How does Harry Potter keep balance while on his broom?

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Just finished watching the very first Harry Potter movie and one thing struck me right away: maybe this is just "fairy tale" logic, but how can people balance themselves on such a slim stick when riding brooms? What is the logic behind that? Am I missing something simple in the whole "broom" idea?



Best Answer

While the broom is thin on its center radius, they often have stirrups, foot rests that require a wide angle of the legs. This wide angle allows for very simple control of a body's position, similar to a competition high speed bike. By, well, spreading his legs, Harry creates a larger area to balance on. This is how motorcycle and dirt bike racers handle tight turns, widening their bodies area to improve handling. No different than a regular bike really.

Physics aside, these brooms are magical, which would allow for a larger area through magical means, lowering the balancing forces required. Even accounting for magic, Harry seems to be exceptionally skilled at quidditch, as in he is abnormally good at handling a broom. This means he has athletic skills on the broom that the normal witch population does not have. This reflects real life athletic skill at sports, which only a small percentage of the population acceles at.

Toy broomsticks are given to witches at a young age as well, like tricycles. These only go a few feet in the air, and allow young wizards and witches to learn how to use a broomstick, for casual flying.

Of course, the real brooms used for shooting, had bicycle seats/saddles on them:

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In the early days of filming before they worked out how to do it, flying on a broomstick was a painful proposition for Daniel Radcliffe. He sat, for hours at a time, on a bicycle seat on a broom about eight or nine feet up in the air. "If you sit completely upright or bend over on a bike saddle, without putting your feet on anything for any period of time, it gets really, really painful – for a man, particularly, although it was obviously not pleasant for a woman either."

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Why do they use brooms in Harry Potter?

Wizarding broomsticks, unlike non-magical brooms, were enchanted to fly, allowing for a witch or wizard to travel to their destination through the air, as well as for playing broom games such as Quidditch.

How did Harry use a broomstick in the Triwizard Tournament?

Bringing a broom to the first task was forbidden, yes. But he was allowed a wand, and summoning the broom to get past the First Task was his method of completing said task. Harry initially had only his wand, so he didn't break any rules in summoning his broom. Brooms weren't banned in the Triwizard Tournament.



First Flying Lesson | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone




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Images: Ivan Samkov, Ivan Samkov, Ivan Samkov, Francesco Ungaro