Torpedo punt Information & Torpedo punt Links at HealthHaven.com

The torpedo punt, similar to a punt in American Football, is a kicking technique implemented in Australian rules football, rugby union and rugby league to enhance the distance the ball is kicked.

The ball spins about its long axis instead of end over end (as the drop punt does), making the flight of the ball more aerodynamic, but more difficult to catch (or mark in some football codes). The pointier ends make the ball easier to catch in American Football. With extra distance, this type of kick is also more difficult to accurately judge depth.

If kicked correctly, an Australian Football can travel up to 80 meters, while a normal punt will travel slightly less far.

In rugby, the skill was once frequently applied as clearing kicks by players in the backline. Its use in the rugby codes in similarly related almost entirely to clearing and distance kicks from a team's own territory. From the 1980s, more prevalent use of the drop punt for accurate field kicking led to Australian Football League coaches discouraging the use of the torpedo in general field play as a comparatively low percentage kick. It is now seldom used, with the exception of occasional shots for goal after the siren and to avert the tactic of flooding, and sometimes set kicks from full-back.

[edit] Other Names

The Torpedo Punt has also been known as torpedo, torp, barrel, torey, screw punt, spiral punt and spiralpunt and most comonly used, the spiral. The phrase "to unload a torp" is perhaps the most common colloquialism in Australian football vernacular for executing a torpedo punt.

[edit] Modern Exponents

Some of the best modern exponents of the torpedo punt in Australian Football include:

[edit] Current Players

[edit] Past Players

[edit] See also

[edit] External links