E2E3 Reverse up to Kick 5, with primary intent on kick 5 being pass directly backwards with left foot, and secondary intent being pass at as backwards an angle as possible with ball kept to my right

E2E3 Reverse up to Kick 5, with pass/shot to right on 5th kick with left foot.

The full version of today's May 4 entry contains the same text as this entry, but in addition it also contains a DHTML graphic showing the results of today's practice; the page might take a little longer than usual to load. Originally this graphic was included on this page in this entry, however, more than one such DHTML graphic on the same page proved to be too much for browsers servers to handle.

The drill done today is described in the diagram this entry. The diagram is again, not merely an image. Just click drag to select this table cell starting with the title above the diagram in this entry and you will see what I mean. Everything in the diagram this entry is produced by code, except for the arrow and the curved line.

Saturday, I did a drill in which I first kicked the ball on a slant to my left with my left foot, then on a slant right with my right foot, then again on a slant right with my right foot, then on a slant left with my left foot, and then on the fifth touch kicked the ball with my left foot simulating a pass, trying to kick the ball at as backwards an angle as possible, as far as possible (the ceiling is inhibiting) without kicking it to my right side. Today the preliminary to the kick was the same as yesterday, except that on the fifth kick, I tried to kick the ball hard at a 90 degree angle relative to the line produced by the fourth kick.

Meaning, that if you imagine the direction the ball was moving after the fourth kick as twelve o'clock, on the fifth kick I attempted to kick the ball in the 3:00 direction.

You can see a cluster of five kicks that hit the wall about 18 meters, the ball being sent on a right angle relative to its movement before the kick. On average these five shots hit the wall 18 meters away, before they could bounce; on average they hit the wall at a point 6 feet above the ground; on average their apex height during flight was 11 feet. These balls were like line drives and hit the wall hard.

The graphic shows potential for long kicks in a sharply backwards direction. One ball, kicked in the 4:00 direction given 12:00 on the imaginary clock as the direction the ball was heading after the 4th kick of the run prior to the 5th kick, traveled 18 meters, reaching an apex height of 10 feet, and then hit the wall 9 feet above the ground without bouncing; it was a long hard line drive in a backwards direction shot off a moving dribble. Those dribbling on the ground cannot do this.

Another ball, kicked backwards at a 45 degree angle in the 4:30 direction on the imaginary clock given that the ball after the 4th kick prior to the long kick on the 5th kick was moving towards twelve oclock on the imaginary clock. This ball reached an apex height of 9 feet, and then hit the wall 7 feet above the ground after traveling 19 meters. It was a hard long line drive shot backwards at a 45 degree angle of a moving dribble. There is nobody in the world who can do this off a ground dribble.

Another ball, went backwards towards 5:30 on the imaginary clock given twelve oclock on the imaginary clock as the direction the ball was moving after the 4th kick prior to the final long 5th kick. It went in almost the opposite direction to which the ball was moving prior to it being shot/passed. It traveled 14 meters, and reached an apex height of 12 feet. A nice long chip sent directly backwards off a moving dribble. If anybody in the world can do this off a moving ground dribble they can also walk on water.

You can quibble about accuracy, but the whole point of the drill today was to cut loose to test out my range, and not being obsessed with accuracy, even though I was always aiming for a point at three oclock on the imaginary clock given twelve oclock as straight ahead prior to the shot/pass.

Towards the end of the practice one of the long hard line drive balls, swerved about 3 feet to the right prior to hitting the wall about 18 meters from where it was shot. In the process of swerving it barely missed a white guy with a graying mustache who ducked and avoided it. He was laughing, I thought he was dutch looking. He told me he was lucky to have ducked (it was traveling fast). And he agreed that it swerved during flight.

The full version of today's May 5 entry contains the same text as this entry, but in addition it also contains a DHTML graphic showing the results of today's practice; the page might take a little longer than usual to load. Originally this graphic was included on this page in this entry, however, more than one such DHTML graphic on the same page proved to be too much for browsers servers to handle.

The drill done today is described in the diagram in this entry.

Today again during the air-dribble prior to the kick on the fifth touch: I first kicked the ball on a slant to my left with my left foot, then on a slant right with my right foot, then again on a slant right with my right foot, then on a slant left with my left foot, and then on the fifth touch kicked the ball with my left foot simulating a pass/shot, trying to kick the ball hard at a 90 degree angle relative to the line produced by the fourth kick. This all was done without the ball touching the ground for every ball recorded in the diagram.

If you imagine the direction the ball was moving after the fourth kick as twelve o'clock, on the fifth kick I attempted to kick the ball in the 9:00 direction.

I was sort of blasting the ball on the fifth kick, though I was trying to aim for a 90 degree angle relative to the ball movement after the fourth touch on the ball prior to the fifth touch, I was not letting a deep concern for accuracy disrupt letting loose with power. I was hoping to get some info re range kicking to the left at a 90 degree angle with the left foot.

One ball followed a 45 degree angle to my left relative to the ball movement prior to the kickaway; it reached an apex of 16 feet and hit the wall 20 meters away, 10 feet above the ground before bouncing. Another ball flew at the intended 90 degree angle for 14 meters, reached an apex height of 11 feet and hit 9 feet high on the wall before bouncing. Another flew backwards 11 meters at an 8:30 angle on the imaginary clock, and hit 10 feet high on the wall before bouncing. These incidents defined the extremes of range and direction today.

The general tendency that began to emerge today, while attempting to kick the ball left at a 90 degree angle with the left foot, was balls that traveled about 12 meters before landing, followed a direction relative to the ball's line of flight before the kickaway of between 90 and 45 degrees leftwards, and reached an apex height of around 15 feet.

Thus as of now I see a chip pass reaching an apex of 15 feet, landing 40 feet away, at an angle between a 90 degrees and 45 degrees left, as the natural outcome when trying to hit the ball at a right angle relative to its line of flight prior to being kicked, in a leftwards direction with the left foot.

But things can change. As usual as is the case with these kinds of things, the performance started out clumsy, with lots of balls kicked forwards instead of to the side, but improved with the passage of time.

At the beginning of the practice today I felt somewhat inhibited by the presence of an East Asian looking tall gentleman and an East Asian woman playing badminton on the basketball court. I did not want to hit them with the ball. This served to push the angle of the kick forwards given our relative positions. But anyway I recorded in the diagram the balls hit forwards away from a 90 degree angle, due to fear of hitting one of them.

Then what I feared happened. One of the balls sailed at angle 60 degrees left relative to straight ahead, in the direction of the East Asian gentleman...it reached an apex height of 8 feet, swerved 3 feet to the left, moving like a line drive, and hit the gentleman 15 meters away, on the shoulder.

All day, balls were swerving left due to a leftwards spin, by enormous amounts. Reflecting upon the phenomenon, I now realize that naturally when you and the ball are moving in a given direction and then you kick the ball sideways at a 90 degree angle, this sets in motion forces that impart strong counter-clockwise spin to the ball. The outside of the foot strikes the ball on the right side of the ball when the ball is sent sideways in such fashion, resulting in sometimes very strong spin.

NOTE: the outside of the left foot when it strikes the ball on the left side of the ball can spin the ball in a clockwise direction.

Today I recorded horizontal swerve on 34 out of 42 balls kicked (79%). Most of the balls on which spin was not detected, hit the wall or the ceiling or the curtain before swerve could be detected. The level of horizontal swerve varied between 1 and 4 feet, all except one of these swerving balls swerved leftwards. The average level of horizontal swerve observed was 2.8 feet in a leftwards direction on counterclockwise spin. Seven balls were recorded as swerving 4 feet to the left. Not counting one of these that hit the wall thus making it difficult to judge how far it would have traveled prior to bouncing, these balls traveled an average distance of 17 meters before hitting the ground; their average apex height during their arc of flight was 14 feet.

This presents the mystery of how can such balls that travel 17 meters before bouncing, on a 14 foot apex arc while swerving 4 feet to the left be used? Such balls seem too short distance for shots; and one fails to understand the value of 4 foot swerve when it comes to passing the ball.

If I allowed myself to aim for a 60 degree angle leftwards in the 10:00 direction on the imaginary clock given the ball as traveling in the 12:00 direction prior to the kick, I would be able to extend the distance of the kick, increase the level of swerve up to 5 FEET leftwards, improve accuracy, and at the same time maintain an impressive level of angular divergence relative to the motion of the ball prior to it being kicked. This because the angle is less severe and difficult than kicking to 9:00 on the imaginary clock.

Today for the first time, I noticed incredible angular break caused by spin when the ball first bounced after I kicked it. By this I mean that when the ball bounced it bounced sideways at an impressive angle instead of straight ahead. A whole science is built on this kind of thing with regards to the art of spin-bowling the cricket ball.

One ball today landed 11 meters away, at 8:30 on the imaginary clock given the ball prior to being kicked away moving in the 12:00 direction. It reached an apex height of 4 feet in flight and swerved 2 feet to the left before hitting the ground. When it bounced, it bounced leftwards at a 25 degree angle.

Another ball, landed 8 meters away at a 930 angle on the imaginary clock given 1200 as the direction of the movement of the ball prior to being kicked. This ball swerved 2 feet left on strong spin. It's apex height during flight was 4 feet (I think, I failed to note the apex at the time). After it landed on the ground instead of rolling straight ahead, it rolled in a curve just like the diameter of a circle, to the left. By the time it was 10 feet beyond the point where it landed it was 4 feet to the left of where it should have been if it had rolled straight. The general slant it followed in it's curving roll was 20 degrees leftwards.

Interesting thing here is that some surfaces produce balls that break more after bouncing than others. Wonder what would happen if the balls were hitting a surface that produces more break on bounce than a wooden basketball court surface?

According to Wikipedia, balls break more on bouncing due to spin bowling on certain types of cricket fields (pitches): "In modern times, spin bowling has traditionally been a forte of the bowlers from the sub-continent. The primary reason for that is that the pitches in the sub-continent provide more help to the spin bowlers. The faster the pitch degenerates, the earlier the spinners come into the picture. Australian and South African wickets are usually very hard and bouncy, helping the fast bowlers more. They do not break very much during the entire duration of the test match. But pitches in the sub-continent are not that hard. They are not usually held together by the grass as much. They break up quicker and help spin bowlers and leg spin is considered to be one of the toughest type to have control but very effective in terms of picking of wickets".

Wikipedia elaborates: "Over the course of a four or five day match...the pitch (cricket field) begins to crack, then crumble and become dusty. This kind of pitch is colloquially known as a 'dust bowl' or 'minefield'. This...favors bowlers, particularly spin bowlers who can obtain large amounts of traction on the surface and make the ball spin a long way".

I estimate that the swerve in the air combined with the break after the bounce could combine to produce a deadly shot if I just allow myself to shoot a little forwards of a broadside right angle.

Compare this to the usual ground-hog dribbler, who rolls the ball on the ground while dribbling it instead of keeping it in the air. Such dribblers are, when chasing a ball traveling in the 1200 direction on the imaginary clock, able to generate only weak force, puny swerve, and mild spin when they attempt to strike the ball sideways to the left with the left foot or sideways to the right with the right foot.

I decided that the previous three entries needed a rewrite and rewrote them.

What I meant when talking about drills featuring passing the ball backwards and to my left: during such drills the primary intent was to kick the ball directly backwards, and the secondary intent was to kick the ball at as far backwards an angle as possible, to my left.

What I meant when talking about drills featuring passing the ball backwards and to my right: during such drills the primary intent was to kick the ball directly backwards, and the secondary intent was to kick the ball at as far backwards an angle as possible, to my right.

The primary intent cannot always be accomplished. For example the ball at the time I have to kick it might be in a position such that I cannot kick it directly backwards. Then I have to settle for accomplishing the secondary intent. This secondary intent has been as far backwards as possible and to the left, or as far backwards as possible and to the right.

Choosing between the leftwards secondary intent or the rightwards secondary intent during a given time segment of practice, forces me to develop my ability to aim at a target.

Programming frustrations distracted me and reduced the quality of the write-ups.

During the practice today, I took 12 minutes in breaks, thus the total was 151 minutes minus 12 minutes in breaks, 139 minutes. During these 139 minutes, I managed to do the four touch air-dribble and then kick the ball away on the 5th touch, all without the ball touching the ground, 46 times, 0.33 times per minute. Alot of time was spent retrieving balls kicked a long way, and taking notes.

April 20-26 at the outdoors Gary Gilmore playground, I did the runs without using a formula recited before the run designed to remind me regarding the proper technique to be used during the run. Previously I had found that the best results in terms of successes per minute, were produced without using such recitations. Then, indoors at the YMCA on April 30, May 1, and May 3, 4, and 5, I used the following formula chanted in my mind before each attempt: "Lick (kick ball with left foot) R (step with right foot) Lean (step with left foot while leaning to right) Rick (kick ball with right foot) Lean (step with left foot while leaning to right) Rye (kick ball high with right foot)". This formula describes the first actions in the runs.

Today I changed the verbal formula recited before each attempt, to: "Lick (kick ball with left foot) R (step with right foot) Lout (step outwards with left foot) Rick (kick ball with right foot) Lout (step outwards with left foot) Rye (kick ball high with right foot)". The results were better with the new formula.

The formula (recited in my mind before each run) which includes the "lean" steps, is designed to teach me to lean during the steps in question as I found that such leaning produces superior results. Problem is that it can impair performance, because, although the only way to teach oneself to lean is to lean on every attempt, there are instances in which such leaning is inappropriate.

But with the formula that includes "lout" steps, steps featuring the left foot being placed further out towards the left than is normal, I got better results today. Reasons for this: stepping outwards with the left foot prior to kicking the ball with the right foot is 'inappropriate' less often compared to the "lean"; the "lean" can only properly be accomplished, when one steps outwards with the left foot prior to kicking the ball with the right foot as this produces a natural lean to the right.

It boggles my mind that it took so long for me to realize, that the rightwards lean which I had noticed was characteristic of the better runs, needs as a precursor the stepping outwards with the left foot.

The ball did some impressive angular bouncing due to spins today. However I was so absorbed in measuring things like apex of ball in flight and angle, that visually and mentally I was unable to pay much attention to such angular bouncing.

The goal today was to, on the 5th touch, kick the ball backwards and to the right at a 45 degree angle compared to the direction imparted to the ball by the 4th touch. Looking at the chart, one can see how starting with the tenth kickaway, the accuracy in terms of getting the ball on the 430 angle improved. But I was not obsessed with accuracy because I wanted to test out the range on such kicks.

Range-wise: kick #23 traveled in the intended 430 direction, reached an apex of 15 feet, and then before bouncing, hit the wall 24 paces (16 meters) away from where it was kicked, hitting the wall at a height of 6 feet; kick #46, traveled in the intended 430 direction, reached an apex of 19 feet, and then before bouncing hit the wall 17 paces (12 meters) away from where it was kicked, hitting the wall at a spot 19 feet above the floor; kick #27, traveled in the intended 430 direction, reached an apex of 16 feet, and then before bouncing hit the wall 16 paces (11 meters) away from where it was kicked, hitting the wall at a spot 14 feet above the floor; kick #35, traveled in the intended 430 direction, reached an apex of 15 feet, and then before bouncing hit the wall 16 paces (11 meters) away from where it was kicked, hitting the wall at a spot 12 feet above the floor.

You can see how all this balls hitting the wall and hitting the ceiling makes it difficult to estimate the range.

I estimate (offhand): #46, would have descended to a height of 6 feet 20 meters from where it was kicked; #27, would have descended to a height of 6 feet 23 meters from where it was kicked; #35, would have descended to a height of 6 feet 19 meters from the point at which it was kicked. And then, #23 descended to 6 foot height 16 meters from where it was kicked. So I roughly estimate my range on this kick backwards at a 45 degree angle as 20 meters to a point 6 feet above the ground.

Thus I see a potential for passes that go 20 meters before they descend to an altitude at which players can touch the ball, kicked backwards at a 45 degree angle. Of course the ground-hogs, who keep the ball on the ground, can never hope to come anywhere near 20 meters in the air, kicking the ball backwards and to the right at a 45 degree angle, relative to the direction of the ball prior to it being kicked.

Then there is the question of what kind of kick typically develops, when the intent is to kick the ball backwards at a 45 degree angle. Offhand, looking at today's data, I estimate that the typical kick for me, when kicking the ball backwards and to the right at a 45 degree angle, reaches an apex of 14 feet and then bounces 13 meters away from where it was kicked. This kind of chip pass is not an insignificant threat.

The possibilities become interesting when you think of how prior to the backwards kick, I do not need to be moving towards the opposing goal. For example I could be moving backwards on a diagonal, away from the opposing goal, prior to kicking the ball and it would then go straight towards the opposing goal.

If I'd been able to watch the balls that hit the ceiling, sail a long way instead of hitting the ceiling, I'd have been much happier after the practice.

A couple of Indians in the locker room were talking about me being the best in the world, as if they thought I was the best in the world.

Fact is, the best may make mistakes doing the hardest stuff, but the second best make even more such mistakes.

Today I caught and corrected some absent minded mistakes in the previous entry. The mistakes had right where left should be, and left where right should be.

At the end of the runs I was ending up facing at a more leftwards angle than I wanted to end up facing. This resulted in lots of balls hitting the wall before traveling a long distance.

This problem can be fixed by altering the direction of the initial slant of the run.

Balls hit hard were hit high, balls hit low were hit weak.

The long distance ball traveled by the balls, reduced the number of shots per hour because the amount of time spent retrieving balls increased.

At 417 pm concerned dad Jose drew the the curtain that separates the two halves of the gym because he became concerned re his little approx 5 years old son JJ. A low shot, I think it was number 30, that doesnt look that good in the stats, scared him. It missed JJ by 9 feet. It never rose above 1 foot above the ground and first hit the ground about 12 paces from where it was kicked. I told Jose that I play heads up ball (I do not watch the ball until it hits my foot when I kick it, I have my eyes up seeing things). Still I assured him that henceforth I would play it safer re his kid.

Just seems to me, that children and adults have a responsibility to be alert and observant so as to minimize risks to themselves incurred by others practicing in the same gym. How can adults and kids just wander out on to a gym where someone is already practicing soccer shots, go into the area being shot into, and then like a drunk or a fool fail to take precautions to prevent themselves from being hit by an errant shot?

During the practice I noted that one would expect greater power and distance on these shots, the reason the expected power and distance has not materialized, is that the ball is rarely perfectly placed by the 4th touch for the shot/pass on the 5th touch.

Towards the end of the practice the expected power began to show.

I was missing ball bounce angle observation on the shots, due to concentration on overall ball flight angle.

A white grade school age boy who knocked a marker cone I was using out of the way is to be commended for resetting it in place without me having to say anything.

These shots were very accurate and powerful even when the 4th touch on the ball during the run produced a very sharp change of direction and slant to the left prior to the shot on the 5th touch.

The info for today will be supplied later. Some text and a graphic describing today's practice.

The info for today will be supplied later.

The info for today will be supplied later.

The info for today will be supplied later.

The exciting thing today was that for the first time I attempted to time how fast the shots were. I carried a stopwatch in my hand during the practice; I pushed the stopwatch button when I kicked the shot, and then again when it hit the wall. At first, I found it difficult to be able to press the buttons at the right times, but gradually I was able to get some estimates for the speeds of the shots. I found that the distraction of attempting to time the shots impaired the level of performance.

In the next entry, you can find an online calculator that takes the distance measured in paces of a shot, the time elapsed during the flight of the ball, and produces an estimate of the mph speed of the ball.

Understanding these stats:

The chronological order number of the shot is given with its estimated speed. Shot at 130 angle means, given straight ahead relative to path of ball before shot as 1200 on the imaginary clock, the ball was shot at a 45 degree angle to the right at 130 on the imaginary clock. Coordinates for where ball hit goal or goal-wall (goal is area on gym wall): 1,1 = lower left corner of goal; 1,8 = upper left corner of goal; 24,8 = upper right corner; 24,1 = lower right corner; -4,3 = hit goal wall 4 feet to left of goal and 3 feet high; 31,7 = ball hit goal wall 7 feet to right of goal and 7 feet high, etc.

Shot/Est Speed:

Morning session results:

2: 24 mph

8: 63 mph

10: 90 mph . shot straight ahead relative to path of ball prior to shot. Ball reached apex of 8 feet during flight. Landed 1 foot left of goal, hitting goal-wall six feet high. I felt I could have kicked this ball much harder than I did.

11: 75 mph. Shot at 200 direction relative to path of ball prior to shot, given 1200 on imaginary clock as straight ahead, shot at 60 degree angle to right. Ball hit goal on 1 bounce, hitting goal at coordinate 16,2 (1,1 is bottom left hand corner of goal, 1,8 top left hand corner, 24,8 top right hand corner, 24,1 bottom right hand corner). Ball swerved 2 feet left on counterclockwise spin. Ball was kicked with inside of left ankle.

13: 39 mph

14: 60 mph

16: 27 mph

18: 47 mph

19: 45 mph

20: 54 mph

21: 58 mph

22: 62 mph

Afternoon session results:

3: 21 mph

6: 47 mph

7: 33 mph

8: 72 mph. Shot at 130 direction relative to path of ball prior to shot (45 degree angle to right). 3' apex height during flight. Traveled 26 paces (1 pace= 2.2 feet) before hitting goal. Hit goal at (10,3). Swerved right 2' on clockwise spin. Top of left foot used to kick ball.

9: 93 mph . 130 direction relative to path of ball prior to shot (45 degree angle to right). 4' apex height during flight. Hit goal at (3,4). Traveled 26 paces prior to hitting goal. Swerved right 3' on some clockwise spin. Ball hit with inside front top of left foot.

11: 45 mph

15: 42 mph

19: 47 mph

20: 78 mph. Shot straight ahead relative to path of ball prior to shot. 2' apex height during flight. Ball traveled 26 paces before hitting goal. Hit goal at (1,2). Top of left foot used to kick ball.

21: 49 mph

22: 26 mph

24: 49 mph

Generally this morning I was surprised at how there is a lack of correlation between the amount of effort put into a shot, and the speed of the shot. I was surprised at how shots that sound like a bomb going off when they hit the wall are not that fast because they followed an arching trajectory on the way to the wall. I was surprised at how important a flat line drive type trajectory is when it comes to ball speed.

During the afternoon the shooting accuracy was even better than it has been on previous days. Notably, the 72 mph shot hitting the goal at (10,3),the 93 mph shot hitting the goal at (3,4), and the 78 mph shot hitting the goal at (1,2) were all on target. The latter two were in the lower left hand corner of the goal, which according to a web page I looked at, is the 'sweet spot' where I disproportionate number of goals are scored.

During the morning the shots averaged 54 mph, the fastest at 90 mph. During the afternoon they averaged 50 mph, with the fastest at 93 mph.

I am sure that these shots would be faster if: I had more practice with such shots; if the basketball court was less slippery. Seems everyone including the local gas station clerk, somehow knows I have been slipping on the basketball court.

The whole question of soccer ball speeds is complicated by the simple mindedness of the soccer world. There are at least a few youtube videos that headline with claims about a shot going around 250 kmh but when you click on the link and get to the actual video page they have changed their minds and are saying only 150 kmh. Much of the soccer world does not seem to have any idea re what a fast shot actually is (some web pages are wildly enthusiastic about 68 mph free kicks, just because the player involved is of the same ethnic group as the enthusiast.

How fast a player is able to kick a ball during a match reveals little unless details of the shot are known. For example a player sprinting at a ball that moves towards him, is able to utilize the force of the ball to smash the ball with great velocity.

Manchester United using a speed gun found that Rooney and Ronaldo's maximum speed on shots is 70 mph. Seems to be actually true, that in 2006 some Brazilian named Araujo whose soccer career had been rocky, shot a free kick at 132 mph. This indicates that speed of shot is not strongly correlated with status in the soccer world.

Generally it appears that there are shots that travel at fantastic speeds, much faster than the usual shot, but that these shots are very unusual and rare.

Using the data compiled from the "Sky Sports Replay Tracking Machine", a British newspaper, "The Guardian", compiled a list of the ten fastest shots in soccer from 1996 to 2007. During all these ten years, they recorded only four shots over 90 mph. Discrepancies between their records and other data such as the 130 mph free kick are attributable to the Guardian's data being focused on the English Premier League).

The TV announcer Jim Morelli was working out at the Y until after I took shot #14, shooting baskets with a basketball while I was practicing shooting with the soccer ball. Like every adult male unaccompanied by a child that I have run into in the gym while practicing soccer shots, he did not complain or object re the shots smashing into the wall around him, I appreciate that (none of these men in whose direction I have been shooting have been hit by a ball, except for once when I was practicing an unusually difficult to control angle of a shot). I was surprised that his sleeveless white t-shirt looked just as dirty as my sleeveless white t-shirt (I have clean ones but when its time to rush off to the gym I can't seem to be able to find them). Maybe his way of making sure I don't get kicked out of the Y for wearing a dirty looking t-shirt is to wear a dirty looking t-shirt himself.

The last shot before Mr. Morelli left, I confess sort of amused me in a sinister way. It was shot #14, which I clocked at 60 mph. It sailed about 20 yards in the air reaching an apex of 9 feet, and then grazed the lower left corner of the basketball backboard, then smashed into the wall, missing Mr Morelli by about a yard. It hit the goal at coordinate (14,8) (bottom left hand corner of goal is (1,1);top right hand corner is (24,8). At the end of its flight it suddenly swerved 3 feet to the right and sharply downwards on clockwise spin and topspin.

What the heck. If the men shooting baskets in the area I am shooting soccer balls at are just a little observant and careful they are not going to get hit by my shots, which fly in their direction only about once every three minutes anyway.

I wrote a program which you can use, to make such calculations:

Directions for Use of Program: Input into input 1, the length of your pace when you walk in a normal way, in terms of meters. The default is 0.67 meaning a pace is defined as 0.67 meters. If you have changed this number, clicking on 2 will reset it to 0.67. Input the number of paces the ball traveled while the passage of time was measured into input 3. Input the time measured into input 4. Then Click on 7 to find the estimated average speed of the ball in miles per hour which will be reported in input 5, and the estimated maximum speed of the ball which will be reported in input 6. The max speed estimate is now available only for distances between 9.4 meters (14 paces at my personal setting of 0.67 meters per pace) and 22.8 meters (34 paces at my personal setting of 0.67 meters per pace). The spot in this page where estimation of max speed is discussed .

Today was the same as on Sunday, except that on Sunday, the goal was at 90 degrees right relative to the initial slant of the air-dribble, but today, the goal was at 90 degrees left relative to the initial slant of the air dribble.

This made things tough for me, because I am left footed, and as a result of the position of the goal relative to the initial slant, almost all the shots were in a leftwards direction relative to the final slant of the ball before it was kicked. Nevertheless, I refrained from a conscious attempt to get the final slant facing towards the goal more, because the whole point of having the goal at 90 degrees relative to the initial slant, was to test out such shots in a leftwards direction.

Again, several of the shots were not timed because I forgot to carry the stopwatch or forgot to press the buttons at the right time.

In the previous entry, you can find an online calculator that takes the distance measured in paces of a shot, the time elapsed during the flight of the ball, and produces an estimate of the mph speed of the ball.

Understanding these stats:

The chronological order number of the shot is given with its estimated speed. Shot at 130 angle means, given straight ahead relative to path of ball before shot as 1200 on the imaginary clock, the ball was shot at a 45 degree angle to the right at 130 on the imaginary clock. Coordinates for where ball hit goal or goal-wall (goal is area on gym wall): 1,1 = lower left corner of goal; 1,8 = upper left corner of goal; 24,8 = upper right corner; 24,1 = lower right corner; -4,3 = hit goal wall 4 feet to left of goal and 3 feet high; 31,7 = ball hit goal wall 7 feet to right of goal and 7 feet high, etc. One pace equals 0.67 meters.

Morning session results:

Shot/Est Speed:

6: 32 mph; 1000 angle, 60 degrees left.

8: 26 mph; 1000 angle, 60 degrees left.

9: 29 mph; 1100 angle, 30 degrees left.

11: 55 mph; 1130 angle, 15 degrees left.

12: 77 mph . shot at 15 degrees left angle towards 1130 on the imaginary clock, relative to path of ball prior to shot. Ball reached apex of 11 feet during flight. Hit goal-wall at (1,10). Swerved left 3 feet on counterclockwise spin.

You can see from the results how the speed of the shots is correlated with the extent to which the shot was leftwards relative to the path of the ball prior to the shot.

The shots in general were accurate. There were some good ones I did not get a time for via the stopwatch. For example the second shot of the morning, shot leftwards at a 45 degree angle relative to the path of the ball prior to the shot, traveled 31 paces without bouncing, reached an 8 foot apex, swerved left 4 feet on counterclockwise spin, and hit the goal at (19,6). It was a great shot for just 3 minutes into the practice. But I had forgotten to carry the stopwatch while taking the shot.

On almost every ball that bounced before it hit the goal, the bounce was leftwards at a 30-45 degree angle (this would be even more severe of an angle bounce if the surface was one that produced more angular bounces than a basketball court). The angular bounce was caused by counterclockwise spin, imparted due to the ball being struck on the right side, with the outside of the left foot, a natural result of the ball being kicked leftwards with the left foot. The balls that bounced prior to reaching the goal line, generally were bouncing at a point about 5 feet in front of the goal line.

Prior to shot #12, a young slightly above average height white man with a slight brown beard, asked me to stop shooting the ball in his direction. He was the first person unaccompanied by a child, to ask me to stop or to draw the curtain dividing the gym; previously several people had tolerated me. His mother works at the front desk. He was the only other person in the gym so I argued a little; I had been out there first, then he showed up to shoot baskets and ordered me to stop. I had to change all the cone markers over to his side of the gym and shoot at the side he was not on. I only got one shot off after changing sides, then the gym began to fill up with basketballers and I stopped. Seems like feeling annoyed by this guy demanding that I stop shooting in his direction, energized me so that the first shot after changing sides, was powerful. Yet it is noteworthy that there is this video on the internet about this African pastor, who in a near death experience almost went to hell, because he was annoyed with his wife at the time he died--the angel he say told him he would have been damned if he had not been given a second chance, because of his being unforgiving with his wife.

Afternoon session results:

Shot/Est Speed:

3: 29 mph; 1030 angle, 45 degrees left.

5: 45 mph; 1230 angle, 15 degrees right.

6: 29 mph; 1200 angle, straight ahead.

7: 25 mph; 1130 angle, 15 degrees left.

8: 40 mph; 1200 angle, straight ahead.

18: 32 mph; 930 angle, 75 degrees left.

20: 28 mph; 1000 angle, 60 degrees left.

21: 37 mph; 1200 angle, straight ahead.

22: 31 mph; 1000 angle, 60 degrees left.

24: 40 mph; 1200 angle, straight ahead.

Things went wrong from the beginning this session. There was lots of screwing up on the preliminary air dribble prior the shot at the beginning.

Low hard shots that are usually amongst the fastest were blocked by the bleachers they set up in the middle of the gym for the speech by martial artist Kenny Florian.

I noticed that It's not just the angle of the shot relative to the final slant of the air-dribble that can make a shot difficult. It's also how sharp a turn is made on the 4th touch of the air dribble, the 4th touch which establishes the direction of the final slant. Sharp turns on the final slant, make the shot more difficult. But that does not mean such shots are bad.

This afternoon session started 13.5 hours afte I woke up, unusually late for me. Plus I had to go through all kinds of frustrations with the computer right before the practice started.

The numbers here don't tell the entire picture. I felt I did a good job of shooting accurately from a long distance at difficult angles, despite the slow speeds recorded.

I recorded the combined movement of the ball to the left, as being around 9 feet to the left on two of the shots. Meaning, the ball would swerve in the air to the left, and then after bouncing hit the goal at a spot far to the left of where one would have expected the ball to hit, had it bounced normally. This was due to intense counterclockwise spin on the ball. All afternoon balls were swerving left in the air 4 to five feet, and/or then bouncing to the left at sharp angles of at least 45 degrees.

Shot #18, was shot at a severe 75 degrees left angle relative to the path of the ball immediately prior the shot. It reached a 7 foot apex, swerved 4 feet left in the air, bounced in front of the goal, and then bounced 45 degrees leftwards of a normal bounce, hitting the wall about 4 feet to the left of where one would normally expect it to land given a normal bounce; total distance covered to the goal was 25 meters. The ball was hit with the front of the ankle. It ended up hitting the goal at (8,3).

Shot number 20, was shot at a sharp 60 degrees left angle relative to the path of the ball immediately prior to the shot. the ball reached a 5 foot apex, flew in the air for about 18 meters, swerved 4 feet left in the air on counterclockwise spin, bounced leftwards at a 45 degree angle relative to a normal bounce, hit the goal 5 feet left of where one would have expected it to hit given a normal bounce. the shot hit the goal at (2,6) after traveling a total distance of 21 meters. I accidentally failed to record what part of the foot hit the ball.

I had to cut the practice short because martial artist Kenny Florian arrived to give his speech. I stayed to listen to it. Despite the brutal nature of his profession, Mr. Florian seems to have human warmth.

Reminds me of how at the latest Olympics, the boxers looked like the nicest people.

Re comparing the ball speeds to the famous players: the gym floor is slippery; and, the ball is inflated to just 7.5 psi, compared to the regulation inflation of 9.1 psi. A softer ball means, lower ball speeds.

If time permits I will backtrack and fill out more details re the practice of today and previous days, and I will let you know when I do this.

Understanding these stats:

The chronological order number of the shot is given with its estimated speed. Shot at 130 angle means, given straight ahead relative to path of ball before shot as 1200 on the imaginary clock, the ball was shot at a 45 degree angle to the right at 130 on the imaginary clock. Coordinates for where ball hit goal or goal-wall (goal is area on gym wall): 1,1 = lower left corner of goal; 1,8 = upper left corner of goal; 24,8 = upper right corner; 24,1 = lower right corner; -4,3 = hit goal wall 4 feet to left of goal and 3 feet high; 31,7 = ball hit goal wall 7 feet to right of goal and 7 feet high, etc. One pace equals 0.67 meters.

Morning session results:

Shot/angle/Est Speed:

3: 23 mph; 430 angle, 135 degrees right.

4: 44 mph; 400 angle, 120 degrees right.

5: 45 mph; 230 angle, 75 degrees right.

6: 41 mph; 1200 angle, straight ahead.

7: 47 mph; 300 angle, 90 degrees right.

9: 53 mph; 330 angle, 105 degrees right.

11: 42 mph; 300 angle, 90 degrees right.

13: 41 mph; 130 angle, 45 degrees right.

14: 45 mph; 200 angle, 60 degrees right.

Afternoon session results:

The first 5 shots for which a shot was recorded, involved a preliminary air-dribble run starting with a slant that put the goal at a right angle 90 degrees to the right. This was a mistake. The initial slant was supposed to put the goal at an angle 135 degrees to the right.

1:26 mph; 200 angle, 60 degrees right.

2: 40 mph; 130 angle, 45 degrees right.

3: 46 mph; 130 angle, 45 degrees right.

4: 45 mph; 200 angle, 60 degrees right.

5: 40 mph; 130 angle, 45 degrees right.

At this point I corrected myself, and went back to the initial slant being with the goal at 135 degrees to the right.

6: 35 mph; 100 angle, 30 degrees right.

7 : 41 mph; 200 angle, 60 degrees right.

9: 37 mph; 200 angle, 60 degrees right.

10: 63 mph; 1230 angle, 15 degrees right.

11: 50 mph; 200 angle, 60 degrees right.

12: 31 mph; 200 angle, 60 degrees right.

13: 44 mph; 230 angle, 75 degrees right.

15: 40 mph; 300 angle, 90 degrees right.

16: 35 mph; 330 angle, 105 degrees right.

The average angle of the shot compared to the angle established by the 4th touch prior to the shot on the 5th touch today, was 2:48 on the imaginary clock, 84 degrees right. This does not include the five shots on which the initial slant of the air dribble was not what it was supposed to be.

Alot of swerve and angular bounce was not recorded today but that which was recorded was to the right on clockwise spin.

Thus today I got some idea of speeds when I shoot the ball at approd a right angle, relative to its movement prior to it being shot at the end of the air-dribble.

Three shots shot at the 90 degrees right angle relative to the path of the ball prior to the shot, averaged 43 mph.

I suppose a rough idea of the impressiveness of a shot today, could be gained from multiplying the angle of the shot times the speed of the shot. The higher the angle of the shot compared to the line of flight of the ball prior to the shot, the harder it is to generate power; this holds true up to the angle of the shot relative to the path of the ball prior to the shot being 180 degrees, or to six o'clock on the imaginary clock given the ball as moving at twelve oclock on the imaginary clock.

From this perspective, the best shot of the day was shot #9 in the morning practice, which traveled at 53 mph despite being shot at an angle 105 degrees right relative to the line of flight of the ball prior to the shot. This ball, reached an apex of 6 feet, traveled 21 meters, and bounced at the goal line at (-6,1). It was kicked with the inside top of the left foot. It was kicked backwards and to the right relative to the line of flight of the ball prior to the shot.

From the same multiplier perspective the second best shot of the day was #4 in the morning practice, which traveled at 44 mph despite being shot at an angle 120 degrees right relative to the line of flight of the ball prior to the shot. The ball reached an apex of 7 feet during flight, and first bounced at the goal line 23 meters from where it was shot. This ball was kicked with the inside of the left foot.

The power of the shot is affected by a couple of factors other than the angle of the shot relative to the line of flight of the ball prior to the shot.

If the fourth touch of the ball prior to the shot on the fifth touch, pops the ball up high enough, I have a chance to sort of circle around so that instead of facing away from the goal prior to the shot I am facing towards the goal prior to the shot. I've found that if the ball reaches an apex of at least 6 feet on the 4th touch, I can significantly adjust my angle so that I'm facing towards the goal not away from it, and thereby increase the power of the shot.

However in these drills it has been my policy to avoid deliberately popping the ball up on the 4th touch in said fashion, because what I've been after is getting data re how powerfully I can shoot the ball when I and the ball are moving away from the goal at a fairly fast speed.

The power of the shot is also effected by the initial slant of the 4 touch air-dribble prior to the shot on the 5th touch. An initial slant towards the goal results in more momentum towards the goal being built up by the time of the shot on touch 5, compared to an initial slant away from the goal. If my body has reversed direction immediately prior to the shot, there will be less momentum contributing to the force of the shot, compared to my body having been moving in the same direction the shot ends up moving, for a greater amount of time.

Re comparative speeds, undeniably, a ball gradually increases speed, reaches a max speed, and then gradually slows down during the course of the flight. I've been measuring the average ball speed over a flight of about 20 meters during these practices. The Bundesliga contests measure speed over 7 meters. I don't know what the Sky Sports people cited by the Guardian did in terms of whether they were reporting the top speed achieved by the ball during flight, or the average speed of the ball during flight, and what length of flight they based their average speed of flight measurement on if such was what they used.

Notably, The National Athletics Trainers Association, found that in high school soccer, "ball velocities can reach speeds up to 100km/hr (62 mph). Average speed from a punt is 70km/hr (43 mph) and a drop kick or goal kick 85 km/hr (53 mph)."

Goal kicks, are those kicks that the defending team gets to take to restart play, when a ball goes over the defending team's goal line. I remember them from high school soccer. Best I can recall one of the fullbacks would usually take the goal kick. These fullbacks of Chicago high school soccer, were the strongest on their teams when it came to kicking a goal kick.

The drop kick is something sometimes done by goalkeepers instead of a punt. The ball is dropped and bounces off the ground just before it is kicked.

In soccer, a punt is something done by goalies involving the ball being dropped by the hands and kicked before it reaches the ground.

So today was a dramatic day, even if it didnt seem dramatic during the practice, when things felt basically hot and humdrum.

High school soccer is a dramatic time during the fall of each year. Every high school player has memories of the stout fullbacks taking goal kicks. And today, on shot #9, I shot a ball at average high school goal kick speed , under the disadvantage of shooting it at a 105 degree angle backwards relative to the line of flight of the ball after air dribbling away from the goal for four touches.

Today on shot #4 I shot the ball backwards and to the right at a 120 degree angle relative to the ball's line of flight prior to being shot, with the ball shot at 44 mph, which is the speed at which the average high school goalie punts the ball.

Seems in the future I should record not just the angle of the shot relative to the ball line of flight prior to the shot, but also the angle of the shot relative to the direction the torso was facing at the time of the shot.

Definitely unless otherwise noted, on the fourth touch prior to the fifth touch, I've been trying to move away from the goal at a high speed, as opposed to popping the ball up so as to enable myself to circle around and get a better angle. Such is the way it is in these practices unless otherwise noted.

Out of 25 shots taken with the proper initial slant today, 3 hit the ceiling and 1 was so far off target to the right as to not be recorded meaning it missed the goal horizontally by more than 24 feet.

Looking at 16 shots made today with the initial slant as it was supposed to be, and also the mph of the shot being recorded, the average shot missed the horizontal center of the goal by 11 feet, and missed the vertical center of the goal by 5 feet. The average shot today traveled 20 meters from the point at which it was kicked, to the goal or the goal-wall that the goal was on.

Understanding the following stats:

The chronological order number of the shot is given with its estimated speed. Shot at 130 angle means, given straight ahead relative to path of ball before shot as 1200 on the imaginary clock, the ball was shot at a 45 degree angle to the right at 130 on the imaginary clock. Coordinates for where ball hit goal or goal-wall (goal is area on gym wall): 1,1 = lower left corner of goal; 1,8 = upper left corner of goal; 24,8 = upper right corner; 24,1 = lower right corner; -4,3 = hit goal wall 4 feet to left of goal and 3 feet high; 31,7 = ball hit goal wall 7 feet to right of goal and 7 feet high, etc. One pace equals 0.67 meters.

Morning session results:

Shot/angle/Est Speed:

3 : 34 mph; 8:00 angle, 120 degrees left.

4 : 49 mph; 12:00 angle, straight ahead.

6 : 26 mph; 8:30 angle, 105 degrees left.

11 : 49 mph; 10:30 angle, 45 degrees left.

13 : 24 mph; 10:39 angle, 45 degrees left.

18 : 24 mph; 10:00 angle, 60 degrees left.

27 : 19 mph; 8:30 angle, 105 degrees left.

28 : 11 mph; 9:00 angle, 90 degrees left.

30 : 21 mph; 8:30 angle, 105 degrees left.

31 : 31 mph; 10:30 angle, 45 degrees left.

36 : 32 mph; 12:00 angle, straight ahead.

37 : 28 mph; 9:30 angle, 75 degrees left.

38 : 15 mph; 7:30 angle, 135 degrees left.

39 : 24 mph; 8:30 angle, 105 degrees left.

40 : 38 mph; 11:00 angle, 30 degrees left.

44 : 5 mph; 7:00 angle, 150 degrees left.

46 : 15 mph; 8:00 angle, 120 degrees left.

47 : 41 mph; 12:00 angle, straight ahead.

48 : 28 mph; 9:00 angle, 90 degrees left.

49 : 25 mph; 7:30 angle, 135 degrees left. The average angle of the shot compared to the angle established by the 4th touch prior to the shot on the 5th touch today, was 9:12 on the imaginary clock, 78 degrees left.

50 shots were taken today from 2:58 PM to 5:35 PM during 117 minutes not counting a 20 minute break. All these shots were taken on the 5th touch of an air dribble that adhered to the prescribed footwork and touches pattern. This rate of 0.43 shots per minute was very high. The preliminary air dribbling was significantly better than it ever has been.

Prior the the beginning of the shooting, I spent the first 68 minuted doing 13 popups (the ball popped up on the 5th touch instead of shot), and recording 10 results re how the apex of the ball on the first kick effects the distance it travels and how fast I have to run to kick it a second time.

Swerve to the left in the air was recorded on 2 shots. Ball bouncing to the left was recorded on 7 shots. This was associated with counterclockwise spin imparted to the ball as it was kicked with the outside of the left foot.

#Shotnumber:bounce; angle in degrees; direction of bounce:

#6:30L; #13:20L; #27:15L; #30:45L; #31:30L; #39:30L; #46:40L. Bounces of 45 degrees left and 40 degrees left were recorded.

Given the angles of the shots today I got some idea of speeds when I shoot the ball at approx a right angle to my left, relative to the ball movement prior to it being shot at the end of the air-dribble.

Speed in mph of shots shot at 8:30 angle, 105 degrees left: 26, 19, 21, 24. 9:00 angle, 90 degrees left: 11, 28. 9:30 angle, 75 degrees left: 28. This all averages out to, excluding the 11 mph aberration, 24 mph.

The world's fastest human, Usain Bolt, ran his world record 100 meters at 23 mph , looking at distance covered from start to finish in relation to time from start to finish. (Notably related to the average ball speed vs maximum ball speed subject) 28 mph is considered the fastest speed ever achieved by a sprinter. Sprint speed is not constant throughout the race.

Seems classically significant that the speed of the shots at 90 degrees left, is the same as maximum human sprinting speeds. These shots can be counted on to move at least as fast as the fastest player on the field. This doesnt mean much when the defender and the team-mate are both a long distance away from me, the passer with the ball, but close to each other. But, if the defender the team-mate and myself are all close to each other when I have the ball and pass it, as is the case when we the offense are trying to avoid being called for offsides, the meaning is very significant. The meaning is that I can be counted on to in hitting the ball at 90 degrees left, hit the ball at a speed that is such that my team-mate will be able to reach the ball before the defender does. I can be especially counted to do this when my team-mate has advantages in speed and in anticipation/reaction time compared to the defender.

The game of multiplying the angle of the shot times the speed of the shot to find the greatest shots of the day might be the funnest part of these reports. Along this line, the most impressive shots today were:

Gold medal: #3. Shot backwards and to my left relative to path of ball prior to shot. Shot at 120 degrees left. Ball reached a 9 foot apex, and hit the goal-wall (wall the goal is on), at coordinates (30,8). It was crossbar height 6 feet to the right of the right goalpost when it reached the goal-line. The ball was kicked with the front of the left ankle. The ball's avg speed was 34 mph.

Silver: #49. Shot backwards and to left at 135 degree angle relative to path of ball prior to shot. Average speed in flight, 25 mph. This ball reached an apex of 3 feet, and hit the goal 12 meters (at this point I was using only half the gym) from where it was shot at (10,1) without bouncing. This ball was kicked with the outside of the left foot.

Bronze: #6. Ball was kicked backwards and to the left at a 105 degree angle relative to the path of the ball before it was shot. It reached an apex of 8 feet, and hit the goal 20 meters away at (14,2) on 2 bounces. It first bounced 5 feet in front of the goal line. On its first bounce, it bounce to the left at a 30 degree angle. The ball's average speed in flight was 26 mph.

The subject of balls bouncing at angles is perhaps especially interesting to me because when my family spent some time in India when I was a boy I turned into a cricket fan who admired India's national cricket heroes, who tended to be wily lightweights who achieved admirably skillful success bowling out opposing batsmen using slow speed balls that bounced at sharp and unpredictable angles.

Angular bounce today:

#6. 105 deg angle left. 8' apex. Ball first bounced at 30 degree angle left at point 17 meters from where kicked. Ball kicked with front of ankle. Avg ball speed 26 mph. Hit goal at (14,2) 20 meters from where kicked.

#13. 45 deg angle left. 4' apex. Ball's only bounce at 20 degree angle left at point 18 meters from where kicked. Ball kicked with outside of left foot. Avg ball speed 24 mph. Not recorded where hit goal wall or goal at point 18 meters from where kicked.

#27. 105 deg angle left. 3' apex. Ball first bounced at 15 degree angle left at point 15 meters from where kicked. Ball kicked with outside of left foot. Avg ball speed 19 mph. Hit goal at (16,1) 17 meters from where kicked.

#30. 105 deg angle left. 8' apex. Ball's only bounce at 45 degree angle left at point 17 meters from where kicked. Ball kicked with outside of left foot. Avg ball speed 21 mph. Hit goal at (14,3) 18 meters from where kicked.

#31. 45 deg angle left. 2' apex. Ball only bounce at 30 degree angle left at point 15 meters from where kicked. Ball kicked with outside of left foot. Avg ball speed 31 mph. Hit goal at (17,1) 17 meters from where kicked.

#39. 105 deg angle left. 2' apex. Ball's only bounce at 30 degree angle left at point 13 meters from where kicked. Ball kicked with outside of left foot. Avg ball speed 24 mph. Not recorded where ball hit goal wall or goal, but hit at point 14 meters from where kicked.

#46. 120 deg angle left. 3' apex. Ball first bounced at 40 degree angle left at point 10 meters from where kicked. Ball kicked with front outside top of left foot. Avg ball speed 15 mph. Ball hit goal at (18,2) at point 13 meters from point of kick.

The first pattern I see here: 105 degree angle left; apex 2-8 feet; ball bounces once at 30 degree angle left at point 15 meters from where kicked. Ball hits goal at (15,2) at point 16 meters from where kicked. Average speed of ball during flight, 20 mph.

The above pattern is remarkably similar to the pattern followed by a spin bowler in cricket. A cricket bowler bowls the ball 20 meters from bowling line to opposing wicket. His balls bounce about 17 meters from where they leave his hand. The apex of the ball bowled during flight is 7 feet.

25 mph from 16 meters is like 50 mph from 8 meters from the goalie's perspective. The angle of the bounce allows one to kick the ball in a direction that is such that if the ball bounced normally it would miss the goal, whereas when the ball bounces at an angle, it hits the goal. Such becomes necessary as the defenders are obsessed with blocking the straight line running from oneself to the goal, whereas they tend to neglect the lines running from the attacker to the goal line to the sides of the goal. The ball bounced at an angle can be used for passes.

A right triangle calculator comes in handy here.

A ball that bounces left at a 45 degree, will, looking at where one would expect the ball to be at a point approx 2 meters beyond where the ball bounced given a normal straight non-angular bounce, be 2 meters to the left of where one would expect it to be. It will end up 3 meters to the left of what one would expect 3 meters after the bounce, 4 meters to the left of what one would expect 4 meters after the bounce, etc.

A ball that bounces left at a 30 degree, will, looking at where one would expect it to be at a point 2 meters beyond where it bounced given a normal non-angular bounce, be approx 1.2 meters to the left of where one would expect it to be. It will end up 1.8 meters to the left of what one would expect 3 meters after the bounce, 2.4 meters to the left of what one would expect 4 meters after the bounce, 4.8 meters to the left of what one expect 8 meters after the bounce, 9.6 meters to the left of what one expect 16 meters after the bounce etc.

A ball that bounces left at a 15 degree angle, will, looking at where one would expect it to be at a point 2 meters beyond where it bounced, given a normal non-angular bounce, be 0.6 meters to the left of where one would expect it to be. It will end up 0.9 meters to the left of what one would expect 3 meters after the bounce, 1.2 meters to the left of what one would expect 4 meters after the bounce, etc.

A goalie using his hands might be able to handle slightly angular bounces that players using their feet cannot handle.

A ball that bounces 5 feet in front of a goalkeeper, to the left at a 30 degree angle, will reach the goalkeeper at a point approx 3 feet to the left of what would be normal.

Since the ball that bounces at an angle follows a zig zag type pattern, the players standing in front of the goalie can be used to obscure the goalie's vision regarding the kind of spin on the ball, until it is too late.

If a ball that takes a 30 degree left bounce, bounces at a point 6 feet to a defender's left, after the ball has traveled another 12 feet, if the defender has not moved since the ball bounced, the ball will be at a point 10 feet directly behind the defender--whereas, had the ball bounced normally, it would at the time it ended up 10 feet directly behind the defender, be at a point 10 feet behind the defender and 12 feet to the defender's left as he faces his opponent's goal, 16 feet away from the defender.

Thus you can see how a 30 degree bounce, can turn balls that seem to be going to a point that is far away and out of play, into balls that are nearby and very much in play.

I could be standing at a point that is 30 meters away from and directly across from the goal post that is to the left of the opposing goalie when he is facing in my direction, the goalpost that I would call the right goalpost. If I kicked a ball at a 30 degree angle to my right and after traveling 12 meters it bounced at a 30 degree angle to the left, by the time it was 20 meters away from me it would be directly in front of me and directly in front of what I call the right goalpost again --whereas if it had bounced normally, it would have ended up crossing the goal line 18 meters, or 60 FEET, to the outside of the goalpost that I call the right goalpost.

Clearly a genius studying such matters would be able to come up with magical plays involving passes featuring balls that bounce at angles--but there is a limit to the amount of thinking any one person such as myself can do.

Out of 50 shots taken with the proper initial slant today, 7 hit the ceiling and 7 were so off target that they would have missed the left or the right goal post by more than 24 feet.

Looking at 20 shots made today after the preliminary air-dribble, with the initial slant as it was supposed to be, and also the mph of the shot being recorded, the average shot missed the horizontal center of the goal by 8 feet horizontally, and missed the vertical center of the goal by 4 feet vertically (these averages correct for statistical illusions created by for example, a shot 4 feet to the left of center cancelling out a shot 4 feet to the right of center). The average shot today traveled 16.5 meters from the point at which it was kicked, to the goal or the goal-wall that the goal was on (the last 12 shots were taken using only half the gym).

Understanding the following stats:

The chronological order number of the shot is given with its estimated speed. Shot at 1:30 angle means, given straight ahead relative to path of ball before shot as 1200 on the imaginary clock, the ball was shot at a 45 degree angle to the right at 130 on the imaginary clock. Coordinates for where ball hit goal or goal-wall (goal is area on gym wall): 1,1 = lower left corner of goal; 1,8 = upper left corner of goal; 24,8 = upper right corner; 24,1 = lower right corner; -4,3 = hit goal wall 4 feet to left of goal and 3 feet high; 31,7 = ball hit goal wall 7 feet to right of goal and 7 feet high, etc. One pace equals 0.67 meters. The last number is the angle in degrees of the shot times the mph of the shot.

Morning session results:

Shot/angle/Est Speed:

2 : 44 mph; 4:30 angle, 135 degrees right. 5940

5 : 07 mph; 6:00 angle, 180 degrees straight backwards. 1260

6 : 11 mph; 8:00 angle, 120 degrees left. 1320

7 : 32 mph; 2:30 angle, 75 degrees right. 2400

8 : 19 mph; 7:30 angle, 135 degrees left. 2565

10: 19 mph; 8:00 angle, 120 degrees left. 2280

12: 13 mph; 8:00 angle, 120 degrees left. 1560

13: 18 mph; 7:00 angle, 150 degrees left. 2700

14: 36 mph; 2:00 angle, 60 degrees right. 2160

16: 23 mph; 7:00 angle, 150 degrees left. 3450

18: 38 mph; 2:00 angle, 60 degrees right. 2280

20: 17 mph; 8:30 angle, 105 degrees left. 1785

23: 11 mph; 7:30 angle, 135 degrees left. 1485

24: 12 mph; 6:00 angle, 180 degrees straight backwards. 2160

The average angle of the shot compared to the angle established by the 4th touch prior to the shot on the 5th touch today, was 6:54 on the imaginary clock, 153 degrees left.

20 shots were taken today from 1:42 PM to 3:47 PM during 125 minutes. All these shots were taken on the 5th touch of an air dribble that adhered to the prescribed footwork and touches pattern. The rate of 0.16 shots per minute was much lower than it was May 27. I'd been struggling with a computer virus for a few days at the time of this practice. I felt very tired after the practice, even though it was only 3 hours.

Swerve right before bounce was recorded on one shot; bounce leftwards on one and bounce rightwards on one.

On average these balls were shot in the 150 degrees, backwards and to the left direction. Speeds on 9 shots ranging in angle from from 120 degrees left to 180 degrees straight backwards ranged from 7 mph to 23 mph and averaged 15 mph. On average shots in this angle range, traveled 17 meters from foot to goal. One of the shots was a roller and the others made it to the goal after bouncing twice on average.

The game of multiplying the angle of the shot times the speed of the shot to find the greatest shots of the day:

Gold medal: #2. Shot backwards and to my right relative to path of ball prior to shot. Shot at 135 degrees right. Ball reached a 4 foot apex, and hit the goal at coordinates (15,3), 16 meters from where it was shot, without bouncing. The ball was kicked with the top of the left foot. The ball's avg speed was 44 mph. It swerved 2' to the right in the air.

Silver: #16. Shot backwards and to left at 150 degree angle relative to path of ball prior to shot. Average speed in flight, 23 mph. This ball reached an apex of 8 feet, and hit the goal 20 meters away on one bounce, at (12,6). This ball was kicked with the outside of the left foot.

Bronze: #13. Ball was kicked backwards and to the left at a 150 degree angle relative to the path of the ball before it was shot. It reached an apex of 5 feet, and hit the goal-wall 17.5 meters away at (28,1) on 1 bounce. It bounced 30 degrees leftwards on counterclockwise spin. By left I mean in the direction of my left shoulder as I stand watching it. The ball's average speed in flight was 18 mph.

Off the bat I estimate I demonstrated today a real ability to be in headlong retreat on the 4th touch of the air-dribble, and then kick the ball almost straight backwards at a 150 degree angle, reaching the goal 17 meters away on 1 bounce accurately, average ball speed 20 mph.

Meaning I can get the ball moving towards the goal at about the speed the fastest human can run, when I kick while in headlong air-dribble retreat directly away from the goal. The fastest humans might run 100 meters at an average 24 mph speed, but their speed over the first 20 meters or so is less than 24 mph.

20 mph from 18 meters is like 40 mph from 9 meters.

Out of 24 shots taken with the proper initial slant today, 5 hit the ceiling and 2 were so off target that they would have missed the the right goal post of the goal I was shooting at (closer to my right shoulder as I look at it than the left goalpost is) by more than 24 feet.

Looking at 14 shots made today after the preliminary air-dribble, with the initial slant as it was supposed to be, and also the mph of the shot being recorded, the average shot (not counting the 2 shots estimated to be more than 24 feet from the closest goalpost when crossing goal line) missed the horizontal center of the goal by 11 feet horizontally, and missed the vertical center of the goal by 3 feet vertically (these averages correct for statistical illusions created by for example, a shot 4 feet to the left of center cancelling out a shot 4 feet to the right of center). The average shot traveled 17 meters from the point at which it was kicked, to the goal or the goal-wall that the goal was on.

After the shooting, from 4:03 to 4:47 PM, I practiced the air-dribble in which the ball is touched every two paces with the thigh that one is most dexterous with.

A night or two prior to the practice, I had had a dream in which these impressive players playing on a Harvard College field, were air-dribbling the ball at an impressively high speed, touching the ball every other pace with their best thigh, over the course of about five touches. Watching them in the dream, I felt as if they were some kind creature somewhere between an angel and a man, because they were able to go so fast while touching the ball every other pace with their thigh. And then remembering my own self doing the same thigh touch every two paces trick in real life a few years ago, it seemed to me as if the speed at which they were going in the dream was impossible, and faster than I ever went while touching the ball every two paces with my thigh in real life.

So I resolved to spend some time timing myself as I ran a few meters while touching the ball every two paces with my thigh.

First I ran while timing myself with the stopwatch, while remembering the dream, at the speed at which the angel-like players had run with the ball while touching it with their thigh. This speed was 6 mph.

Then over 44 minutes I timed myself while running while touching the ball every two paces with my thigh. I succeeded in covering approx 9 meters in this way 13 times, the number of touches on the thigh was from 4 to 6 over the 9 meters. I had trouble with the stopwatch not responding to touches with my thumb or responding when I did not want it to. The speeds I recorded for myself were (mph): 5, 6, 5, 4, 6.

So as it turned out, although what I was thinking was that no man, including myself, could air-dribble the ball touching it every two paces as fast as the players who I saw doing it at Harvard, actually, I myself am now able to air-dribble that fast.

Possible reasons for me misjudging my thigh-dribble-speed relative to the impressive ones of the dream: I've gotten faster than I used to be when I used to practice the thigh juggle runs years ago; while doing such runs oneself, one feels slower than one really is; when one watches others do the run one thinks they are faster than one oneself is doing the run, even when onself and they are actually the same speed.

The soccer log continues at Soccair P 17