74 Battle of the Underdogs V

Without turning back, Zachary jumped high into the ball's line of flight and presented his upper back as the receiving surface. At the same time, he relaxed his back muscles to kill the ball's momentum on contact. And as he expected, he felt the ball hit his back in the next second, while he was at the apogee of his leap.

At that instant, Zachary pushed out his back muscles, cushioning the ball past the chasing defender before he started his descent back to the ground. When his feet touched the ground, he didn't pause—but spun around the disoriented defender who was still searching for the ball.