Hey Bill...I think you may enjoy this about soccer balls.
The Jabulani is under attack.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37789278/ns ... e-science/
Knuckleballing
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Hope you watched this game...Us vs Slovenia...
A real physical and mental battle on the field...that kept people on the edge of their seats.
http://tinyurl.com/2emt6bx
And look at how we got screwed by that useless referee
Amazing to see someone like him in world cup events
A real physical and mental battle on the field...that kept people on the edge of their seats.
http://tinyurl.com/2emt6bx
And look at how we got screwed by that useless referee
Amazing to see someone like him in world cup events
Van
- Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Nice article, Van.
But unless you can intentionally kick or throw the ball with a bit of spin, there is NOTHING you can do to "adjust" to what will happen to the path of a "knuckleball." That projectile is mathematical chaos in motion. By definition, you cannot predict which way it will swerve. Trying to hit a knuckleball thrown by the likes of Tim Wakefield has been likened to hitting a butterfly with your bat.
The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up.
- Bob Ueker
This phenomenon is the reason for "rifling" in the barrel of a gun. It causes the bullet to spin, which makes it travel much farther and straighter.
- Bill
The overshooting and overthrowing due to high altitude? Yea, you can make some "adjustments" to that. Don't throw it so hard.msnbc wrote:
Knuckle-balling is not necessarily bad — sometimes it helps throw the goalie off if a ball swoops at the last minute. But players like being able to anticipate where their kick will land, and the new ball will take some adjustment, Mehta said.
But unless you can intentionally kick or throw the ball with a bit of spin, there is NOTHING you can do to "adjust" to what will happen to the path of a "knuckleball." That projectile is mathematical chaos in motion. By definition, you cannot predict which way it will swerve. Trying to hit a knuckleball thrown by the likes of Tim Wakefield has been likened to hitting a butterfly with your bat.
The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up.
- Bob Ueker
This phenomenon is the reason for "rifling" in the barrel of a gun. It causes the bullet to spin, which makes it travel much farther and straighter.
Indeed!MSNBC wrote:
Mehta shared some of these findings with a group of students who were invited to test out the new ball at an event held by NASA Ames's Fluid Mechanics Laboratory.
"It's amazing how kids get excited when you start talking about sports," Mehta said. "All these efforts are meant to get kids more interested in science and engineering."
- Bill
I agree, Bill....very difficult to 'adjust' kicking the new Jabulani.
Take a world class soccer player....he has kicked soccer balls in certain ways...millions of times over his career as a professional...thus his 'kicking ways' are deeply ingrained...
Now you put him in a World cup event, where you can cut anxiety and adrenaline with a knife....and you tell him/expect him to modify his 'kicking ways'
Same as martial arts...
Take a world class soccer player....he has kicked soccer balls in certain ways...millions of times over his career as a professional...thus his 'kicking ways' are deeply ingrained...
Now you put him in a World cup event, where you can cut anxiety and adrenaline with a knife....and you tell him/expect him to modify his 'kicking ways'
Same as martial arts...
Van
- Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Note the review of the first kick from 0:27 to 0:29. Note that there was no spin on the ball after it was kicked. That ball indeed fluttered like a knuckleball, which partially explains why the goalie missed it.
Crappy reffing at the end. It's inexcusable having a 2nd-rate ref in the World Cup like that. I don't know soccer, but I do know from the video and several stories that the call on the last U.S. goal (taken away) was totally inexplicable. The game should have ended 3-2.
Oh well...
- Bill
Crappy reffing at the end. It's inexcusable having a 2nd-rate ref in the World Cup like that. I don't know soccer, but I do know from the video and several stories that the call on the last U.S. goal (taken away) was totally inexplicable. The game should have ended 3-2.
Oh well...
- Bill