Introduction
Ever wondered how the speed of the ball was calculated when Ronny Hebberson made a record for the fastest football shot at 132 miles per hour?
Mathematics was first discovered in South Africa in 70 000 BC and this was through discovery of geometry in shapes. Since then millions of applications are being discovered every now and then, one of the most famous discovery being the Pythagoras Theorem named from its founder Pythagoras.
One aspect of the applications that I am very particular about is sport. Every sport has many implications of mathematics in it, from that applied by the athlete to the dimensions of the field. I have narrowed down on football because it is the top sport played and watched around the world.
Football uses mathematics such as probability, statistics and geometry. Calculations are used for the development of the pitch and the game. The information from these calculations are used by all stakeholders. These include the manager to help in decision making, the player to track their progress, the fans, FIFA , UEFA, CAF and much more.
Construction and Design of the Field
A football pitch is the most basic way in which geometry is used in the game it consists of squares, circles, rectangles and semi-circles. These shapes can be used in different methods of mathematics; an instance when measuring distances of where a free-kick, indirect kick or a penalty will be kicked from.
The following equations are used in calculating the area of the shapes:
- Circle
- Semi-Circle
- Rectangle and Square
Every football pitch has a dimension of length 90m – 100m by width 45m – 90m. The development of these shapes may require metric conversion of units. If the pitch has been designed on paper a suitable scale will need to be used in order to change the values and allow formation of the football field to be within the real life range.
Statistics to Obtain Player Performance and Making Improvements and Predictions
In a football team, players’ performances are assessed by their statistics. These statistics show the gathering, analysis and presentation of the last season played, last game played, the team to be played with and allows better understanding of the players and their opponents. It comprises information on player’s or team’s abilities from a previous game. These information are shown quantitatively usually in a numerical tabular form, then further converted to ratio or percentages when there is need to compare the players of the teams individually.
In addition, football managers use mathematics in comparing the players within their team to assist in decision making. This application is usually done in form of probability to measure success and give predictions of future results. Furthermore, fans also use statistics to help scrutinize the performance of their favorite teams and footballers.
Assessing players performances through statistics is extremely vital and if information is recorded incorrectly it could affect the teams game. An example was back in 2013 when Pellegrini had forgotten to calculate using the away goals rule which had caused them to lose a game against Bayern Munich.
The Ball
The main component of a football game is the football. Therefore measuring the volume, circumference and surface area is very vital. When any of these features are altered, it could cause an impact in the football game because the speed and path of the ball will change.
To know the importance of a football, balls of different radii could be used. The ball which provides the best shots could determine which radii is best for use by the team members and will offer them a higher chance at scoring.
Calculations could go as far as calculating the speed of the ball. In football an average player causes a ball to move with a speed of 30-40 miles per hour. When a players average ball speed is calculated the team manager can make decisions on whether the player deserves to be in the team depending on if he meets the usual speed requirements of the ball.
When a ball is shot along the ground the velocity can be calculated using.
If the ball is shot at an angle above the ground, the vertical and horizontal components are used to instead to calculate the speed travelled by the ball.
Conclusion
In the light of the above explanation and details, it is clear that mathematics is the backboard of football (soccer). It is applied in every single aspect of the game. Now you can tell how Ronny Hebberson’s shot was calculated to be 132 miles per hour.
Reference
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