball god? Pressure is a result of a given force distributed over an area. If you want to make a broomball soar, then a substantial acceleration is needed. According to those equations, to pull that off, either a whopping big surface pressure is needed, or the broomball needs to be really light.  Because broomball weight’s can’t be changed midgame, or at any other point in their lifespan, let’s look at how to optimize pressure output.

If one always swings the same stick at the same acceleration, then the only way to increase pressure on the ball is to shrink the surface area of the strike zone. Alternatively, using a heavier stick and swinging it much faster than a lighter would be ideal. This, however, is of little practical use because heavier sticks are harder to swing, and therefore generally don’t get swung faster. But changing surface area is easy, and it doesn’t tire players’ arms!

The surface area of the strike zone is easily manipulated during a broomball match. Most broomball sticks are slightly curved to provide something of a parabolic cradle for the ball to make traveling down the rink easier. Microparabolic manipulation of the ball.  Though nice for moving the ball at a steady rate, the curvature is not ideal for shooting because it applies maximum surface area for contact. Broomball champions know a way around this.

Most sticks have flat portions located in specific points on the strike zone. These flat regions are the secret to contact pressure manipulation.  The flats contain minimal area. Scoop and Slap shots, where players use the wide portion of their stick’s lower-lip strike zone, can achieve tremendous speeds due to this minimal contact surface area.

Image courtesy: Aaronw79

Another secret, one which perhaps could be regarded as old school, is stick rotation. Not all players are lucky enough to personally choose their playing gear. And rentals suck. In this dreadful case, hope has indeed perished, but physics remains alive and true for eternity. Rotating a stick to its side—done in such a way so that the outer edge of the strike zone becomes the only contact surface—is an evil trick used by dark broomball overlords the world over. This technique guarantees minimal contact surface area. The edge of a strike zone will always contain less surface area than the face of the strike zone itself. This effectively demonstrates a broomball stick “karate chop” when the stick collides with the ball. Another way that broomball is master of everything.

Image courtesy: StongerThanDirt