reep developed a number of concepts describing effective long ball play. 'gulleys' refer to the optimum position between the corner flag and six yard box from which to make the final pass into the penalty box; the '3-pass optimization rule' emerges from the fact that a higher percentage of goals are scored in moves involving only three passes prior to the shot; the '9 shots per goal' maxim, stating that on average, only one goal is scored for every nine shots; and the 'twelve point three yard' position, which is the mean distance from the goal that all goals are scored. the long-ball game is also advocated in such books " the winning formula: the football association soccer skills and tactics", by charles hughes, which demonstrates with statistics that a majority of goals are scored within 5 passes of the ball.