"The Distance Traversed by College
and High School Basketball Players
and Effect of Rule Changes upon
Distance Traversed in Gollege Ganes,

Paul J. Fay
Departnent of Psychology

Lioyd L. Messersnith 3
Department of Physical Education

DePauy University, Greencastle, Indiana.

"In an attempt to determine the effects of the ton second
rule and the rule elininating the center jump, as regards the
distance traveled by college basketball plavers, the following
data wore obtained. This is the continuation of a similar project
reported on in 1931, before the inclusion of the ten second rule
and the rule elininating the center jump after the scoring of field
soalstData are also available on the distance traveled by players
in high school basketball games, but no comparison can be made
relative to the effect of the two rules in question as no study
wags made on high school players before the incorporation of these
changes into the official miles. |

"The measurenent was made possible through the development
of an clectrical pursuit avparatus which provides for numerical
registration of unit distance traveled. The piece

1. Mcssorsmith, L. L. Corey, M.S. Distance Traversed oy a
Basket»all Player, Research Quarterly, American Physical Education
Association, 1931. of apparatus consists of a tin base, on which
is etched a basketball court laid off to scale, wired in serics
with a storase battery, an clectric impulse countor, and a small
brass tracing wheel four inches in diameter. Strips of insulating
tape are placed on the wheel at half-inch intervals so that roll-
ing it alonz the floor mekes and breaks a circuit each half inch.
The impulse counter records these contacts, each one of which,
with the calibration employed, indicates a distance of tio fect
on the playing floor. To determine the number of fect traveled
by a player the experinenter follows the novenents of the player
on the small floor with the tracing wheel. Rolling the wheel from
one ond of the floor to the other produces a total of 47 contacts,
which multiplicd by 2 gives 94 (the length of the college floor
in feet)., so any inaccuracy in the result lies in the inability
of the opcrator to folllw accurately the movements of the player.
When checking hizh school games the small floor is decreased pro-
portionately in size to conform with actual measurements of floors
where players are being observed. All observations were made from
a position above the floor where a clear and unobstructed view of
the playing floor was available at all times. The apparatus used
in the present study is identical with that used in 1931 so that
the relative difference in distance traveled by players in college
eames in the two experiments should be reasonably accurate, even
thouch slight inaccuracies might oe present in recording the
number of feet traversed oy a player in any one game.

"In 1931 it was found that tho distance traveled by college
players ranged from 2.25 miles t7 2.50 miles per game. in the
present study, however, the distance traveled have been consist-
ently longer, ranging from 3.87 to 5.97 miles per game. Complete
records have been kept of several canes out only three representa-
tive games are included in Table I.