Carlton Supporters Club

Watson may be able to roost the ball a long way but Rowe actually gets to contests and hits them hard.

Different player, but I reckon that when 1AW kicks, the ball spins a lot faster.  It happens both left and right foot, and I think it is most of the time.  Does anyone know what the effect of this is on the footy (not always a turnover!), or what he does differently, or am I wrong?

Faster maybe but not necessarily straighter and most definitely not longer IMO.

Quote from: dodge – on April 23, 2014, 07:02:24 pm

Different player, but I reckon that when 1AW kicks, the ball spins a lot faster.  It happens both left and right foot, and I think it is most of the time.  Does anyone know what the effect of this is on the footy (not always a turnover!), or what he does differently, or am I wrong?

Interesting observation.  I'll pay more attention in future.

I wasn't terribly good at physics but I'll hazard a guess that ball spin is related to timing; the instep making contact with the ball at the optimum point on the kicking arc will impart the greatest ball spin.  Faster ball spin should mean that the footy travels faster, straighter and longer.

Now, someone who understands physics can correct me 

A spinning ball, due to the gyroscopic effect, will be more stable in its trajectory and less liable to wobble or tumbling (end over end) leading to it going further, straighter and faster as you say. I think there is an optimum rate of spin in fact, faster is better is only true up to a point?

Think of a Golf Ball.

You need spin to launch it in the air and keep it in the air. However there becomes a point where too much spin will let the ball fly higher and faster initially, but fall out of the sky creating a balloon affect. When choosing the best Driver for you think of a hose running with water.


You lift the hose up as far as can to let the water reach the furtherest point you can. Obviously you need to pull it higher to get the water to arc to a point, but keep lifting it, and the water starts to reduce in distance as the arc becomes greater and balloons.

having said all that, Walker just kicks tumblers on a regular basis. He has such great hands and pace so its a conundrum and would play him forward and on the wing regularly.

Quote from: cookie2 – on April 24, 2014, 10:59:34 am

A spinning ball, due to the gyroscopic effect, will be more stable in its trajectory and less liable to wobble or tumbling (end over end) leading to it going further, straighter and faster as you say. I think there is an optimum rate of spin in fact, faster is better is only true up to a point?

For optimal length the line of strike vector must be directed through the center of the ball, spin will be a result of torque that develops when the force is not directed through the ball mid point in conjunction with any asymmetry in the ball and the balls deformation.

For 1AW to have faster than normal spin he must be kicking close to the point and the force vector of his strike must be on a line significantly mis-aligned to the center of the ball.

The elliptical ball does not behave like a round ball, (soccer, golf, volleyball, etc., etc..) Round balls can develop lift as a result of spin. Footballs only develop lift when the angle of the torpedo punt is correct to allow the ball profile to act like a wing cross section. A drop punt spinning correctly develops no lift.

If you really wanted to you can use a free software package called Tracker Video Analysis to do a serious study. You would need some good quality video of a football, make a great high school project for kids.

Couple  of other things I noticed last week:
1. Murph shaved the beard off
2, MM sat at the back of the coaches box not the front
3. Judd no longer wears Puma boots (now wears Asics).