INVERSE KINEMATICS IN THE SUCCESS OF THE THROW

Abstract

The paper analyses the problematic of the human arm’s movement in order to get a successful direct throw in basketball. For the human arm we analyzed the mechanic model of the double pendulum, formed by the arm and the forearm, with the hand being immobilized by the forearm. The classic equations of throwing the ball (dependent on the initial speed and throwing angle vector) have been correlated with the corresponding equations of the arms’ movement. After imposing the mathematical conditions necessary for the ball to get into the basket, meaning certain inequality-type restrictions, we determined the kinematic dependents between the human arms’ movement and the trajectory of the ball. The numeric analysis for several initial values of the throw allowed the assessment, through validation or non-validation, of the kinematic conditions for the success of the throw, and also several discussions regarding the influences of various kinematic parameters upon the throw.