A cinematographical analysis of three selected types of football punts

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the influence of selected variables on the flight pattern of a punted football at three selected angles to its trajectory. The type I punt was the punt whose long axis followed its trajectory of flight and landed on its front edge. The type II punt traveled at an angle to its trajectory and landed with the long axis of the football parallel to the ground. The type III punt traveled at a marked angle to its trajectory and landed on its rear tip. Procedure. The subjects for this study were two punters from the varsity football team at Texas A&M University. Subjects were capable of punting the three selected types of punts, averaging a distance of over 50 yards, and averaging a hang time of between four and five seconds. A Locam high speed camera set at 200 frames per second was placed at right angles to the point of contact of the football at a distance of 30 feet. This film was analyzed to determine rotary velocity and initial velocity of the ball, initial angle, height which the ball was contacted, and foot velocity at the moment of contact. A Bolex H-16 camera set at 64 frames per second was placed 60 feet in front of the expected point of contact and the film was analyzed to determine follow through angle of the kicking leg. A Bell and Howell 70 model camera with a film speed of 24 frames per second was placed in the upper deck of Kyle Field. This film was analyzed to determine punt distance, type of punt, and angle of the ball when it contacted the ground. A reference grid was filmed and a Dwyer wind meter was used to record exact wind velocity for each punt. A numbers stand was used to synchronize the punts for the three cameras. Twelve type I punts, twelve type II punts, and seven type III punts were selected for analyzation on the Vanguard Motion Analyzer..