There exists a scourge in professional basketball these days, one that threatens the very sanctity of the game itself. No, we're not talking about performance enhancing drugs (at least not yet). We're talking about flopping.
Flopping, for the uninitiated, is the tactic employed by some NBA players of overreacting to the slightest touch or invasion of personal space. It's characterized by flailing arms and over-dramatized falls, and is meant to fool referees into doling out favorable — yet misinformed — calls.
The dark art has become more commonplace in recent years, forcing the league to step up its punishment. During this season's playoffs, a player determined to have flopped is hit with a $5,000 fine. A fourth violation draws a $30,000 fine.
But Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban thinks there's a better solution: science.
Cuban's company Radical Hoops just awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund an 18-month study at Southern Methodist University. Researchers will look into the bio-mechanical and physical forces involved in basketball collisions in hopes of helping to draw clearer line between legitimate falls and conniving fakery.
"It may be possible to enhance video reviews by adding a scientific element, but we won't know this until we have the data from this study in hand," says biomechanics expert Peter Weyand, who will lead the Cuban-funded research team.
Weyand and his team will investigate how much force is required to actually knock an athlete off balance, as well as how that relates to player motion and body control. Then they'll look to see how the forces that cause collisions might be analyzed via video review or technological means, according to the SMU website.
"The issues of collisional forces, balance and control in these types of athletic settings are largely uninvestigated," Weyand says. "There has been a lot of research into balance and falls in the elderly, but relatively little on active adults and athletes."
Where would you like to see science employed to help sports officiating? Give us your best ideas in the comments.
Homepage image courtesy Flickr, Jeff Kramer
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