The Tennis Serve, a complicated thing to learn, yet easy when understood is how tennis games must begin. My group decided to make our video about tennis serving. Understanding that there are many individual pieces to serving, we concluded that it would make a helpful video to tennis players while being fun to watch. Our main reasoning for making a "physics of sports video" was to teach our fellow students in tennis how they can hit the ideal serve through knowing physics. During the project, we learned how to use video technology, calculate the physics of sports movement, and learn how to teach others complex equations simplified through pictures, video, and explanations.
During our tennis research, we found that there are 6 main parts of a tennis serve. Those main parts are body stance, hold on racket, toss, contact between ball and racket, aim and ideal placement of ball on opposite court, along with the force on the ball from the racket. We made a storyboard and decided to put a video of each one of the 6 parts so that those who see the video can learn and know each step to serving. We explained the physics of each part along with how each part can be used for the best serve. Watch our video below to see each part explained thoroughly.
Before we could actually create our video, we made the storyboard and a script for what we would narrate in the video. This prepared us to use our time wisely. We also needed to know how to use video technology and how to explain physics to someone who wouldn't understand it if it were just a bunch of numbers. Our teacher, Mr. Williams, showed us how we can take slow motion video and the best way to put the video together. He prepared us to take footage in every angle in case our story board changed. He also explained and reached us how and why each physics equation would best fit certain parts. from this we were able to decide on video pieces and each individual equation for every part.
During our tennis research, we found that there are 6 main parts of a tennis serve. Those main parts are body stance, hold on racket, toss, contact between ball and racket, aim and ideal placement of ball on opposite court, along with the force on the ball from the racket. We made a storyboard and decided to put a video of each one of the 6 parts so that those who see the video can learn and know each step to serving. We explained the physics of each part along with how each part can be used for the best serve. Watch our video below to see each part explained thoroughly.
Before we could actually create our video, we made the storyboard and a script for what we would narrate in the video. This prepared us to use our time wisely. We also needed to know how to use video technology and how to explain physics to someone who wouldn't understand it if it were just a bunch of numbers. Our teacher, Mr. Williams, showed us how we can take slow motion video and the best way to put the video together. He prepared us to take footage in every angle in case our story board changed. He also explained and reached us how and why each physics equation would best fit certain parts. from this we were able to decide on video pieces and each individual equation for every part.
Physics Concepts:
The physics concepts we used, we have learned in the past few months and by this project we understood them and knew how to correctly use them in our video. You can see and hear them explained in the video and here is a description of the concepts to understand why we used them.
Distance- Amount of space between two points. This was very important because it gave information needed for all our other equations. Also it was distance we were measuring when we found the length of the court and the height from the ground to racket.
Velocity- The rate of covered distance in one direction. The equation is V=change in distance/change in time. The units for velocity are m/s. We used this to see how far the tennis ball went.
Vertical Velocity- The amount of velocity an object has relative to its vertical motion. Vertical Velocity= (acceleration due to gravitational pull)(time). Units are m/s. This was used to see how high the ball went.
Horizontal Velocity- The amount of velocity an object has relative to its motion in any horizontal direction. Horizontal Velocity=distance/time. Units are m/s. The horizontal velocity was used with the vertical velocity to get the total velocity.
Force- The push or pull on an object. It causes a change in motion. (F=MA) Its unit is N=kgm/s squared. Used for the force of the racket against the ball.
Note: In the video we converted horizontal and vertical velocity from m/s to mph to help others understand it more clearly. We also changed the force of the racket on the ball from Newtons to pounds of force.
The physics concepts we used, we have learned in the past few months and by this project we understood them and knew how to correctly use them in our video. You can see and hear them explained in the video and here is a description of the concepts to understand why we used them.
Distance- Amount of space between two points. This was very important because it gave information needed for all our other equations. Also it was distance we were measuring when we found the length of the court and the height from the ground to racket.
Velocity- The rate of covered distance in one direction. The equation is V=change in distance/change in time. The units for velocity are m/s. We used this to see how far the tennis ball went.
Vertical Velocity- The amount of velocity an object has relative to its vertical motion. Vertical Velocity= (acceleration due to gravitational pull)(time). Units are m/s. This was used to see how high the ball went.
Horizontal Velocity- The amount of velocity an object has relative to its motion in any horizontal direction. Horizontal Velocity=distance/time. Units are m/s. The horizontal velocity was used with the vertical velocity to get the total velocity.
Force- The push or pull on an object. It causes a change in motion. (F=MA) Its unit is N=kgm/s squared. Used for the force of the racket against the ball.
Note: In the video we converted horizontal and vertical velocity from m/s to mph to help others understand it more clearly. We also changed the force of the racket on the ball from Newtons to pounds of force.
Reflection:
I feel that the one of the main positives of our project was time management. We made sure we had enough time to record all the video and figure out the physics too. Although we had to use a little extra time to finish voice overs, it was only a few sentences and overall our timing was good. I also feel our group was good at sharing all the work. We each took turns in certain pieces of the project so everyone had a chance to do everything and I feel that really worked for us.
I do feel that we had a couple negatives in our project. One is group work. Although we shared all the work, I feel and if we could have all worked on one or two parts for certain things as a group and it would have led to a more successful outcome. I also feel that organization was an issue. We tended to spend more time than we should trying to figure out who was bringing what and where papers had gone. At one point we needed measurements, but we could not remember where we wrote them down. If we had kept all our papers together and clearly labeled things, I feel we would not have taken time away from our project to redo things because of lost papers.
I feel that the one of the main positives of our project was time management. We made sure we had enough time to record all the video and figure out the physics too. Although we had to use a little extra time to finish voice overs, it was only a few sentences and overall our timing was good. I also feel our group was good at sharing all the work. We each took turns in certain pieces of the project so everyone had a chance to do everything and I feel that really worked for us.
I do feel that we had a couple negatives in our project. One is group work. Although we shared all the work, I feel and if we could have all worked on one or two parts for certain things as a group and it would have led to a more successful outcome. I also feel that organization was an issue. We tended to spend more time than we should trying to figure out who was bringing what and where papers had gone. At one point we needed measurements, but we could not remember where we wrote them down. If we had kept all our papers together and clearly labeled things, I feel we would not have taken time away from our project to redo things because of lost papers.