For the past few weeks our class has been researching the physics of certain sports and the elements behind them. The goal was to help athletes understand sports and the different components behind them. My group (Reema Heydari, Alexis Bishop, Owen Ondricek, and I) made a video exploring the physics of an underhanded free throw. We chose that sports skill because we were curious about how to proficiently shoot an underhanded free throw since we already had an idea about how to shoot a traditional one. We started out by making a script. The script determined what everybody would say during the video and who would have what responsiblity. We did several practice runs and worked out the flaws until it was ready to film. After that, we began filming the actual free throw and narration. After several attempts the video was completed and we had a final product.
Physics: -Velocity=change in distance/change in time -Acceleration=change in velocity/change in time -Force=mass*acceleration -Work=force*distance -Kinetic Energy=1/2mv^2=Potential Energy -Potential Energy=mass*gravity*height=Kinetic Energy -Momentum=mass*velocity -Impulse=force*time -Vector=a quantity with both direction and magnitude When finding total velocity, you can find the vertical velocity and horizontal velocity using a^2*b^2=c^2 The ball was released at a 55 degree angle and had been thrown with a force of 28.2 Newtons (or 6.3 pounds). During the shot I had my knees bent at a 60 degree angle and the total velocity of the ball was 9.4 meters per second. The horizontal velocity was 3.26 meters per second and the vertical velocity was 8.8 meters per second.
One of the things I enjoyed about the project was the freedom. We were allowed to go to the gym and film our shot without asking. This povided us with a lot of responsiblity and ownership. It was interesting learning about small things we do every day and the physics behind them. One peak within our group was having an open mind. We had many different ideas, some that worked and others that had to be revised. Our group did a great job of accepting everybody's ideas. Another peak that I learned about myself is that I can be a leader when I want to. I felt that during this project I took leadership at some points, and it felt good to take on that role. One pit about our project was time management. Our group did a poor job with managing our time, so we ended up turning our project in late. If we were to do this project again, we would focus most on improving this area. Another pit that was a large challenge was the video editing. It was difficult to get all the clips from our phones to the computer and transfer them into the video editing software. If we were to do this project again I would do more research about simple and effective editing software. Skills I could work on are the distribution of roles and tasks. We struggled with knowing who was doing what during this project. We ended up having to use time from our lunch to complete it Another aspect I would work on is getting more familiar with the technolgy behind making the video. I didn't know how to create the video, but luckily we had someone in our group who was familiar with editing. Overall, this project was very fun and I learned a lot.
Overall I really enjoyed this project and looking into the physics of an underhand freethrow. I had a good time working with my teammates and learned a lot about myself, about them, and how I might do things differently for future projects. I really enjoy many different types of sports and I'm looking forward to seeing what the other groups chose. Maybe one day all levels of basketball players will be using the underhanded technique.