Putting Another Cork in It - Part 1

A triple cork is a spinning jump in which the snowboarder is
parallel to the ground three times while in the air. Such a jump
had never been performed in a competition before 2011, which
prompted ESPN.s Sport Science program to ask math professor Tim
Chartier if it could be done under certain conditions. Originally
doubtful, he and a recent math major graduate used differential
equations, vector analysis, and calculus to discover that yes, a
triple cork was indeed possible. A few days later, boarder Torstein
Horgmo landed a successful triple cork at the X-Games (which
presumably are named for everyone.s favorite variable).
Snowboarding is not the only sport in which modern athletes and
coaches seek answers from mathematics. Swimming and bobsledding
research involves computational fluid dynamics to analyze fluid
flow so as to decrease drag. Soccer and basketball analysts employ
graph and network theory to chart passes and quantify team
performance. And coaches in the NFL apply statistics and game
theory to focus on the expected value of a play instead of sticking
with the traditional Square root of 9 yards and a cloud of dust.