When the football travels through the air (long pass, punt, kickoff,
    field goal), it always follows a curved, or parabolic, path because
    the movement of the ball in the vertical direction is influenced by
    the force of gravity As the ball travels up, gravity slows it down until
    it stops briefly at its peak height, the ball then comes down, and
    gravity accelerates it until it hits the ground. This is the path of any
    object that is launched or thrown and is called projectile motion.
    A good example of projectile motion in football is the punt. When a
    punter kicks a football, he can control three factors:

• the velocity or speed at which the ball leaves his foot
• the angle of the kick
• the rotation of the football

The rotation of the ball (spiral) will influence how the ball slows down in flight, because the ball is affected by air drag. A spiraling kick will have less air drag, will not slow down as much, and will be able to stay in the air longer and go farther than an end-over-end kick. The velocity of the ball and the angle of the kick are the major factors that determine:

• how long the ball will remain in the air (hang-time)
• how high the ball will go
• how far the ball will go

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