Footy is a feast for the senses.

The over-saturated visuals of the modern game, with clubs (bar two) running out in a host of different guernseys each year.

The smell of liniment and hot chips, blending the inner and outer of the game. The touch of skin on leather, or of exposed skin on a frosty seat. The taste of it all — of occasion, of success, and of a cold one.

Not to be forgotten are the sounds of the game.

Listening to them without other context, and slightly rearranged, sometimes seems like the type of abstract composition that would be in the running for government grants.

The sound of a bone-crunching tackle — flesh colliding with other flesh — reverberates around modern coliseums. A perfectly struck torp sounds as sweet as any other sporting sound. 

Hearing the roar of the crowd when a goal is snapped, or at the chance of a 'speccie', quickly draws the attention of everyone to the middle.

Not to mention the cries of "ball", which are practically a chant during certain months of the year.

Not to be discounted among these are the collective groans from people of a certain age when an attacking player turns away from goal and kicks it the wrong way.

The backwards kick goes against decades — nay centuries — of footy orthodoxy. Football was traditionally played in a straight line as much as possible, from goal to goal. Players kicked over the mark, occasionally on an angle, and never backwards.

Modern football, however, has found a place for the historical ugly duckling of the kicking arsenal.

Once a sign of surrender and lead protection, the backwards kick plays a role in one of the most enterprising, enjoyable phases of the modern game: the switch.

In an era where zones, presses, zone-presses and floods are ever present, the switch breaks through these tactical innovations like a hot knife through butter.

One team in particular has embraced the switch this year in their march for September success.

The Brisbane Lions have been at the pointy end of the competition for the past four seasons. Their stay at the top-end of the ladder has seen finals wins and plenty of hope, but with premiership success remaining elusive.

This year, the Lions are attacking with renewed verve, but with an improved defensive intensity.

This is how the Lions have utilised the backwards kick to open up their game.

How the switch works

This is one of the most familiar sights in the current evolution of the game, in addition to being one of the most hated.

Clean options dry up. Dayne Zorko chips it up the line to a hard leading Jack Gunston, who is then knocked to the ground.

Gunston then has nothing better to do than to roost it long and the game devolves into a professional version of "Marks up". This is a low-risk, low-reward option, common in modern footy.

It renders the field far smaller than its true size, with all action happening in a small portion. From a fan's perspective it is boring and inevitable, a chance to check the phone or grumble about the real world.

Of course, there is another way forward, even if it means going back first.

Here, the field is effectively compressed to one side of the ground after cautious play up the far side. Almost every one of the 36 players on the field is no more than half a field away, roughly on the size of a soccer field.

A dump kick by Tim English from a contest sends the ball towards the 50, into the waiting arms of Harris Andrews.

Andrews knows that the ground ahead is clogged with players, and the Bulldogs likely have an extra number matching his spare.

Instead, he decides to kick the ball backwards, and quickly. The Lions understand the play immediately, spreading to the now open weak side of the ground.

In no time at all it goes back to Brandon Starcevich, who promptly finds Cam Rayner in space. Ahead of Rayner is a series of one on ones or nones, and Rayner catches Zorko streaming into space.

The Bulldogs' spare has started to fly across but not quickly enough.

Just 16 seconds after the Andrews mark the Lions find Gunston inside 50. The veteran would make no mistake.

The switch creates space on fields large and small. The initial kick, when executed correctly, stretches the practical space of the ground out vertically and horizontally — especially for teams hemmed in down back.

The next kick, if done at speed and accuracy, turns a game that was a few moments earlier to be fought between a pack of 20 to a one-on-one battle.

Far from being a defensive fallback, the backwards kick opens up play.

It makes sense that one of the best attacking teams currently is its best exponent.

No side has been more damaging at creating from going backwards than the Lions this year, with the side excelling in these situations.

The Lions use their skilful defensive ball users and foot speed to stretch the field and create problems for opposition sides.

The Lions create attack from all over the ground and utilise the switch from both the defensive and midfield zones to change angles of attack. The Lions have three of the top 10 in the league at starting switches, with several options adept at creating attack from almost nothing.

One name notably missing from this list is Daniel Rich, the Lions veteran who has been squeezed out in recent weeks. As the ball use of Andrews, Coleman, Starcevich, Rayner and Ashcroft has shone, the reliance on Rich has lessened.

Defending with ball in hand

Switching also has another hidden benefit: helping defensive structures. Most switch kicks force teams to reposition its players into better defensive position, behind the play and closer to defensive goals.

Whether deliberate or a happy accident, it has a real effect on preventing opposition sides from scoring after a switch.

For the Lions, they score about 50 more points per 100 times when they switch compared with how often opponents score when they turn it over after a switch. This is despite the switch's inherent ability to open up the ground for counter attacks.

Beyond the improved defensive structures, another key reason for this is the extra territory generally gained from switches. It is easier to defend further away from goal, and chains with switches are far more likely to transition the ball inside 50 than normal.

While some decry backwards kicks as one of the main ways to waste time in close games, very few end up occurring.

Only 39 backward kick chains have happened in matches decided by less than 12 points in time on in the fourth quarter.

Seven of those 39 backward kick chains have ended in scores, with 13 ending up inside 50. Many of those were initiated by the side that ended up losing. Even at the end, the backwards kick can be an attacking weapon.

Should teams switch more?

Footy has come a long way in a little less than two decades.

In 2006 and 2007, the AFL declared certain types of backward kicks would not be marks in the preseason cup.

The VFL took it one step further and applied it to their season-proper, with little discernible or long lasting effect.

These days, the question is the opposite: should teams kick backwards more?

In recent years, teams have increased their diet of backwards kicks. This has come primarily in response to improved opposition defensive structures and increased focus by defending teams in removing the kick diagonally forward into the corridor.

But the data above appears to present somewhat of a ceiling to its effectiveness.

Too much switching can seemingly lead to sides defending out wider and stacking fewer numbers down the line for long pack marking contests.

This inherently shifts the balance back in the favour of going down the line instead of across the ground. This is another hidden benefit of having the switch as an active threat: the opening up of other ball movement options.

The backwards kick is not a silver bullet. Like all tactical moves, there is risk involved.

But it seems like modern footy will continue to elicit groans from old timers and maybe more so in the coming years.