Two stories about my balls in high school
Last edited Sat Jan 24, 2015, 08:42 PM - Edit history (1)
So we have a great ball issue in football world. I thought that airing these stories about my balls back in the day would shed some light, some perspective, an up close look.
I kicked balls in high school. As the kicker on my high school football team I got my name in the paper every week for successful ball kicking… most of the time.
I had three balls back then that I practiced with. One was clearly the best ball. The go-to ball. One was an okay ball. It worked. One was a bloated thin skinned “other ball” but the more balls the better for practice. I spent endless hours in our front yard kicking my balls into our neighbors’ yard. The back yard had a fence and jumping over the fence with my three balls was much more problematic. The front yard offered a split Y tree that was just like an upright to kick my balls through. The backyard had three thin trees but the one in the middle sometimes deflected my ball into the side of the house. It was agreed between that my balls flying in the front yard would be better. the neighbors didn’t mind me going into their yard to get my balls back.
Kicking off balls is very different than kicking balls that are held. I was told to get as much hang time on my balls as possible but that really didn’t diminish the distance my balls could travel. I tried kicking my balls low but they always ended up on the 5 yard line, same as kicking my balls high. So I would lean forward and my balls would go up in the air and still land in the same place. It’s like golf, if you hit your balls and keep your hands low after impact and the balls stay low or you can lift your hands up and your balls fly higher. No one really knows why, it is just what balls do. For the team I tried to keep my balls in the air as long as possible.
Game against Menchville in Newport News VA.
It was wet. I don’t remember if there had been a late afternoon thunderstorm common to the Tidewater area or if the field had been watered, I just remember that it was hot and wet. The surface was slick. Steaming hot, balls slipping all over the place. Our team was winning the game as expected so on one kickoff I decided to reach into my bag of balls and take out my best ball. Not the fat bloated thin skinned one but my best ball. I kicked my ball on a low screamer. I was worried that my ball would go out of bounds but instead my ball skipped across the goal line. Automatic touchback. I got a standing ovation for my ball.
Game against Gloucester. Home game.
Both teams enter the game undefeated. Grudge match. An inch here, a move to the left or right there. Field goal attempt from 35. I had kicked my balls consistently that distance. I was good from maybe 45 on a good day. I knew it was a big kick. Normal routine – place the kicking block, check the plant area, square up. The holder looks at me…I give the nod. Let the ball fly. Good snap of the ball, good ball handling, ball is in the right spot. I look down as I am kicking the ball and realize it was a rubber ball. A different kind of ball than I was used to – bubbles all over it, higher striking point, different color. These are the kind of balls you can leave out in the yard overnight and just pick them up the next day and play with these balls like the day before. You have to handle these balls differently and you certainly have to kick these ball another way. They don’t get soggy and heavy , these balls aren’t real balls. You can kick cow balls low and drive them up but a rubber ball has a high peak. Driving these balls can cause them to erratically fly all over the place. No telling where these balls are going. I kicked that ball and it spun wildly… floundering there in the air. I knew as I looked up that there was no way this ball had the distance. My ball barely got into the end zone. We lost the game 6-3. The other guy kicked his balls better.
I hope this sheds some insight into the complexity of balls and their role in the game.
I haven’t done it a few years but it is still a joyous few seconds when you get to see your balls in the air.
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