Can a pure shooter feel a ping-pong ball inside a basetball?

dygaction · Post #1 » by **dygaction** » Fri May 20, 2022 4:36 pm

Just want to see how much it affects the shooting touch. Someone with a degree in classical physics may explain

We tried to glue a few layers of leather from another basketball on a game ball, but because the statistics was small, we could not tell the quantitative difference although everyone complained.

If a table tennis ball put in a basketball, do you think the shooting percentage would drop to 30s%?

Post #2 » by **KingDavid** » Fri May 20, 2022 5:33 pm

Of course it would. It's a compartment of air that now has a solid, round object inside that will spin as the basketball rotates. Probably bounce around too.

JN61 · Post #3 » by **JN61** » Fri May 20, 2022 7:12 pm

You would feel it when dribbling. Wouldn't affect shot.

alebaba · Post #4 » by **alebaba** » Fri May 20, 2022 7:15 pm

JN61 wrote:You would feel it when dribbling. Wouldn't affect shot.

Yes, it would.

JN61 · Post #5 » by **JN61** » Fri May 20, 2022 7:16 pm

alebaba wrote:
JN61 wrote:You would feel it when dribbling. Wouldn't affect shot.

Yes, it would.

No it wouldn't.

The Laker Kid · Post #6 » by **The Laker Kid** » Fri May 20, 2022 7:24 pm

Yes, but only when dribbled on an assfault

ChartFiction · Post #7 » by **ChartFiction** » Fri May 20, 2022 7:25 pm

Wouldn't make a difference in strictly shooting. Negligible weight difference. The sound of the ping pong ball rolling might cause some effect mentally.

- PHd in Physics from MIT

RoundMoundOfRebound · Post #8 » by **RoundMoundOfRebound** » Fri May 20, 2022 7:25 pm

The Laker Kid wrote:Yes, but only when dribbled on an assfault

With or without pets watching?

BK_2020 · Post #9 » by **BK_2020** » Fri May 20, 2022 7:26 pm

That's not how multi-ball is supposed to work.

Post #10 » by **KingDavid** » Fri May 20, 2022 7:29 pm

JN61 wrote:
alebaba wrote:
JN61 wrote:You would feel it when dribbling. Wouldn't affect shot.

Yes, it would.

No it wouldn't.

ChartFiction wrote:Wouldn't make a difference in strictly shooting. Negligible weight difference. The sound of the ping pong ball rolling might cause some effect mentally.

- PHd in Physics from MIT

What percentage of made shots make contact with the rim? Wouldn't the ping pong ball affect the trajectory just as it would with a dribble?

Parataxis · Post #11 » by **Parataxis** » Fri May 20, 2022 7:41 pm

To aid in comparison, a standard basketball averages about 628g, although there is some variation.

A ping pong ball is 2.7g, or about 3/10 of a percent. In terms of weight, the random variations in the weight between two basketballs is likely to be as much as the additional weight you'd get having a ping-pong ball added in.

The question then isn't really about extra weight, but about weight distribution. TBH, I'm not sure how exact the weight distribution of a basketball is normally, between small variations in the thickness of the material.

NyKnicks1714 · Post #12 » by **NyKnicks1714** » Fri May 20, 2022 7:43 pm

A ping pong ball has a mass of 2.7 g, compared to 625g for an NBA basketball (that was the Spalding ball, not sure if the Wilson ball is slightly different or not), so the ping pong ball has a mass which is 0.432% of the mass of the NBA ball. If you removed all sound I'm guessing it would still be slightly noticeable, especially on the catch, but I don't think it would impact shooting in any significant way.

ropjhk · Post #13 » by **ropjhk** » Fri May 20, 2022 8:00 pm

I could perhaps have a small marginal effect on shots. The ping pong ball will add a very small amount of weight, distributed unevenly inside the ball. As the ball bounces around the ping pong ball will bounce around inside the basket ball, potentially affecting the trajectory of the ball. I would expect most shots that would swish the basket without the ping pong ball will still go in. Maybe 1/100 or some other really small percentage of shots will miss when they would otherwise go in. The biggest impact may be on how the ping pong ball may distract the shooter with sound or the subtle feel of the ball rolling inside the basketball.

Wallace_Wallace · Post #14 » by **Wallace_Wallace** » Fri May 20, 2022 8:21 pm

RoundMoundOfRebound wrote:
The Laker Kid wrote:Yes, but only when dribbled on an assfault

With or without pets watching?

If you have Shaq to throw Earl Boykins from the three point line while he's holding onto the ball, it wouldn't matter if there's pet or not.....or a ping pong ball inside a basketball for that matter.

Sure fire way to score three points!

BarbaGrizz · Post #15 » by **BarbaGrizz** » Fri May 20, 2022 8:26 pm

I love offseason!

Richard4444 · Post #16 » by **Richard4444** » Fri May 20, 2022 8:51 pm

JN61 wrote:
alebaba wrote:
JN61 wrote:You would feel it when dribbling. Wouldn't affect shot.

Yes, it would.

No it wouldn't.

What a hell of a debate!!!

Really solid arguments from both sides.

sp6r=underrated · Post #17 » by **sp6r=underrated** » Fri May 20, 2022 8:52 pm

The Laker Kid wrote:Yes, but only when dribbled on an assfault

You know you wrote a masterpiece when it can be referenced 10+ years and everyone who read it remembers it.

theforumblue · Post #18 » by **theforumblue** » Fri May 20, 2022 9:15 pm

It would be affected more if you taped it outside the ball. Inside with its negligible weight? I doubt it.

FreeThrowLine · Post #19 » by **FreeThrowLine** » Fri May 20, 2022 10:13 pm

In order to answer this question, you’d need to add a few more steps

1. Place a marble inside a squash ball
2. Place the squash ball inside a ping pong ball
3. Place the ping pong ball inside a golf ball
4. Place the golf ball inside a billiards ball
5. Place the billiards ball inside a tennis ball
6. Place the tennis ball inside a cricket ball
7. Place the cricket ball inside a Hockey ball
8. Place the Hockey ball inside a Baseball
9. Place the Baseball inside a shot put
10. Place the shot put inside a Volleyball
11. Place the Volleyball inside a Bowling ball
12. Place the Bowling ball inside a Soccer ball
13. Place the Soccer ball inside a Water Polo ball
14. Place the Water Polo ball inside a Netball
15. Place the Netball inside a Basketball

Only then can you truly conduct this experiment