Antonia Geirland

Nick Cotta

Lily Swartz

Ketzalli

Title: Basketball Challenge

Question: What should the size of a basketball be for for the high school basketball teams?
Background: The ball circumference for the NBA is 29 5/8 inches with the average height of male basketball
players bring 78 inches. For the women in the WNBA, their ball circumference is 28 5/8 inches with their
average height being 72 inches. The size of the ball in WNBA is slightly smaller in size because the size of the
women's hands are typically smaller than the men's division. The size of the ball determines its
circumference. The basketball size that is used for the youth division is around 27.25 to 27.75 inch
circumference. In scanning the hand lengths of NBA players in 2016 it appears that 25.65 cm is the average
hand length. The weight and size of a basketball plays a part in how a player can shoot. If the ball is too heavy
it can affect the way they are able to maneuver the ball. It will also make it more difficult for the player to
keep a grip on basketball if it is too big.
Hypothesis: We think that the ball should be smaller for high school students because it'd be more beneficial
for their technique.
Procedure:
1. Use the information and knowledge you gained in the Challenge: "Should the WNBA change the size of the
basketball used in play", you are to design and implement a research project that hypothesizes what should the
size of a basketball be for the high school basketball team?
2. Find the average height and hand length for the boys and the average height and hand length for the girls. 3.
Find the optimal size for best technique. Compare the boys and girls height and hand length.
4. Discuss the pros and cons of having different ball sizes.
5.Conclude whether or not your hypothesis is correct and why.

Data Table:

# of athletes
# of athletes

14 players
14 players

Quantitative Analysis
1). The average hand length for the boys basketball team is
20 cm. The average height for the boys basketball team is
184.8 cm. We found this by dividing the total height
of the boy by the number of athletes.

Total height (cm) = 2587.2 cm. = 184.8 cm.

Total hand length (cm) = 280 cm. = 20 cm.
# of athletes
# of athletes

23 players
23 players

2) The average hand length for the girls basketball

team is 16.98 cm. The average height of a girls
basketball player in high school is 164.6 cm.

Total height (cm) = 3785.8 cm. = 164.6 cm.

Total hand length (cm) = 390.54 cm. = 16.98 cm.

3) Using the formulas from the Challenge Problem, find the optimal size of the basketball for each team.
Height = 2587.2 = 9.24 cm
Hand length 280
Qualitative Analysis
1. Compare the height and hand lengths of the boys and girls team members.
The height and hand length for the boys are generally larger than the girls with the average height being 20.2
cm. taller than the girls and the average hand length being 3.02 cm. larger.
2. What would be the advantages/disadvantages of changing the size of the ball for the boys team?
One of the advantages of changing the ball size for the boys team is that if the size of the ball is smaller per say
then it would give boys more time to develop and grow into the height and hand size that an adult NBA player
is. The disadvantage is that the boys could become more used to having a smaller size ball and when it gets to
the time to have a bigger ball, the techniques that they have used for years needs to be altered to a larger size.
3. What would be the advantages/disadvantages of changing the size of the ball for the girls team?
The advantages of the girls team having a smaller basketball would be that they could have a better grip on the
ball which ultimately gives them better technique. The disadvantages could be that since for many years it has
been the same size ball, the girls are most likely used to the hand techniques with the certain ball size and
making it change would be altering what they have been trained to learn.
Summary
Our hypothesis that the ball should be smaller for high school basketball players because it benefits their

technique was supported by our experiment. The evidence for this conclusion is that the hand length for Notre
Dame players, both males and females, is 7.5 centimeters shorter than the average NBA player, Notre Dame's
ball size is 4.275 centimeters on average smaller than the NBA ball. Further the ratio of average hand length of
Notre Dame's players to size of ball in centimeters is 1:3.8 whereas in the NBA the ratio of hand length to ball
size is 1:2.8, approximately 1 centimeters less than the ball size used in high school. During this experiment we
hit only minor mathematical errors while collecting our data. When we measured the boys, we accidentally
calculated in inches rather than centimeters for the hand length. Thankfully, after realizing our mistake, we
quickly remeasured the boys which did not end up affecting our results. After observing our end results we still
believe that the ball size should be smaller because it is in the best interest of the players.