Sports Math

Can you really keep your eye on the ball? How is massive data collection changing sports? Sports science courses are growing in popularity. The author’s course at Roanoke College is a mix of physics, physiology, mathematics, and statistics. Many students of both genders find it exciting to think about sports. Sports problems are easy to create and state, even for students who do not live sports 24/7. Sports are part of their culture and knowledge base, and the opportunity to be an expert on some area of sports is invigorating. This should be the primary reason for the growth of mathematics of sports courses: the topic provides intrinsic motivation for students to do their best work. From the Author: "The topics covered in Sports Science and Sports Analytics courses vary widely. To use a golfing analogy, writing a book like this is like hitting a drive at a driving range; there are many directions you can go without going out of bounds. At the driving range, I pick out a small target to focus on, and that is what I have done here. I have chosen a sample of topics I find very interesting. Ideally, users of this book will have enough to choose from to suit whichever version of a sports course is being run." "The book is very appealing to teach from as well as to learn from. Students seem to have a growing interest in ways to apply traditionally different areas to solve problems. This, coupled with an enthusiasm for sports, makes Dr. Minton’s book appealing to me."—Kevin Hutson, Furman University

Hit a home run with all your students! This handy reproducible book offers you and your students a series of engaging activities that use data and information drawn from the world of sports. Through the use of this real-life information, you can interest students and provide a meaningful context for building proficiency in essential math skills. More importantly, this valuable resource provides you with an easy-to-use approach for integrating problem-solving into your math curriculum. Whether addressing algebra or geometry, probability or statistics, this book is full of great ideas for making the connection between the real world and your classroom.

Demonstrates how math has a place in sports. Utilizes elementary problem solving activities.

The speed of a pitch, the number of points scored, the time left on the clock . . . math is everywhere in the world of sports. Learn about the numbers and statistics behind sports like baseball, basketball, and football—and you'll find you understand the sports you love even better. In Sports Math, you'll discover that the math you learn in the classroom is just as important on the soccer field and basketball court.

Optimal Sports Math, Statistics, and Fantasy provides the sports community—students, professionals, and casual sports fans—with the essential mathematics and statistics required to objectively analyze sports teams, evaluate player performance, and predict game outcomes. These techniques can also be applied to fantasy sports competitions. Readers will learn how to: Accurately rank sports teams Compute winning probability Calculate expected victory margin Determine the set of factors that are most predictive of team and player performance Optimal Sports Math, Statistics, and Fantasy also illustrates modeling techniques that can be used to decode and demystify the mysterious computer ranking schemes that are often employed by post-season tournament selection committees in college and professional sports. These methods offer readers a verifiable and unbiased approach to evaluate and rank teams, and the proper statistical procedures to test and evaluate the accuracy of different models. Optimal Sports Math, Statistics, and Fantasy delivers a proven best-in-class quantitative modeling framework with numerous applications throughout the sports world. Statistical approaches to predict winning team, probabilities, and victory margin Procedures to evaluate the accuracy of different models Detailed analysis of how mathematics and statistics are used in a variety of different sports Advanced mathematical applications that can be applied to fantasy sports, player evaluation, salary negotiation, team selection, and Hall of Fame determination

How to use math to improve performance and predict outcomes in professional sports Mathletics reveals the mathematical methods top coaches and managers use to evaluate players and improve team performance, and gives math enthusiasts the practical skills they need to enhance their understanding and enjoyment of their favorite sports—and maybe even gain the outside edge to winning bets. This second edition features new data, new players and teams, and new chapters on soccer, e-sports, golf, volleyball, gambling Calcuttas, analysis of camera data, Bayesian inference, ridge regression, and other statistical techniques. After reading Mathletics, you will understand why baseball teams should almost never bunt; why football overtime systems are unfair; why points, rebounds, and assists aren’t enough to determine who’s the NBA’s best player; and more.

NASCAR is one of the most popular sports in the nation. To the untrained eye, it may look like there is nothing more to NASCAR than driving in an oval. However, readers will learn about distance, speed, the math behind pit stops, and so much more through the interesting text and bright design of this book. Readers who want to stretch their brains can try the “Figure It Out!” boxed insert challenges as well.