In the movie Ace Ventura, Ray Finkles field goal miss is blamed on the “laces being in”.
Explain to someone from Europe who doesn’t know American football why that means
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From likely hall of famer Adam Vinatieri:
>”Laces make a difference,” said Vinatieri. “Laces pointing away from my foot to the middle of the upright is perfect. The lean (of the football) is very important…The lean is probably the most important thing, and the laces are probably the next most important thing.”
>So what happens when the laces are in?
>”If you hit the laces if they’re straight back, and your foot is going right through it, it’s like hitting a baseball not on the sweet spot or a tennis ball with a tennis racket just a couple inches off and it kind of gives you that rattle,” said Vinatieri. “It’s the same kind of feeling when you’re kicking a ball.”
https://www.colts.com/news/laces-out-colts-specialists-weigh-in-on-fg-mechanics-16677692
The ball is oblong and you can’t really kick it in a perfect spiral to make it the most aerodynamic. End over end is the best way for distance anyway. So if the foot comes off the ball different, like sliding off laces, it can impact the trajectory, create wobble, and cause it to go in an unintended direction. Couple that with whatever wind is in the stadium at that time and it can make the ball act different.
For the movie though, It just highlights the psychotic lengths Ray Finkle will go to justify his actions and find something to blame it on other than himself.
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