An Optimal Basketball Free Throw

Summary

A basketball player attempting a free throw has two parameters under his or her control: the angle of elevation and the force with which the ball is thrown. We compute upper and lower bounds for the initial velocity for suitable values of the angle of elevation, generating a subset of the configuration space of all successful free throws. A computer-assisted search of this configuration space yields a free throw shot most forgiving of error hence optimal.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Seppala-Holtzman

David Seppala-Holtzman ([email protected]) is the chair of the Mathematics Department at St. Joseph's College in Brooklyn. He received his doctorate from the University of Oxford (England) in algebraic topology. The scope of his mathematical interests has broadened considerably since then. The AMS subject classification scheme has yet to nail him down.