Geometry and Physics, All Rolled into One

It's probably mean to be laughing at this, but I am finding Little Brother & the Street Urchins hilarious as they try to retrieve a 4-inch diameter Nerf basketball from the exact center of a 21-foot diameter pool.  I'm not sure how long the pole is, but I know their arms are too short to make this work.

This is what happened after I sent them to play OUTSIDE, since they were tearing up my family room.  9-year-old boys denied "after-lunch recess" because of rain get pretty rambunctious, let me tell you.

(That's Little Brother in the center, with pole.  It comes within a few inches of the ball, but not quite far enough.)