Computation of optimal release parameters of jump shots in basketball

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the computational method to decide optimal release parameters by assessing the influence of selection of release parameters on the success rate of jump shots. The shooting performances from the free-throw (FT) and three-point (3P) lines of ten male collegiate basketball players were recorded using three-dimensional motion analysis system. The release parameters including release height, speed, angle, and spin rate were computed using the obtained positional data of the basketball. The resultant trajectory with selected release parameters were simulated using the equation of motion considering the influences of air drag and lift forces in the air. This enabled us to accurately investigate the influence of selection and variability of release parameters on the resultant trajectory, or the success rate. It ultimately resulted in computing optimal release parameters considering the actual influences on the success rate. In FT shots, decreasing magnitude of release speed and minimizing variability in release speed with larger margin for error for release speed contributed to higher success rate. For 3P shots, selecting release parameters that maximize margin for error for both release speed and release angle contributed to higher success rate since accurately grading the release speed was more difficult in shots from larger distance. Additionally, it was found that spin rate also does influence the trajectory of the ball in air. Therefore, it was concluded that when computing optimal release parameters, taking the influence of air drag and lift forces possibly caused by the spin of the ball into consideration is necessary since otherwise the relation between release parameters and resultant trajectory would be erroneous.