9781422286760

Chapter 1

athletes Play

I n most team sports , players start as simply a number: that is, the number they wear on their jersey. But athletes today go way beyond just using their math knowledge to make sure they’re wearing the right number. For athletes, math can be something they do on purpose to help their game: tracking their stats or using data to learn how they’re im- proving. Math can also affect players without them really knowing it. Math formulas can describe actions on the field in ways that ex- perts can use to improve those actions. How- ever, an athlete who looks at the math (and physics) behind his or her actions can get a running start on the competition.

The first numbers most sports fans deal with are the ones that the players wear. After that, it gets complicated.

9