CENTRE OF MASS MOTION DURING THE PUNT KICK

INTRODUCTION: The punt kick is an important component of Australian Football (AF), American football and the rugby codes. Of particular advantage in punt kicking sports is the ability to kick the ball further. In the rugby codes, this allows for kicks gaining greater distance from defense or the ability to kick the ball higher allowing more time for attackers to run to the landing zone. In Australian football, greater kick distances allow for more passing options and for goalshots to be taken further from goals (Ball, 2008). Ball (2008) found a number of factors associated with distance kicking in AF with foot speed at ball contact being the most influential factor. Other aspects included shank angular velocity at ball contact, the length of