The sport of disc golf is among the fastest growing sports in the world today. Through the pandemic, the number of players has exploded. Physics explains many aspects of the sport, from the throwing motion, the flight of the disc, to the final hitting the chains to spread the disc’s impulse out over time so the disc drops into the basket. Whether conceptual, algebra-based or calculus-based introductory, or even upper-level fluid dynamics courses, video analysis of disc golf and data-based examples offer concrete examples of various physical concepts. Examples of video analysis and classroom uses will be shown.

In our Introductory physics for life science course, students learn mechanics in the context of biomechanics, using data from their own bodies as much as possible with use of video analysis, 2D force plates, and goniometers. Students relate their body and limb motion to the forces they exert on their environment and the forces their muscle exert on their limbs. Movements are analyzed as sequences of simple segments, with focus on crucial or high force moments. As most of these students are interested in careers in health, caloric expenditure and stress and strain on tissues are included. Students are encouraged to explore movements of interest to them, which often are related to sports or injury prevention with proper technique.

In the fall of 2021, the Marquette University Honors Engineering Physics Class worked together with the Wandering Sword Project to measure the center of mass and moment of inertia for a variety of straight and curved swords. and pole-weapons. Results were compared to student work from previous semesters where the same methods were used to analyze other sporting equipment such as golf-clubs, baseball bats, and hurly sticks.

A ball placed inside a hollow cylinder and spun around an axis perpendicular to the cylinder wall will roll back and forth along the cylinder wall, as expected, but it will also oscillate along the axial direction of the cylinder. These axial oscillations occur in horizontal, tilted, and even vertical cylinders. Here the connections of this system to the sports of bowling (gutterballs), golf (lip outs), and basketball (swirlies) are presented, along with ideas for video analysis experiments for undergraduate level physics labs.