This week we discussed how and what we were going to film. We talked about what types of shots will do what, and how they spin the ball. The underhand shot won't allow us to control the ball's release as much an overhand or side arm will. An overhand gives us the most control, so we are guessing that with more control leaving the stick, there will be less curve in air. We will test this out along with the other types of shots, but mostly stick to overhand due to the fact we don't want to constantly be loosing balls by shooting them way over the net into the woods.
0 Comments
I went to go buy new balls last week. I got 6 white balls. I plan on keeping a couple basically brand new, with very little dirt. Some of the others I'm going to try to maybe make it a greaser. Rolling them in dirt, rubbing with oil, doing what ever to make them oily. They rest of them I would make cuts, dimples to try to imitate the balls that Buddy DESTROYED.
Our goal of this project was to see if the ball with curved. We were then willing to have many factors that would we change. But as time is running out, and with the amount of available time that we can actually get together to work. Gray still normally works on Saturday, and I have church basically all day Sunday. We still have to film, edit and make a presentation. Good Luck Charlie This week I went to go buy new lacrosse balls. I bought six new white lacrosse balls. The reason why I went to go buy new balls is because the "New" balls we once had are now greasy. When balls becomes greasy it makes the ball slicker. If the ball gets too greasy the balls don't hold as well. Hold is how well the ball can stay in the stick. When a ball is newer or cleaner the ball has more grip, making the hold better. When the ball is greasy, it is like it was rubbed with lotion, so the ability of keeping control of the ball becomes lessened.
We need the new balls to keep the control groups true. Also I somehow, broke two of my heads, now making there only 2 heads to work with now. Also we don't want to change the shooting strings due to the fact the stick would be illegal, so now we are only focusing on trying to change the ball. This week I did some research on how a lacrosse ball release from the stick. There are three main components on how the ball is released. Number one is the mesh. The mesh affects the hold of the ball. Harder the mesh the more the ball "wants to fall out". If the mesh is too hard, it won't mold to hold the ball. Also the mesh affects the ball by how deep the pocket or the placement of the mesh is. The deeper the pocket the harder it will be to get the ball out of the stick. The shallower the pocket the easier it is for the ball to fall out. In lacrosse there is a limit to how deep the pocket can be. For a legal head, you can't see the top ball through the pocket at eye level.
There is also whip and shooting strings. The location of the shooting stings and the tension of the shooting strings controls the amount of whip in the head. The more whip the stronger and lower the release is. A lower amount of whip causes a looser release and more of a flying out motion rather than being caught on a string and being forced to change direction. The new direction being flying out of the head. This week is Spring break. We have practices scheduled every day this week. Hopefully
Gray and I can find time before practice to film what we have completed so far. We have done more research. There is a video of two guys using different angle shots with different velocities. All though the curve isn't major it is a curve. Also you can't really tell if the stick is illegal unless you can measure it in person. You can't really tell if the pocket is legal unless they take a photo from a certain angle. Yeah its Saturday and we couldn't find time to get together. Gray has had to work all week with his dad. His dad lays tile and is working on the new Breakfast time in Winston. His schedule is really full and Gray wanted to help out. He was working the entire time he did not even go to practice. This week I went to get go get a head strung. I did this because my head on my stick is really bad. The mesh is really stiff, the head is warped, and the pocket is illegal. Even though this is bad for economical purposes, I look at it as good for it gives us another test head to mess with.
Gray and I didn't get together this week due to practice and church. We have to find a time to get together that fits both our schedules. We had longer practices and varsity (which Gray is on) had a game. Hopefully next week during spring break we can find time to get together. This week I wanted to do some research on why the balls with little to no dimples did not move in air as much balls with dents and dimples did. I found out the dimples affect the amount of “Lift” forced upon the ball. Lift is what keeps the ball in air. It creates higher air pressure from under the ball, than on top of the ball. This keeps it in air. Of course due to gravity, momentum, and inertia the ball can stay in the air for ever.
Take golf for example. If you were to play golf with no dimples in the ball then the ball would go half as far, as balls with dimples went. But if lacrosse balls curve with the dimples because of lift, and golf balls stay in air long because of lift, then why don’t golf balls curve? It is because you hit a golf ball at one spot, but in the lacrosse the ball is dragged and whipped out the pocket in a spinning motion. This causes the curve with dimples in the ball. This week we did not have time to get together to work on the project. Throughout the week we both had practice, and Gray had to work with his dad on Saturday. I did however brainstorm about the legality of the projects in terms of lacrosse rules. I spent time researching rules of lacrosse. There are some rules when it comes to the dimensions and specs of the head it self. In each level of lacrosse there are different rules. Each level is different. In high school there are some requirements about the width and length of the head at certain locations. There are different requirements for the collegiate level and professional levels. We won’t need to change the shape of the head because the shape of the head won’t affect the flight path. The only things that will come in contact with the ball is the mesh and shooting strings.
When it comes to regulations on the strings or mesh there isn’t really any. Besides the depth of your pocket you can use any color or hardness mesh. When it comes to strings, you can use thick soft ones, little nylon ones, U shaped string and there isn’t a set amount of strings you can or can’t have. Considering that we can change the amount of strings. We can also change the shape of the strings. This week we had practice everyday. That’s might be an issue going forward. We have practice/games every weekday and Saturday morning. On sundays I have church from 10-2 and then 5-7 so I don’t have a lot of time on Sunday to do things. So that means Saturday is really our only day to work on the project.
This Saturday rather than having a practice we had a team bonding trip to go watch High Point University lacrosse team play an out of state team. We were there from 12-3 pm, and when we got home, Gray and I worked on our project a little bit. We worked on some shooting strings, denting some balls and shooting. We got out control but we forgot to film it. Going forward into next week we need to film our control groups. The heads, the balls, and the types of shots we are using for the test. We need to setup a tripod and case for our phones to film in slow motion. Hopefully we can have a camera behind us and a camera in the goal to show two angles. This week we have not been able to work on the project. Every day we have had lacrosse practice. Lacrosse practice goes from 4:30 to 6:30 and by the time we get home it is 7 o’clock.
When I get home I normally do some homework, eat, shower then go to bed. So we really haven’t had a lot of time to work on the project this week. We also had no time to work on our project this weekend. On Saturday, Gray and I had a lacrosse scrimmage that lasted all day. It was pouring, freezing rain in 40 degree weather with high winds. So even if we had time to work on the project, the weather wouldn’t permit for a proper control group, for the rest of the project to be compared to. On Sunday I have church in the morning and in the afternoons, but this Sunday was different. My congregation sent out youth group to a church 2 hours away to do their service. So at 7 am we were on our way and we were there until 7 pm so my entire day was spent with Jesus, and had no time to spend with Genius hour |
Robert LandryThis is my first year playing lacrosse. |