Introduction: Physics of Sports.
Last updated on February 22, 2001
| Instructor: Tom Steiger. E-mail: steiger@alum.mit.edu URL: http://faculty.washington.edu/tds/ |
Qualifications for this class
The aspiring student should have at least have successfully completed college level science and math; or at least have been a whiz at high school science and math; especially in the "story-book" problems.
Mathematics is not just another language. Mathematics is a language plus reasoning; it is like a language plus logic. Mathematics is a tool for reasoning. It is in fact a big collection of the results of some person's careful thought and reasoning. By mathematics it is possible to connect one statment to another. From "Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman.
Texts :
a) Web documents on this site.
b) Lecture notes, also posted on this site.
useful references:
c) Muscles, Reflexes, and Locomotion. Thomas A. McMahon. $25. This is a superb book on the fundamentals of locomotion which range from basic muscle mechanics and thermodynamics to coordinated motion. There is a thought provoking section on the effects of scale. What if any is there any advantage to a particular size for a particular sport?
d) The Biomechanics of Sports Techniques, James G. Hay. This text covers major sports. Baseball, Basketball, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Softball, Swimming, Track and Field.
e) Sport Science, Peter J. Brancazio. This is a highly readable book by a sports fanatic physicist.
f) The Physics of Baseball, Robert K. Adair. Professor Adair is the Physicist of the National League.
h) Physics of Sports, Ed. Angelo Armenti, Jr, American Institute of Physics (1992). This is a collection of articles on the physics of sports that have been published by AIP and has been a starting point for many of the developments in physics of sports.
i) Bicycling Science, F. Rowland and D.G. Wilson, MIT Press (1985). There has been a lot of developments on training since this book was published but you'll find it to be a very useful guide on the limiting factors for producing speed for various durations from sprints to long distance.
j) The Physics of Skiing, David Lind and Scott. P. Sanders, Springer-Verlag (1996).
k) Physics in Biology and Medicine, Paul Davidovits, Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1975).
l) Keep Your Eye on the Ball, Robert G. Watts and A. Terry Bahill, W.H. Freeman and Co. (2000).
Here's a sample of the type of questions that we will address and study.
How does Sam Perkins optimize his stroke to get a season average of 41% in the 3-point basketball shot? Does the apparently upright posture of Michael Johnson, the Olympic Champ in 200 and 400 meter go against conventional wisdom? How does a modern larger head tennis racket make us better players? What's the basis for the sculling type stroke used by successful free style swim racers? Why does "thinking" hard while shooting the basketball usually make things worse? Why does a curve ball curve? And why does it appear to "break"? Why do some thicker keels and rudders make a boat go faster than a knife edge, thin keels and rudders? Why does the optimal golf shot off the tee take off at about 20 degrees while the optimal shot put is launched at 45 degrees? Why do big runners and swimmers in distance events go no faster than small athletes? Are there some sports where big is best? Or small is best? All this and more!
INTRODUCTION
There is considerable scientific evidence that the healthy personality is one who not only plays, but who takes his play seriously. -Dr. William Menninger
There are many elements in optimum sports performance including physiology, psychology as well as the science of motion. In this course, we will touch on all of the elements but we will concentrate on the PHYSICS of sports which is concerned with the MECHANICS of motion. This includes kinematics, dynamics, and the ideas of momentum, energy and power and the efficient use of the human body and of sports equipment to achieve high levels of performance.
Our historical development has left us with a mish-mash of ways of measuring physical quantities (e.g. foot, mile, meter, pound, Newtons, horsepower, watts). In this course, we will use the STANDARD INTERNATIONAL UNITS (METRIC). There is great virtue to the use of these (as well as some disadvantages) as you will see during this course. I will expect you to develop facility at using the SI units and at converting other units into SI units. The lectures will consist of the uncovering some of the subjects from your reading and exploring them in greater depths. We will have many physical demonstrations and video slow-motion demonstrations of the physics points. There will be ample opportunities for questions.
Class Notes on the Web
Many of the class notes and problem solutions etc will be available on the website for this class. This will be hyperlinked from the syllabus section of this document.
It would be best if you were to access these notes from your own web browser or from one of the browsers available from the University. Click here for information on computing services available on campus.
How to Study Physics. Notes from the University of Texas.
EVALUATION AND TESTING
There will be 3 tests during the term and the final during finals week. The tests will consist of questions which are similar to the weekly problem sets. Each of the 3 tests will count for 1 unit. The final will count for 2 units, and your combined score on homework and quizzes will count for 1 unit. Your grade will be figured from the best 4 of the 6 units. Each exam will be weighted according to the average and standard deviation for the particular exam. The dropping of the worst units is meant to take care of your having a "bad day" or missing a test due to illness or travel, etc. You may bring a help page with constants, formulae, etc. which you have made to the exam. The use of calculators is encouraged, but it is possible for you to leave your solutions in unrationalized form.
Links to other physics of sports sites.
- Sports and Fitness. Virtual Reality at UW.
- FAQs on the Physics of Rowing Cambridge University Guide.
- The U.S. Olympic Committee Home Page.
- The National Sports Medicine Institute of the United Kingdom.
- Science of the Summer Games.
- Coaching Science Abstracts.
- Peak Performance Technologies.
- Sailing Science.
- Footwear biomechanics.
- Honours Degree in Sports Science and Physics at Loughborough University. Click here to link to the Loughborough site.
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