The ball is shown deformed by its impact with the leaping player's head. I got this shot with the D70,in-focus. The 300mm f/2.8 AFS-II autofocuses very,very fast,and well. It focuses fast on the lowly Nikon D70. The combination of long focal length and wide aperture helps the AF system detect "in" and "out" quite easily,since depth of field is least at higher magnification,and at wider apertures. This is a one-shot AF acquisition and timing--the D70 is SLOW for action work and you usually get only ONE shot per shot opportunity with the D70,so you've gotta' make 'em count. With this 300mm f/2.8 model, you can count on the lens's AF system's total design and performance to get the autofocus right more than on almost any Nikon lens I've ever used.