Sports Science Science Projects (Page 4)

Keeping Up

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you ever feel like you need to move your legs faster than your parents do just to keep up with them? This could be because of the difference in leg length between you and your parents. How many more steps do you need to take compared to your parents to walk down the block? Can you use a walking test to determine how tall a person is? This science project will help you find out! You can even use your phone and a sensor app to record the steps and determine the pace. Read more

The Science of Spin: A Baseball Pendulum

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

For this project, you'll use a baseball as a pendulum weight, studying the motion of the ball with and without spin. Wrap a rubber band around the ball, and tie a string to the rubber band. Fasten the string so that the ball hangs down and can swing freely. Mark a regular grid on cardboard, and place it directly beneath the ball to measure the motion. You can also time the oscillations with a stopwatch. Lift the ball along one of the grid axes, and let it go. Observe the motion and record… Read more

Skateboard Extremes: Which Wheels are Best for Speed & Turns?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Skateboarder alert: Extreme performance needed in this project. You can cruise and carve while you investigate which skateboard wheels produce the fastest (and slowest) rides on your terrain in these experiments. You pick the wheels and design the tests you think will produce the most extreme results for speed and turns. Do this project and you can work on your ride and learn some science about the speed, spin, and design of skateboard wheels. Read more

Golf Clubs, Loft Angle, and Distance

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

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. Read more

The Power of Your Eyes: How Vision Affects Balance

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Staying balanced might feel simple, but there’s so much more involved than you would think! The way your body balances is actually the result of several body systems working together. Your muscles and joints provide feedback (proprioception) about where your body is in space, your inner ear senses movement and position, and your eyes give you important visual cues about your surroundings. Vision is especially important because it helps your brain judge where you are in relation to the… Read more

Playing the Angles: The Physics of Balls Bouncing Off of Surfaces

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

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… Read more

Aerodynamics of a Football

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

How much difference does the spiraling motion of a well-thrown football make on the distance of the throw (compared to wobbling, or end-over-end motion of the ball)? Think of a way to reproducibly produce the desired ball motion and launch it with a constant force to find out. (For more information on the physics, see Gay, 2004.) Read more

Tee Time: How Does Tee Height Affect Driving Distance?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If you're an avid golfer, this might be a fun project for you. When you're setting up to tee off out on the course, how much attention do you pay to putting the tee in the ground? The height of the tee can affect both where in the swing the club makes contact and where on the clubface the ball makes contact. Are you placing your tees at the right height to get the most distance from your swing? Read more

How Shoe Tread Affects Traction

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever noticed that some shoes grip the ground better than others? The pattern and design of a shoe’s tread can affect how slippery it is on different surfaces. You can test shoes with different tread patterns—like flat, ridged, or patterned—to see which design provides the best grip. By dragging a shoe along a surface with a spring scale at a constant velocity, you can measure how much force is needed for each shoe to slide on various surfaces. With this knowledge, you… Read more

Tee Time: How Fast is Your Golf Swing?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The goal of every golfer is to hit the golf ball as far as possible down the fairway. A key factor in determining the distance that the ball will travel is the velocity of the club when it strikes the ball. In this sports science fair project, you will determine exactly how distance is related to club velocity. Time to tee off! Read more

Sports Science Science Projects (66 results)

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