Flights of Fancy

Home Smooth Sailing Projectile Motion Lab Lift and Drag Angular momentum The football in flight

The Kick

 The Punt

The Pass

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Do you want to more learn about the physics of the football in flight?  Then continue below!

Once the football has left the foot or the hand of the player, the ONLY forces acting on it are gravity and forces due to the air rushing past it.  This holds for the kick, the punt, and the pass.  So what accounts for the different trajectories of kicks, punts and passes?

Factors that influence the flight of the football, its range, its hang time, the accuracy of the delivery:

Launch speed
Launch angle
Air density and wind
Spin of the football
Shape of the football
Surface of the football