Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol 685 (2014) pp 477-480 Submitted: 2014-09-12

© (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland Revised: 2014-09-18

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.685.477 Accepted: 2014-09-20
Online: 2014-10-27

Biomechanics analysis of shooting in basketball

Jing Chen

Sichuan College of Architectural Technology , 618000, Deyang, China

3073028192@qq.com

Keywords: Biomechanics; kinematics; shooting; basketball

Abstract: By literature review, expert interview, and biomechanical methods, in this study using
3D film analyzing system to reveal the kinematics parameters of shooting in basketball players. The
purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of joint angles at release and reveal the
reason for improving the hit rate in shooting. Ten collegiate level basketball players in this study.
After digitizing the data, this study come to the following conclusion that (1) when the basketball
players flex their left and right knee joints at about 131.5o and 97.6o respectively at the lowest
center of gravity, in this position they can get the ideal shooting distance, (2) in the medium or long
range shooting, if the arc of basketball flight is excessively low, it will make the ball touch the hoop
and then rebound outwards. Hence, the higher the arc of basketball flight, the higher the hit rate will
be in shooting.

1. Introduction
As we known, the scoring of shooting in basketball is the highlights in match. The hit rat in
shooting is the key factor to win the match. The factors influence hit rate consists of release angle,
release height, release speed and so on. Therefore, many researchers have performed some
researches on how to improve the accuracy of shooting in basketball, and how to improve shooting
skill.
Alves Okazaki et al. analyzed the effect of increased distance on basketball jump shot outcome
and performance. The findings indicated that the distance is the main factor which affects the
changes in ball release height, angle and velocity, and then influence jump shot accuracy.[1]
Oudejans et al. investigated the effects of different actions preceding the jump shot on basketball
shooting in expert female basketball players. In this study, the authors concluded that actions
preceding the jump-shot affect shooting percentages. Effects are related to execution time of actions
prior to the shot, possibly in combination with the biomechanical consequences of performing these
actions on the dominant or non-dominant side.[2] Zhu et al. Investigated the mechanical problems
involved in the process of shooting basketball into the ring hoop in which the shooting process be
divided into three cases such as forward spinning, backward spinning, and side spinning.This study
concluded that greater projection speed will be required for forward spinning ball and backward
spinning ball to come smoothly into the basket, while side-spinning ball need higher speed and the
appropriate angle of projection.[3] Mullineaux et al. investigated the joint kinematics and
oordination-variability between missed and successful free throw attempts. It showed that
differences in outcome were distinguished by ball release speeds statistically lower than the optimal
speed.[4]Bartlett considers biomechanics research reporting inter- and intra-individual movement
variability in javelin and discus throwing, basketball shooting, and locomotion.[5]Miller et al. used
three-dimensional video techniques to obtain images of basketball jump shots from one of three

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distances : short, medium and long range. It indicated that ball release speed was found to increase
with distance from the basket, while mean release angles were similar for all groups.[6] Kornecki et
al.made an attempt to solve the inverse dynamics problem for the musculoskeletal system of a
basketball player so as to determine the time courses of the moments of muscle forces at the main
joints during jump shots of increasing level of difficulty. The study revealed that high-level
basketball players have their movement technique determined by their physical and sensomotor
traits, and their role in the team is merely a consequence of these.[7] Arias-Estero et al.analyzed the
relation between the frequency of opportunities for and success in dribbling, passing, receiving, and
shooting, and the relation between the frequency of dribbling, passing, receiving and shooting.This
study indicated that Opportunities for and success in dribbling were higher than opportunities for
and success in passing, receiving, and shooting.[8] Zuzik investigated the knowledge on the success
of free throw shooting in men and women in competition basketball matches of the Slovak
Basketball Association in various age categories. This study proposed age differentiation of the
observed men and women in adult category, to analyze in details the reasons for the percentage
growth or decrease observed, the rate of success of free throwing especially in youth age
categories.[9]
In this study, the author explored the knee joint and the upper extremities joints angles at the
release instant. The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristic of shooting in basketball
and provided some useful suggestions for athletes and coaches.

2. Subjects and methods

2.1. Subjects
Ten collegiate level basketball players participated in this study. The trial procedures was
informed each subject and all of them gave a written informed consent. The basic information of
subject are 187.8±4.7 cm , 79.3±5.5kg, and 20.9±1.3 years old. The training experience was more
than 10 years,

2.2 Methods
3 dimensional motion capture system was used in this study: two JVC 9800 DV, the frequency
was 50 frames per second. The two cameras were located at 60o between their main axis. The height
of camera is about 1.5 m, the distance between cameras and central area was 10 m. The capture
range was one side. Therefore, the capture data was one team shooting skill. The digitized software
was Aerial performance system.
2.3 Data analysis
In this data analysis, the researcher only took the successful shooting as samples. in order to
reduce the workloads of digitized film and avoid the unnecessary repetitions , the researcher
selected 10 shooting actions to analyzing, therefore, in the analysis ,not each player be analyzed,
sometimes, one player selected more than twice, and the other may be even not once.
After analyzing the video, the data were used SPSS16.0 for windows for further processing, the
description statistic were used in this study, and the results represented with mean and standard
deviation.
 Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 685 479

3. Results and analysis

3.1 Knee joint characteristics in lower extremities
After analyzing the film, as the table 1 present, the results indicated that the maximum flexion
degree at left and right knee joint angle are 165.4o and 162.7o respectively. Minimum angles at left
and right knee joints are 135.8o and 92.6o respectively. When the basketball players flex their left
and right knee joints at about 131.5o and 97.6o respectively at the lowest center of gravity, in this
position they can get the ideal shooting distance. Hence, the hit rate in shooting is higher than other
knee joint angles.
From the biomechanical knowledge, on one hand, the knee joints flex too much will make
extensors more load. In this status, it will affect the speed of extension of knee joints and the
cooperation with other segments, on the other hand, the knee joints flex too little will make the
extensors insufficiently stretch, in this status, it will affect the storage of elastic potential energy,
thereby affect the vertical velocity of players, of course, the hit rate will be became worse.
Table 1. Knee joint angles at flexion shot
Parameters Left knee Right knee
o
Knee joint angle at release ( ) 165.4±4.7 162.7±5.4
o
Minimum knee angle ( ) 135.8±5.9 92.6±8.4
Time at flexion (s ) 0.61±0.14 0.63±0.13
o
Degree at flexion ( ) 35.78±4.5 78.4±9.6
o
Knee angle at the lowest center of gravity ( ) 131.5±6.1 97.6±7.3

3.2 Joint angles characteristics at upper extremities at release

The joint angles of upper extremities as release of subjects are presented in table 2. As we known,
the release angles are an important index to assess the shooting skill in basketball. During the
release, the players should keep a stable status; its purpose is to create an ideal mechanical
condition. In the medium or long range shooting, if the arc of basketball flight is excessively low, it
will produce the ball touch the hoop and then rebound outwards. Hence, the higher the arc of
basketball flight, the higher the hit rate will be in shooting.
According to previous study, the optical release angles will be 45o to 50o between the arm and
horizontal ground, therefore, the corresponding optical shoulder angles of throwing limb at release
is 142o or so.
Table 2. Joint angles of upper extremities at release
Joints Mean Std. deviation
o
Left shoulder joint angle ( ) 106.5 6.1
o
Right shoulder joint angle ( ) 139.8 4.8
o
Left elbow joint angle ( ) 125.5 5.7
o
Right elbow joint angle ( ) 174.3 8.7
o
Left waist joint angle ( ) 146.3 6.8
o
Right waist joint angle ( ) 127.1 10.2
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4. Conclusion
(1) When the basketball players flex their left and right knee joints at about 131.5o and 97.6o
respectively at the lowest center of gravity, in this position they can get the ideal shooting distance.
(2) In the medium or long range shooting, if the arc of basketball flight is excessively low, it
will make the ball touch the hoop and then rebound outwards. Hence, the higher the arc of
basketball flight, the higher the hit rate will be in shooting.
(3) The basketball players should pay attention to the coordination relationship between the
speed of shooting, jumping height and release angles.

References
[1] Alves Okazaki, Victor Hugo; Rodacki, André Luiz Félix, Increased distance of shooting on
basketball jump shot. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine Jun 2012, Vol. 11 Issue 2, p231
[2] Oudejans, Raôul R. D.; Karamat, Rajiv S.; Stolk, Maarten H.,Effects of Actions Preceding the
Jump Shot on International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching Jun2012, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p255
Gaze Behavior and Shooting Performance in Elite Female Basketball Players.
[3] Jiangtian Zhu; Liang Dong.Correlation analysis on biomechanics parameters of basketball
shooting based on differential equations. Journal of Chemical & Pharmaceutical Research. 2014,
Vol. 6 Issue 6, p2386-2392.
[4] Mullineaux, David R.; Uhl, Timothy L.,Coordination-variability and kinematics of misses
versus swishes of basketball free throws.Journal of Sports Sciences Jul2010, Vol. 28 Issue 9, p1017
[5] Bartlett, Roger; Wheat, Jon; Robins, Matthew,Is movement variability important for sports
biomechanists? Sports Biomechanics May2007, Vol. 6 Issue 2, p224
[6] Miller, S.; Bartlett, R.M.,The effects of increased shooting distance in the basketball jump
shot.Journal of Sports Sciences Aug 1993: Vol. 11 Issue 4. p. 285-293
[7] Kornecki, S.; Lenart, I.; Siemienski, A.,Dynamical analysis of basketball jump shot. Biology of
Sport 2002: Vol. 19 Issue 1. p. 73-90
[8] Arias-Estero, José L., Opportunities for and Success in Dribbling, Passing, Receiving, and
Shooting in Youth Basketball. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching Dec2013, Vol. 8
Issue 4, p703
[9] Zuzik, Pavol,Free Throw Shooting Effectiveness in Basketball Matches of Men and
Women.Sport Science Review 2011, Vol. 20 Issue 3/4, p149
Machine, Industry and Manufacturing Based on Applied-Information Technology IV
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Biomechanics Analysis of Shooting in Basketball

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