How Much Is There A Force Without Forces In Basketball

Every aspect of basketball has some type of force working upon it. For example, without friction a basketball player would be unable to stop because inertia states that objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Without friction acting upon the player, there is no force to stop him, until he hits a wall that is. With this information you can come to the conclusion that without forces, there would be no game of basketball. However, what exactly is a force? Webster's dictionary defines force as a push or pull that can change the speed or direction of an object (Merriam-Webster). At any point in a game the most prevalent force acting upon both the player and the ball is gravity. Gravity can be seen influencing anything from a passed basketball
Basketball shoes used to be simple converse shoes with flat soles, but as injuries increased work was done to better improve the shoes the players wore. Most shoes worn by basketball players today are a type of high top that allows a player to lace his shoe up and around his ankle. This creates a tension around the ankle that in turn stabilizes it. Because of this ankle the support the rest of the shoe will absorb forces that would normally make a player's ankle roll-over and cause an injury (Slade 2010). The law of inertia can be seen here because a players ankle wants to continue moving but the force of the shoe does not allow the ankle to continue and stops it. In order to move in any way you must create friction between you and the surface you are pushing against. The greater the friction, the easier it is to direct your movements. This is why basketball shoes normally have rubber on the bottom. Rubber is good for making a lot of friction, especially when it comes in contact with a hard surface (Slade 2010). Shoes today are also lighter than they were previously. By lowering the mass of the shoes, players are more easily able to move their feet. This may not seem like much of an improvement, but you have to realize some players will be moving almost non-stop for hours, so any little bit helps. Another aspect of shoes today you may not think about are that they are
The game of basketball itself even begins with a battle of jumping between two players. Players are routinely evaluated on how they can jump to determine what spot they get. When a player start his jump he will normally bend his knees. This creates stored energy for him to use during his jump. The energy will then travel down his leg and push against the floor. The floor then pushes back with an equal strength and the player is able to leap into the air. The more force a player pushes into the ground, the harder the ground will push back and the higher the player will jump. After jumping a player will continue accelerating slower and slower until he reaches his peak, where for a fraction of a second his acceleration will be zero (Hesston College). This is when the player begins his return back to the ground. During this entire process energy is never lost, only converted. When the player is ready to jump he has a lot of potential energy. Once he jumps potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. Then as he nears his peak, the kinetic energy is being converted into potential energy. Once he reach reaches his peak the player once again has a lot of potential energy that begins to be converted to kinetic energy on his way back down. If a player were to increase his kinetic energy pre-jump by say running, he would then be able to have more of it converted to potential energy which would result in a higher