The physics of scoring in basketball

washingtonpost.com : March Madness—the annual NCAA basketball playoff spectacle—begins in earnest this week.The Washington Post takes a look at research started by Peter Brancazio , a former physics professor at Brooklyn College, who in the 1980s wrote a book on the physics of sport and how to optimize scoring .In basketball, the ball typically follows a parabola—it’s the elegant arched trajectory naturally formed by any projectile, from an artillery round to a tomato, moving in a gravitational field.According to Brancazio, the correct angle for scoring from free throws is to create a parabola curve by angling the throw at 45°, except when it isn’t, which is most of the time.The reason is that 45° works only if the ball is shot as the same height as the basket. Those of us who aren’t 7 ft tall with long arms have to compensate by launching the ball at a higher angle, typically in ranges from 52° to 59°.More recent computer simulations suggest 52° is the optimal angle to score in most basketball games. Related Link Analyzing effects of hoops ball hog InsideScience News