Mark Cuban to finance a flopping "study"

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has award a grant of $100,000 to biomechanics at SMU to research "flopping" in the NBA as well as other sports.  Cuban will fund the study for at least 18 months.

The objective of the study is to investigate the forces involved in "typical basketball collisions."

The researchers will look at how much force is required to cause a legitimate loss of balance. They'll also examine to what extent players can influence the critical level of force via balance and body control. They will also explore techniques by which the forces involved in collisions might be estimated from video or other motion capture techniques.

The research findings could conceivably contribute to video reviews of flopping and the subsequent assignment of fines, Peter Weyand said. “It may be possible to enhance video reviews by adding a scientific element, but we won't know this until we have the data from this study in hand.”