Disscussion
Based on the results from the players and their peak angular velocities, we have concluded that the players who had more successful shots tend to follow a pattern of motion from the upper and lower body segments. Starting at the proximal joints and making its way to the distal joints - the shoulder to the wrist. (Martin & Bradley, n.d.)
When the player is about to take the free throw, they will start by a concentric contraction of the bottom segment of the body - flexion of the hip then followed by the knee and ankle. As the player is performing the concentric contraction,
The successful shooters followed a short-lengthening cycle. The bending of the knees and lowering of their center of gravity posed to create a short cycle where they were able to load energy from the lower body and lengthen to transfer the energy to the upper body in one fluid motion. (Martin & Bradley, n.d.)
The experiment shows that the players who made the shot tend to have higher peak angular velocity for the lower body segment compared to the players who missed. (Martin & Bradley, n.d.) The players who missed were shown to have a higher peak angular velocity in the upper portion of their body. This is because the players who had a higher peak angular velocity for their lower body segment are able to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body resulting in a more accurate free throw. (Martin & Bradley, n.d.) In other words, upper body and limbs were used as a way to guide the ball while the power was generated from the lower body; results of this is higher angular velocity for the lower body segment. On the other hand, if the shooter generated more power from the upper body, the limb looses its ability to accurately guide the ball through the whole free throw motion. Another way of thinking about this whole free throw motion is that with the bending of the knee joint and hip joint, it creates a much smoother transition for the body when shooter shoots the ball. If the knee and hip joint doesn't follow the this smooth motion, more energy would be needed to generated the same power to shoot the ball and less consistency for the shooter to make the shot. (Martin & Bradley, n.d.) Like we talked about before in the results section, the best shooter tend to have more controlled and consistent joint velocity when making the shot, and this controlled and consistent joint velocity contributed to the accuracy of the shot. In essence, those who succeeds in free throw are those who uses lower body to generates the force needed for the free throw. Because of this, expert shooters don't need to generate as much force from the shoulder, and can therefore can control the momentum better as it is transfered through the core of the body to the shoulder and finally to the ball. (Westmark, Brondbo & Gatz, n.d.)
But what can we take from this? Although it varies between individuals, perfect shots still involves similar if not the same movement of the joints among different shooters, but those who start their shooting motion from their legs tend to have better and more accurate shots.
In another words, to make the shot perfect, player's arm must follow a few certain steps as outlined by the Manitoba study.
First, when we take a look at the player's muscle groups, we see that the lower body of the muscle produced most of the power needed for a shot. This power extension is made possible through the stretch reflex and elastic storage from the muscles. (Alexander, n.d.) Also, the elbow should be kept directly under the ball during elbow extension to ensure that the ball is pushed in a upward trajectory towards the hoop. A common mistake while shooting is to elbow extend and shoulder flex at the same time, this will combine the energy contribution from elbow extension and shoulder flexion. Instead you want a uniform motion where all the joints are contributing by adding their forces. (Alexander, n.d.)
As the ball is being shot the eyes of the shooter should be focused on where the player wants the ball to go and in this case it will be the hoop. A good basketball free throw shooter should release with a forward flick from the wrist and thus produce a backspin. (Alexander, n.d.) Since the force from the fingers is applied to the outside of the ball during release, this will ultimately create the backspin on the ball as well as traject the ball upward and forward. Also an important thing to note, when the wrist is flexed and the ball is released, the lower arm is pronating. This is very important for the backspin because it will help stabilize the flight of the ball and also keep the ball spinning in a sagittal plane and ensures that no side-spin is acted upon the ball. Side spin would most likely occur if the lower arm moves in supination. To have no back spin would require the wrist and hand movements to have started before the elbow moves which then the ball would float through the air. (Alexander, n.d.) In terms of shoulder joint, the shooter should be flexing their shoulder while almost be pointing vertically to the ceiling. This will ensure that maximum vertical peak velocity is used on the ball. The wrist flexion is the final factor that affects the ball as it is released, it will control the angle at where the ball is released from the fingers and how fast the ball travels. If it is released too early or late, the ball will not be at peak velocity.
But what about the other hand that isn't shooting the ball? The non-shooting hand should be placed away from the center on the side of the ball. This will help with the lining up of the ball to the hoop for better accuracy. (Alexander, n.d.) The elbow of the non-shooting arm should not be pointed outwards because then the non-shooting arm would be pushing the ball creating a force from the side of the ball. Rather, it should align with the shooting arm in a straight line with the wrist and hand. (Alexander, n.d.) The non-shooting hand should also be removed before the release of the ball, so that the shot has complete control from the shooter. The reason why the non-shooting hand does get released at the same instant as the wrists launches the ball is because it would direct unwanted side spin. It would be very difficult if the non-shooting hand was not used or positioned properly. If the non-shooting hand is not used it would be very tough for the player to bring the ball up from the knee and hip flexion. (Alexander, n.d.)
The final part of a free throw is the “follow through”. (Alexander, n.d.) This is when the position of the joints continues to move in unison to their full range of motion and finally the release of the ball. A proper follow through has the trunk in a vertical position, ankles plantarflexed, legs extended, elbow extended, and the wrist and shoulder flexed. (Alexander, n.d.) A follow through is important because if the joints did not move in a full range of motion and fluidity, then it would decrease the velocity when the ball is released. A follow through will provide the shooter with great momentum and force to shoot the ball with optimal velocity and greater success at scoring.
Videos of Shooting forms (Westmark, Brondbo, & Gatz, n.d.)
Novice shooting form
Expert shooting form
This project is intended to focus on the bio-mechanical analysis of a basketball free throw shot by using an experiment from an article that uses players of any experience to attempt a free throw shot. At the same time, the researchers are able to come to a percentage based on the way the players shoot the ball and if they miss or not. Our goal is to identify why most players have a specific bio-mechanic pattern throughout the free throw.
