The Physics of Basketball

Basketball, and proficiency in basketball, has a great deal to do with physics whether the player knows it or not. The game is played with two opposing teams of five players each. The object of the game is to move a ball, by dribbling it across the court, to a ten foot high basket. This can be done in three ways: dribbling the ball down court, passing the ball between different players down court, or a combination of the two. At the basket, the player can throw the ball into the basket to attempt to score the point. If the shot is successful, the team with the player that made the successful shot gets two points. If the shot misses the basket, all members of either team are allowed to try to pick it up and score a point for their team themselves. Physics plays a principle role in three areas of the game: shooting the ball into the basket, bouncing the ball, and receiving a pass. (The Physics of Basketball)

Physics plays a major role in shooting a basketball which is an example of nonlinear motion. The ball follows the same pattern of other objects in projectile motion. Gravity pulls the ball rising up from the player's hands to fall in an arc toward the basket. Using the laws of projectile motion, we can assume that the time it takes to go up equal to the time it takes to fall into the basket (or fall somewhere near the basket). Raising the height at which the ball is thrown toward the basket can increase the percentage at which the shot is made. For example, the definitive study on the physics of basket ball, done in 1981 by Peter Brancasio, found that if the height at which a ball was shot was raised by .61 m, the successful shot percentage would increase remarkably by 17%.