While we catch a cricket ball, we catch it at the front and make the hands move with the ball backwards. Why is that?
(A) To increase the impulse on the hand
(B) To increase the time of contact, thereby increase the force experienced by the hand
(C) To increase the time of contact, thereby decrease the force experienced by the hand.
(D) None of the above

Hint: We are asked for the reason responsible for catching a ball at the front and making the hands move with the ball backwards. Thus, we will use the concept of impulse to explain this method and then select an appropriate answer for the question.
Formulae Used:
$\Delta I = F\Delta t$
Where,$\Delta I$ is the impulse of the body,$F$ is the force acting on the body and$\Delta t$ is the time interval the force acts for.

Complete Step By Step Solution:
Now,
For the case of catching a ball, we have
The impulse will remain the same throughout.
Thus,
The defining parameters will be the time interval for which the force acts.
Thus,
 If we want to reduce the impact of the force, we have to increase the time change.
Thus, pulling back after catching the ball as it increases the time of the acting force.

Hence, the correct answer is (C).

Note: We increase the time of contact so as to decrease the impact of the force on the hand. Thus, if we abruptly stop our hand after catching the ball, we will hurt our hand.