Many sports involve a swinging action. Depending on the sport, it may be clubs, bats, rackets, arms, and/or feet which are swung.
Variations in swinging technique lead to massive differences in results. Take a moment to consider the natural swinging motion of a golf club. The following graph is excerpted from Golf Science, Volume 1 from Schottenbauer Publishing.
Discussion Questions:
- What are the maximum and minimum x positions of the club? The y positions? Write these as coordinate pairs (x, y).
- Sketch the real positions of the club, during the first swing back and forth. Does the club begin at the right or left?
- How many times does the club swing in the graph?
- How does an athletic swing of the club differ from the natural swing of the club?
A new book series, The Science of Baseball, Volumes 1 & 2, has arrived from Schottenbauer Publishing! This book series is available from CreateSpace, Amazon, and other internet retailers.
This book series contains graphs relevant to baseball and softball. The first two volumes focus on video analysis of balls and bats under common conditions. Graphs show trajectories from various points of origin, with time plotted against x and y variables. Topics for Volumes 1 and 2 include the following:
Volume 1 Topics
- Trajectories of Plastic Balls from Pitching Machine
- Hardball
- Softball
- Pop Fly
- Grounder
- Lateral Drift Due to Wind
Volume 2 Topics
- Comparison and Contrast of Balls & Bats
- Bats
- Balls
- Official Baseball
- Safety Baseballs
- Plastic Baseballs
- Softball
- Wiffle Ball
- Balls falling and rebounding from bats & concrete
- Balls rebounding from plywood set at angles
- Bats hitting balls on a stationary tee
These books are suitable as a supplement for class projects in math, physical science, physics, and physical education. Ideas for lesson plans can be found in the blog Graphs in Education.
