What is it with mouthguards and kicking for goal?

I've often wondered at players who, when taking a set shot, remove mouthguards from mouths or gloves from hands before lining the kick up. One wonders how anyone has ever kicked a snap goal in general play or a long bomb while running through half-forward.

Readers who've played Aussie Rules competitively will immediately be able to out me. I've never played in a serious footy match, and very, very few non-serious matches if it comes to that. I did play a reasonable standard of pennant squash for 17 years, but never wore a mouthguard. So, it may be that mouthguards are incredibly uncomfortable. I just don't know.

I would think, however, that players at AFL senior level would have sufficient time with their mouthguards that they would consider them virtually a part of their being, much as I do my spectacles.

Removal of gloves, a la Quentin Lynch, is a somewhat different matter. Are the gloves are so loaded up with resin that you can't drop the ball onto your foot? If so, how do players manage in general play? Does Lynch, for instance, only handball off his right hand? Not that I've noticed.

And just imagine a player wearing both a mouthguard AND a glove!!! The possibilities for wardrobe malfunction are almost endless.

For heaven's sake! If you can't concentrate hard enough to kick a goal with a mouthguard in your mouth, or a glove on your hand, it's time to give the game away.