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Comment by freditup | Hacker News Reader

I've played skee-ball quite frequently and done well using this banking method (as taught to me by my grandfather!). But I'm not sure why it's better. Do you know what makes it easier when banking as compared to rolling the ball straight?

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I assume it's the same reason that basket-ball players bounce shots off the back-board more often than they go for the swish...

https://www.wired.com/2011/07/st_cheatsci_basketball/

https://hiphopandhoops.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/bank-it-stud...

A quick look shows some interesting starting points that goes with my "gut" about basketball and banking off the backboard.

I don't see any similar articles relating the two (banking Basketballs and banking Skeet Balls), but I bet there's some sweet spot that you aim for and get better with practice.

Shooting basketballs off the glass is something of a lost art, at least outside of point-blank layup range. Not too many people bother to invest the effort to learn the geometry to bank shots from each particular spot on the floor, compared to shooting for the rim, where your aim point and mechanics are pretty much always the same.

It's rare enough nowadays that it was something of a signature move for players like Tim Duncan.

My guess would be that it has to do with the speed of the ball at impact with the target. The faster the ball is moving, the greater the chance of it ricocheting off the rim as opposed to being slowed by the impact with the rim and falling in. Maybe the ball would have only a 50/50 chance of falling in rather than out, but that's still better than if the ball hits the same spot at high speed and ricochets.

In other words, by slowing the impact speed with the target you make the target more forgiving.

Btw I'm not an expert in ballistics, so this explanation is probably complete bs but it's interesting to think about.

Its like you said. A bank shot has a greater range for success variable on momentum compared to a swish. With many eccentric bank shots the ball can be super forceful or barely forceful at all, and itll go in either way. For bank shots that have no evcentricity, they are very similar in chance of going in, to a swoosh. Definitely depends on the angle of the shot.

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