A MATH STORY

Basketball Shots

            Jesse’s life revolved around basketball, for he had been playing since the day he got a hold on a ball. His height was only 5’8”, but his 3-pointers were the best on the team-- he wasn’t the varsity captain for no reason. For some, it’s all about natural talent, and for others, it’s extreme amounts of practice to perfect their basketball skills. But for Jesse, it was all about the math behind the throw.

            When you’re shooting a basketball, you can’t just throw it directly at the hoop and expect it to go in and allow you to score a perfect 3-pointer or free-throw. The position of the player, the angle of the throw, and the angle between the arm and body of the shooter are crucial when it comes to scoring a basket.

All it takes is for the player to determine the measurement of the angle that he/she is comfortable with. Jesse being 5’8” has to shoot the ball at a 52-degree angle in order to get the ball in. The force applied to the ball as it was being thrown is all up to the player, where some throw with their own amount of force that the player is comfortable with, while others may throw with a shooter’s touch-- a ball thrown with just enough for it to make its path towards the hoop in slow motion. But no matter what the angle and distance, it’s the height that changes everything

Jesse often recalled his struggles trying to figure out the right angle for him to shoot: It was 3 years ago and Jesse was in 8th grade. He wanted to join the varsity basketball team his freshman year, but in order to do that, he had to perfect his shots. He practiced diligently every day after-school, both during practices and after. It just happened to be that the basketball coach was his geometry teacher. After a while, he started using geometry to help the players improve their skills, such as passing at a right angle as much as possible -- for the most speed, or the more obstacles/distance between you and the hoop, the smaller the angle between your forearm and your body.

After that Jesse started becoming more careful about the angles his body performed in during games. He occasionally tried different angles -- he started throwing at a 48-degree angle, but it wouldn’t work out for him, as it would completely miss the hoop. Every week, he increased the angle by a degree, till the fourth week, where he was at a 53-degree shot. It worked a great deal for him, and his dream of joining the varsity team did become true after his efforts. More like the efforts of his brain and his coach.