The March Madness Parabola In Basketball
A parabola can easily be viewed as an elegant arched trajectory naturally formed by any projectile, from an artillery round to a tomato, moving in a gravitational field. Parabolas have been extensively studied since people started throwing stuff at each other, and they shape the outcome of many ballistic sports, such as baseball, golf, football, shot put and more. But they reach their apex in basketball, where field goals and free throws demand precision control of parabolas. So in tribute to the ongoing NCAA Basketball championships, I present to you, “the March Madness Parabola”.
But the “March Madness” version is not just any parabola. Success favors a fairly high arch. The ball must pass through the hoop with a little room to spare, and