wsj.com
HEARD ON THE FIELD | Updated June 7, 2013, 5:50 p.m. ET
Physics of Flopping: Cuban Backs a Study
A big name in the NBA is backing a team of biomechanics researchers interested in a modern sports phenomenon: flopping.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban not only inspired the Southern Methodist University project, which was announced Friday, but also invested more than $100,000 in what is thought to be the first study of its kind. Cuban said he was curious about the physics of flopping—how and why a 250-pound player, for example, crashes when he runs into someone under 200 pounds.
"If you look at a high-contact sport like football, you see few pancakes, where guys end up on their behinds," Cuban wrote in an email. "Yet in our sport, guys end up on their backsides all the time."
SMU biomechanics professor Peter Weyand expects the study will combine video techniques with collisions measuring force. One tricky part is the lack of prior work in the field of flopology. "A lot of scientific experiments follow on the heels of prior experiments," he said. "This is a novel scientific venture."
Cuban said the NBA, which introduced fines for floppers before this season, can benefit from "a template that defines some basic guidelines on what levels of force, speed and size" contribute to genuine falls. The goal is to "take out guessing and reduce the amount of judgment involved."
The study also could have personal benefits for the outspoken Cuban. "If we get great data we can learn from, it will save me a ton of money in fines," he wrote with a smiley face.
—Ben Cohen
A version of this article appeared June 8, 2013, on page A16 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Heard on the Field. |
