Steve, for one thing, make sure you're not shooting with Dry Bones, for one thing. Also, you can charge the ball by holding Z for a bit (or is it B? The shooting button) then passing 2-3 of those and I get a white. Lob it to Mario or Hammer Bro and hope for a goal, or pass it to them, then charge for a sec and let go. Ideally, you'll want to charge it up to the blue sparks just before the special shot for max efficiency if you don't get the special shot off.