The anatomy of the bank shot in men's basketball

Abstract

A detailed study of the bank shot trajectory was performed with a focus on breaking it down into its significant features. The bank shot's effectiveness was examined in terms of the player's ability to accurately impart launch speed, back spin, pitch angle, and side angle. It was shown that the bank shot is more forgiving than the direct shot in launch speed and launch angle and has about the same level of forgiveness in side angle at particular locations on the court. This paper concludes that the bank shot can be extremely advantageous over the direct shot to the shooter who learns how to accurately impart side angle.