Thanks, I almost considered setting it to sports mode and letting the camera decide, since not every moment had the same conditions. I don't quite remember if I had messed with the aperture that day, but I'll definitely keep your advice in mind. 

Some nice pics. Me personally, I might not stop down all the way to f/9; f/5.6 or so should allow more subject isolation while also speeding up the shutter speed to better freeze the action. But these are good.