Throwing an object skillfully enough to impact its destination is a more complex action than you might think, whether you’re playing for the best basketball team in the world or entertaining yourself by throwing paper balls into the garbage can. . If you want to improve your aim, doing it at high speed is not the best advice .
Humans have developed a unique ability compared to other animals, and that is aim. The act of throwing an object to reach a target, moving or not, was an essential skill for our ancestors, which they had to perfect to hunt and survive. Now a team of scientists from Harvard University has figured out the best way to hit a target. Slow pitches and curved trajectories are the most effective for hitting targets , according to the study, published by the journal Royal Society Open Science.
Errors in the angle at which the object is thrown are amplified when the shots are fast. In contrast, angle errors have little effect when shots are slow and the flight path is curved. “Once you launch the projectile, there is nothing to do,” says study author Madhusudhan Venkadesan. “The thrown object is only going to carry out the result of what you did.”
As for the way of launching, the style will depend on the shape of the projectile and the height and distance at which our target is. Throws from above (above the shoulders), and at a not too high speed (5 meters per second) were effective in dart players , whose target is in front of them. On the other hand, if you want to dunk a ball in a cube located less than 3 meters from you, a gentle shake from the bottom to the top is the best option.
While the slowest throwing arc is the most accurate in most cases, throwing at the slowest speed may not be effective for certain activities. In sports, speed also depends on getting the perfect game. But speed is useless if we are not precise . “How do you get as fast and accurate as possible? This is the next question we are pursuing,” Venkadesan says.
References:
M. Venkadesan. (2017). Optimal strategies for throwing accurately. Royal Society Open Science. DOI: 10.1098 / rsos.170136
