shooting

Shooting a basketball can be evaluated using some of the basic understandings of physics. Starting with what is considered one of the easiest shots--layups--we can explain in terms of physics. Galileo (and later on Newton) explained that an object desires not to be at rest, but to continue in the same direction with the same speed (Bhatia). This one fact is why young basketball players have trouble making layups, they do not add their speed to the ball's speed. They aim the ball as if they are stationary, but the ball travels according to the speed the player is moving.

Projectile motion is one of the easiest concepts of physics to relate to a jump shot; while shooting a basketball, the ball travels in a parabolic trajectory. By using the equations below, one can calculate how far the shot will go, the time it will take, and the velocity of the ball.

These equations usually neglect air resistance, however, using the equation D=(1/2)CpAv^2 one can account for the drag to be even more precise on the calculations.

An important aspect of shooting a basketball has always been the ball's spin. The greatest shooters in the history of the National Basketball Association have been known to put a backspin on their shots, but what is the advantage? The backspin causes the ball to hit the rim with a greater speed and, therefore, the friction created is greater as well. This friction causes the ball to slow down giving it a greater chance to bounce into the hoop rather than just immediately bounce off the rim and miss the basket as demonstrated by the photo below (Bhatia).

http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/basketball-backspin.png

Shooting