Blog 5: "Put your momentum behind it!"

When learning how to kick a ball properly, my coach always told me, "Put your weight behind the ball."  What my coach meant was to not just swing at the ball from your knee while standing still, but to run at the ball to run through the ball and kick from your hips.  But what my coach meant was "put your MOMENTUM behind the ball."  Momentum, p, is equal to mass X velocity.  Weight, mass X gravity, is different.  In other words, it is easier to kick a ball harder if you have a starting velocity added to your mass.  In the picture, my sister has a slight forward motion (every little bit counts) before she passes the ball around the defender.  The greater your velocity, the greater your momentum, and since momentum is conserved, the ball you kick will also have the same momentum.  So, I guess that's why theres so much running in soccer...

Blog 4: Work

Kayaking was one of the funnest, althought tiring, things I've ever tried.  I've gone kayaking in the ocean in my dad's fat, plastic kayak before, but ninth grade was the first time I ever sat in a racing kayak (well actually more like fell off since first sitting in those "tippy" things isn't as easy as people make it look).  Anyway once I finally got the hang of just sitting in the kayak, I could actually start trying to paddle...my arms never burned more in my life.  Even though I could see the end of the Ala Wai canal, it seemed like with every stroke I wasn't moving at all.  The work required was too much for my weak arms.  The force I applied, even though it was over the same amount of distance as everyone else, was a lot smaller than theirs, which unfortunately made my work a lot smaller too.  But even though it was a tough sport, kayaking is definitely one of my favorites.