Two Dimensional Basketball Localization and Location Prediction

In two dimensions, we accurately predicted the trajectory of a basketball using approximately ten images each taken less taken less than three tenths of a second after a shooter a free throw. Our trajectory predictions were made using automatically stabilized handheld video footage of a shooter releasing a free throw. Although we used only the first few images of the shooter releasing the basketball to make our path predictions, we tracked the basketball in each image of the shot in order to compare the predicted trajectory of the ball to the true trajectory of the ball. Extending our analysis to three dimensions would enable a viewer to reliably predict the outcome of a free throw using information about the basketball’s location from only the first third of the balls path to the hoop.