Elite Kick Bands Technology

 

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE

A study and report in the Journal of Sports Sciences provides convincing evidence that AFL kicking is highly dependent on the existence of a "sweet spot" on a player's foot and shoe combination.  A great deal or measurement was required to simply establish the existence of a sweet spot.  The task was further complicated by the fact that the foot-shoe surface was three dimensional rather than flat.  Nevertheless, what intuition tells us should be present was actually found and confirmed by the study.

The most obvious conclusion was that Total Kinetic Energy drives the distance achieved, so bigger, heavier, or faster players can kick farther.  Sir Isaac Newton taught us that back in the 17th Century.

The ability to control direction of flight and the ability to "bend" that trajectory has a great deal more to do with the amount of control a player can exercise.  An ankle twist can impart a rotation that causes the ball to curve, just as a glancing blow can amplify the spin effect.

The ability to add these spin-forces is highly dependent on how much traction there is between the player's shoe and the football itself.  Again, referring back to a tennis racket, top spin will curve the ball downwards. 

In the case of soccer pro David Beckham, on the other hand, he "bends" it by kicking the round soccer ball (on the ground) upwards, but with remarkable top spin and left spin, causing it first to rise but then to drop suddenly and curve left.  Goaltenders were seemingly baffled by this…  Punting is different, but encompasses some of the same principles.

When playing, you are seldom directly in front of the goal posts, and there is almost invariably something between you and your objective.  The ability to "bend" the ball's trajectory is a vital skill to compete successfully in the game.

THE TAKEAWAY

League footy players have spent years perfecting their kicking the hard way.  They use a skill called proprioception—one of the most important senses beyond that basic five that most people are familiar with.  Proprioception is what allows you to know where your body parts are without looking at them.  It's how you scratch an itch somewhere that you cannot see; it's how you touch your nose with your eyes closed in a roadside sobriety test.

Knowing precisely where your foot is and where it is going after you've dropped the ball for a punt is a seemingly impossible task—and yet they do it—again and again.  The ability to look up at your target so you can make tiny adjustments before contact allows for remarkable accuracy.

However, learning to do this "from scratch" is an immense task.  Using Elite Kick bands eliminates one of the biggest variables in learning to kick effectively.  Learners will become proficient, much more quickly, because Elite Kick bands provide a much more forgiving surface to help you minimise errors.