Trick shot duo target online audience

Nathan Gapes (left) and Harrison Hill hope their YouTube videos of spectacular "trick shots" will be a big hit on the internet. Photo / Stephen Parker

A pair of incredibly patient and determined Rotorua teenagers are hoping their "trick shot" videos will prove to be a big hit on the internet.

For about two years the 14-year-old best mates, Nathan Gapes and Harrison Hill, from John Paul College, have been practising and filming trick shots with footballs, tennis balls, ping pong balls, American footballs, basketballs and other bits of sporting equipment.

They are hoping their new videos will be watched more than 10,000 times online.

They say they got the idea from another internet sensation Dude Perfect, and their trick-shot videos show them, for example, throwing a tennis ball over a house and having it land in a bucket, or bouncing a ping pong ball backwards off a wall and seeing it land in a tennis ball container. What makes them special is that the trick shots seem almost impossible to make.

"We saw some other young guys doing them on the net and thought we could do better than them," Nathan said.

"The harder tricks take 100 plus shots, about 45 minutes to an hour. The easier ones take about 10 to 20 minutes."

"It's also probably our love of sport as well. It's just a lot of fun to do," Harrison said.

The pair use GoPro, phones and an iPad to film their amazing shots.

Unfortunately they have yet to make a trick shot on their first attempt, but they have lost plenty of balls and have been known to annoy their neighbours after numerous balls have flown over fences.

"One of the neighbours was asking if we had insurance," Harrison said.

They have not stopped at two videos either - they are already working on their next set of trick shots with the support of their respective parents.

Nathan's father Daniel and mother Nicola say it is all good clean fun.

"They are outside all the time. Nathan brings his soccer ball with him on holidays and is always kicking it around practising his tricks," Mrs Gapes said.

"It takes a lot of perseverance and some of the tricks are really quite clever and well thought through. It's a healthy hobby," Mr Gapes said.