OK the I'll play along.
Let's say it wasn't intent to grab his hair in the first instance. I think the movement of Ballards hand is to the hair, but anyway...
All the images on here show him still holding the lads hair when it's abundantly clear to Ballard both by distance from his shirt and by feel its is hair he has hold of, yet Ballard doesn't quickly release it. So even if there's no intent to grab it in the first place, the intent is still there to hold onto it and that's where its made it obvious to the camera as the distance between them has opened up.