Levi Wiedmann, Julian Read, Grin Hartshorn

Coach Kramer, period 1

Advanced sports Medicine

3rd October 2017

Basketball Challenge: Project

Lab: Basketball challenge project

Question: Should the size of a basketball in high school be changed?

Background: In the NBA and WNBA the basketball size is dierent. In the NBA the ball

circumference/avg. hand length is 75.25/21.4=3.52 centimeters and in the WNBA the

ball circumference/avg. hand length is 72.25/19.8=3.67. To get the average hand length

you use this formula: hand length/height x 0.108, this applies for both leagues. From

the beginning of high school to the NBA or WNBA the ball circumference is the same

size.

Hypothesis: I believe that the size of a basketball in high school should not be

changed because if it's the same in college and the NBA and WNBA, players come out

of high school would have a disadvantage.

Method: All members of the girls and boys varsity basketball teams hand length and

height were measured in centimeters. A meter stick and tape measurer were used to

measure the height and length of hands. Data was recorded.

Data:

Men's basketball team Hand length left Hand length right Height

Joey Lipp 20 cm 20 cm 198 cm

Tyler Hawara 20 cm 21 cm 195 cm

Lucas Carvahlo 19.5 cm 20 cm 191 cm

Ryan Engs 20 cm 20 cm 184 cm

Julian Rishwain 19.5 cm 19.5 cm 193 cm

Jordan Fuller 20 cm 20 cm 178 cm

Dylan Taylor 18 cm 18 cm 172 cm

Maxwell Moses 19.5 cm 19.5 cm 191 cm

Coltrane Goring 21 cm 20 cm 188 cm

Teddy Parham 19.5 cm 19.5 cm 188 cm

Ziair Williams 22.5 cm 22.5 cm 200 cm

Elijah Pak 18.75 cm 18.75 cm 175 cm

Aiden Oliver 22 cm 22 cm 194 cm

Jack Abunasar 19 cm 19 cm 185 cm

Bryce Cooper 20.32 cm 20.32 cm 185 cm

Women's basketball Hand length right Hand length left Height

team

Anne Curtis 16.5 cm 16.5 cm 176 cm

Claire Biggs 17.5 cm 17.5 cm 168 cm

Leanna Chraghchian 18 cm 18 cm 172 cm

Kendall James 18 cm 18 cm 179 cm

Women's basketball Hand length right Hand length left Height
team

Isabella Lea Ramirez 18 cm 18 cm 177 cm

Bridget Doherty 19 cm 19 cm 173 cm

Faith Granados 16 cm 16 cm 156 cm

Clarissa Cabil 17 cm 17 cm 178 cm

Elon Mahone 18.5 cm 18.5 cm 176 cm

Sasha Small 18.5 cm 18.5 cm 178 cm

Selena Torres 17.5 cm 17 cm 170 cm

Brooke Davis 17.5 cm 18 cm 164 cm

Quantitative Analysis:

1. Find the avg. height and hand length for the boys.

The average height of the men's team was 187.8 cm and hand length was 19.98 cm. I

found the averages by adding all of the heights together and dividing them by the

number of players. I repeated this for the hand length.

2. Find the avg. height and hand length for the girls

The average height for the women's team was 172.25 cm and hand length was 17.67

cm. I found the averages by adding all of the heights together and dividing them by the

number of players. I repeated this for the hand length.

Qualitative Analysis:

1. Compare the height and hand lengths of the boys and girls team members.

Almost ever player on the men's team is taller and has a greater hand length then the

players on the women's team. All but three of the men's team exceeded 180 cm while
the tallest of the women's team was 179 cm. The men's team average height was

187.8 while the women's was 172.25 cm. The men's team had a much greater hand

size then the women's team. The average hand length for men was 19.98 cm while the

women's was 17.67 cm.

2. What would be the advantages/disadvantages of changing the size of the ball

for the boys team?

I think if the size of the ball for the boys team was changed the advantages would

depend on if it got smaller or bigger. Although I think the size of the hands to the ball

are a good ratio. If it had any advantages I believe it would be easier to handle and

easier shoot if it was bigger. If it was bigger I feel the only disadvantage would be that

you'd move slower because of the bigger ball. If it was smaller I think it would be a lot

harder to shoot because there would be less surface area for the hand to grip. I think

and advantage of it being smaller would be that it would be much easier to handle and

a faster pace game would happen.

3. What would be the advantages/disadvantages of changing the size of the ball

for the girls team?

I think advantages of a change to the girls ball would be in favor of it being smaller.

Most of the women's team had much smaller hands then the men's. It would be easier

to handle, shoot, and move with. If it was bigger I think the girls would be to a

disadvantage. It would be much harder to shoot and handle as their hands are small as

well as them being short. I remember a girl saying that she can't grip a men's

basketball with one hand but can grip a women's basketball with one had. Even the
small change from women's to men's would not work. Not being able to grip the ball

and have that much more control is a huge disadvantage.

Conclusion:

1. Was your hypothesis supported? Give evidence to support your answer.

2. Were there any experimental errors that may have aected your results? If so,

what were they and how were your results influenced?

3. Based on your project results, do you believe that there should be a change in the

size of the basketball used in high school competitions?

My hypothesis was supported in this lab. Compared to the average hand length

of an NBA player (21.4 cm) to a average high school men's basketball player (19.98

cm) the dierence isn't that great. The ratio to the ball a high school men's basketball

player hand length is 3.7 cm while the NBA is 3.52 cm. Changing the size of the ball for

men's high school teams would really hurt the players going into college and maybe

even the NBA. Women's hand length to ball in high school is 4.11 cm and in the WNBA

it's 3.67 cm. I feel that these dierences aren't big enough to change the size of the

ball. It would give disadvantages not advantages. I think if we had more time to get the

data from the athletes we could have more accurate data. I know that we had to ask a

few for their approximate height but almost every athlete was measured perfectly.

Based on the results I don't believe there should be a change in the ball size.