The fast approaching 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany next month heralds the arrival of another festival of the beautiful game. This year’s competition promises to showcase swerving kicks which defy explanation and which often decide the outcome of the match.
Some of the world’s greatest goalkeepers have been beaten by unusual swerving balls which move to the left and the right before hitting the back of the net, even though they have little or no spin applied to them. The new research has found that the shape and surface of the ball, as well as its initial orientation, is critical in terms of its trajectory through the air.
|