A MATHEMATICAL-MODEL FOR THE TRAJECTORY OF A SPIKED VOLLEYBALL AND ITS COACHING APPLICATION

A wind tunnel test was conducted to empirically determine the relation ship between the Magnus force (M), spin rate (omega), and linear veloc ity (V) of a spiked volleyball. This relationship was applied in a two -dimensional mathematical model for the trajectory of the spiked volle yball. After being validated mathematically and empirically, the model was used to analyze three facets of play that a coach must address: t he importance of topspin, possibility of overblock spiking, and optimu m spiking points. It was found that topspin can increase the spiking e ffectiveness dramatically in many ways. It was also found that a shot spiked from about 2 m behind the net has the least possibility of bein g blocked.