Mrs. Workman
English Comp
12 September 2014
Basketball Modifications Will Have Negative Impact on Young Players Previously, in many sports, the rules and equipment have been modified due to players’ age, gender and physical ability. A few years ago, experiments were set up based on changing the weight of the basketball. In order for the experiment results to be accurate, certain requirements had to be met. Shot accuracy and efficacy are very important when it comes to basketball, and changing the weight of the ball could possibly affect both of them. Strength, body mass, and height of players also affect shot accuracy. Weaker players are forced to release the ball at different angles than stronger players. This could cause …show more content…
Shot accuracy is the shooting precision or marksmanship, whereas shot efficacy is the capacity to achieve the desired or expected effect from shooting. Shot efficacy has many factors that play into it, many of which cannot be controlled during a game. When the ball weight was decreased, both accuracy and efficacy increased. However, when the ball weight increased the shot accuracy and efficacy remained about the same. In the free-throw tests, no positive effect came with the decrease in ball weight. This may be because free-throws are influenced by many different factors within the psychological nature. When free throws are taken, the player is uncertain of what is going on around them, or if they are going to make the shot or not. Free-throws are not defended and are also taken from the same distance from the basket every time. The efficacy is not influenced by nearly as many factors as the other shots taken during games, so it is believed that they will show the greatest effect of introducing a smaller ball. During the experiment that was held, it was found that there was a significant decrease in the percentage of free throws scored in 2005 compared to the percentage of free throws scored in 2001. It was found that shooting accuracy seemed to improve with the shortest basket, and the smallest ball. Basket height affects shooting efficacy and the dimensions of the ball …show more content…
Strength is really important for shooting efficacy, especially around the perimeter, so any differences in ball mass can affect the shooting skills/techniques of the players. Weaker players are forced to increase their horizontal movements, which causes the angle at which the ball is released to be smaller. This reduces the players’ shot accuracy. “An increase in speed release and a decrease of angle and release height of the ball reduce shot accuracy.” In order for young players to have fun, they need to achieve higher outcomes in shooting accuracy and