Top athletes and coaches use a whole lot of science and engineering to improve performance and increase the chances of winning. Technologies like better tennis rackets, sleeker running and swimming outfits, and aerodynamic soccer balls, mean that current athletes are breaking world records left and right. Add to that better nutrition and science-based training regimes and you have an era of amazing athletes! Explore one of our sports science projects to see how science and engineering impact your favorite sport.
Have you ever wondered why golf balls have a pattern of dimples on their surface? The dimples are important for determining how air flows around the ball when it is in flight. The dimple pattern, combined with the spin imparted to the ball when hit by the club, greatly influence the ball's flight path. For example, backspin generates lift, prolonging flight. When the ball is not hit squarely with the club, varying degrees of sidespin are imparted to the ball. A clockwise sidespin (viewed from…
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Sports_p012
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
To do this experiment you must have sufficient golf experience to swing a golf club consistently and have access to golf clubs.
Think of a way to launch the puck with a reproducible force, and examine the effect of launching the puck in different orientations on the distance it travels. For more information on the physics, see Haché, 2002.
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There is a bewildering selection of different golf balls to choose from for playing the game. Some less expensive, some more expensive, all with different claims for the advantages they will bring to your game. This project can help you determine which type of golf ball is right for you.
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Sports_p015
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Time Required
Long (2-4 weeks)
Prerequisites
You must be an experienced golfer to do this project. You'll need a large open space where you can hit a lot of balls (and recover them).
Material Availability
Specialty items
Cost
Average ($50 - $100)
Safety
Make sure that you have plenty of space outdoors, and no one downrange.
If you've ever played or watched basketball, you might already know that your chances of successfully banking a shot on the backboard are higher in certain positions on the basketball court, even when keeping the distance from the hoop the same. Ever wondered what would account for this? Do you think you could actually explain this using geometry? This science project will put your knowledge of geometry and algebra to good use. You will calculate and quantify how much more difficult it is to…
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Everyone's used to the idea that people are either right-handed or left-handed for particular tasks. That is, one hand is preferred (or dominant) over the other for a particular task. Did you know that people also have a dominant eye? This project is designed to look for consequences of having the dominant hand and eye on the same side of the body (uncrossed) vs. having the dominant hand and eye on opposite sides of the body (crossed).
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Sports_p021
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Time Required
Long (2-4 weeks)
Prerequisites
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The makers of sports drinks spend tens to hundreds of millions of dollars advertising their products each year. Among the benefits often featured in these ads are the beverages' high level of electrolytes, which your body loses as you sweat. In this science project, you will compare the amount of electrolytes in a sports drink with those in orange juice to find out which has more electrolytes to replenish the ones you lose as you work out or play sports. When you are finished, you might even…
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Chem_p053
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Specialty electronics items are required. A kit is available from our partner
.
See the Materials section for details.
When the punter is trying to hit the "coffin corner" (within the opposing team's 10-yard line), out of bounds, what is the best angle to kick the ball for correct distance and maximum "hang time?" (For more information on the physics involved, see: Gay, 2004, Chapters 4 and 5.)
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If your idea of a great weekend morning is taking some practice swings at a driving range, or heading out to the links to play a round, this could be a good project for you. This project is designed to answer the question, what is the relationship between club loft angle and the distance that the ball travels when struck.
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Sports_p013
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
To do this experiment you must have sufficient golf experience to swing a golf club consistently and have access to golf clubs.
Have you ever played paintball with your friends? Wonder how you can improve your game? Paintball guns use compressed gas to shoot paint-filled pellets at high speed, and with good accuracy. The flight path of the ball is determined by its speed and the angle at which it is shot, relative to the ground. In this sports science fair project, you will explore the ballistics of paintballs, focusing on how drag and other factors affect the results.
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Sports_p054
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Time Required
Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites
You should have access to a paintball gun, be familiar with how to shoot it safely, and have access to an open area where you can shoot it. This project has a fairly involved procedure, since you are measuring several parameters (velocity, time of flight, distance) and also comparing these measurements to what you would expect based on calculations. Feel free to customize the procedure based on your interests.
Material Availability
Specialty items: You will need access to a paintball gun and accessories, including safety gear for you and for three helpers, as well as an instrument to measure velocity of the paintballs. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Cost
Average ($50 - $100)
Safety
Minor injury is possible, so wear eye protection. Adult supervision is required.
Think of hitting a baseball, heading a soccer ball into the net, or hitting a tennis ball with a racquet. Where the ball goes depends on...what? You can set up a simple model to start your investigation. You'll need a marble, a flat piece of wood, a flat piece of cardboard, a pencil, a ruler, a protractor, and a level surface. Lay down the cardboard down on a level surface and set up the flat piece of wood at one edge. The wood will act like a wall, and you're going to roll the marble at…
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