Goal Kicking

[repta]

Damien Hardwick said tonight on On the Couch (Foxtel). Players dont practice kicking at goal as they dont have the time at training and the conditioning staff dont like it as it can add to injury.

It is obvious that players dont practice. Yes key forwards have a bit of a kick and giggle at the end of a training session, but that is all that it is. The team that works out that it is THE HIGHEST PRIORITY will be UNBEATABLE.
Take the last 2 grand finals. Saints kicked straight we would be back to back premiers.
9.14 we loose ... we draw .... PRACTICE AS 14.9 WE WIN

[saintslegendLH]

Damien Hardwick said tonight on On the Couch (Foxtel). Players dont practice kicking at goal as they dont have the time at training and the conditioning staff dont like it as it can add to injury.

It is obvious that players dont practice. Yes key forwards have a bit of a kick and giggle at the end of a training session, but that is all that it is. The team that works out that it is THE HIGHEST PRIORITY will be UNBEATABLE.
Take the last 2 grand finals. Saints kicked straight we would be back to back premiers.
9.14 we loose ... we draw .... PRACTICE AS 14.9 WE WIN

Good in theory but:
1. at my club the fitness staff strictly enforce no kicking for goal after training.
2. it is practised by key forwards continiously before training, but it adds another hour onto each practise, because u need to warm up or the injury risk apply's again.
3. the last two grand finals, alot of our misses werent from set shots, (apart from roo) and the misses were on the run, and especially in a grand final, practise will have little affect and the accuracy will be all instinctive. in a normal game this will change as there is less pressure.

[Teflon]

Damien Hardwick said tonight on On the Couch (Foxtel). Players dont practice kicking at goal as they dont have the time at training and the conditioning staff dont like it as it can add to injury.

It is obvious that players dont practice. Yes key forwards have a bit of a kick and giggle at the end of a training session, but that is all that it is. The team that works out that it is THE HIGHEST PRIORITY will be UNBEATABLE.
Take the last 2 grand finals. Saints kicked straight we would be back to back premiers.
9.14 we loose ... we draw .... PRACTICE AS 14.9 WE WIN

Good in theory but:
1. at my club the fitness staff strictly enforce no kicking for goal after training.
2. it is practised by key forwards continiously before training, but it adds another hour onto each practise, because u need to warm up or the injury risk apply's again.
3. the last two grand finals, alot of our misses werent from set shots, (apart from roo) and the misses were on the run, and especially in a grand final, practise will have little affect and the accuracy will be all instinctive. in a normal game this will change as there is less pressure.

Our set shot goal kicking constantly lets us down - lets face it, our skipper is a gun but not reliable.

Its a repeatable process that can be improved through practice - why wouldnt you?

I watched Montagna line up from 20 meters out Friday night and in the back of my mind I kept thinking....."he's no certainty here..." and he wasnt...

[saintslegendLH]

Damien Hardwick said tonight on On the Couch (Foxtel). Players dont practice kicking at goal as they dont have the time at training and the conditioning staff dont like it as it can add to injury.

It is obvious that players dont practice. Yes key forwards have a bit of a kick and giggle at the end of a training session, but that is all that it is. The team that works out that it is THE HIGHEST PRIORITY will be UNBEATABLE.
Take the last 2 grand finals. Saints kicked straight we would be back to back premiers.
9.14 we loose ... we draw .... PRACTICE AS 14.9 WE WIN

Good in theory but:
1. at my club the fitness staff strictly enforce no kicking for goal after training.
2. it is practised by key forwards continiously before training, but it adds another hour onto each practise, because u need to warm up or the injury risk apply's again.
3. the last two grand finals, alot of our misses werent from set shots, (apart from roo) and the misses were on the run, and especially in a grand final, practise will have little affect and the accuracy will be all instinctive. in a normal game this will change as there is less pressure.

Our set shot goal kicking constantly lets us down - lets face it, our skipper is a gun but not reliable.

Its a repeatable process that can be improved through practice - why wouldnt you?

I watched Montagna line up from 20 meters out Friday night and in the back of my mind I kept thinking....."he's no certainty here..." and he wasnt...

I think you'll find that at training, i doubt they would miss many set shots. Dal missed one against geelong that we would ordinarily always snag. Imo the players are just shitting themselves more than before because of the added pressure, and its affecting all parts of their game.

just my opinion.

[Superboot]

I think you'll find that at training, i doubt they would miss many set shots. Dal missed one against geelong that we would ordinarily always snag. Imo the players are just shitting themselves more than before because of the added pressure, and its affecting all parts of their game.

just my opinion.

Yes, they are playing as if they everything to lose and nothing to gain, and anything but a premiership will be marked down as another failure. It's a real problem.

[Enrico_Misso]

Players dont practice kicking at goal as they dont have the time at training and the conditioning staff dont like it as it can add to injury.

Well let's not kick at training at all.
And why risk handballing at training as that may cause soft tissue injuries.
And let's not run at training.
Or do weights.

In fact let's not train at all!

[Dr Spaceman]

Players dont practice kicking at goal as they dont have the time at training and the conditioning staff dont like it as it can add to injury.

Well let's not kick at training at all.
And why risk handballing at training as that may cause soft tissue injuries.
And let's not run at training.
Or do weights.

In fact let's not train at all!

Maybe the "conditioning staff" need to rethink things.

If our players were better equipped to kick goals they may not have to bust their guts for the full four quarters each week

[bigcarl]

The parallels with putting in golf are obvious and have been touched on in other posts.

It's the scoring part of the game, the pressure shot ... drive for show, putt for dough etc.

That's why the professionals practice their short games religiously. Hitting balls at the range might be more fun, but everything else being equal the guy who putts best will win.

Practice!

[Dr Spaceman]

The players really need to focus on drilling it through the centre of the big sticks.

Can we get Kimi to sit between the goal posts at our end each quarter?

[Enrico_Misso]

Happy for the conditioning people to supervise warm-ups and warm-downs.
But we should take the risk and have extended goalkicking sessions.

Even if we lose the odd player with a soft tissue injury the on-field result would more than justify it.

It would also improve our mid to long distance field kicking and our ability to hit targets.

Imagine if we could lift our scoring conversion rate by 5%.
Imagine how many more games we could win?

I can think of two in particular.

[bigcarl]

The players really need to focus on drilling it through the centre of the big sticks.

Can we get Kimi to sit between the goal posts at our end each quarter?

good thing plugger's not still playing.

[Dr Spaceman]

The players really need to focus on drilling it through the centre of the big sticks.

Can we get Kimi to sit between the goal posts at our end each quarter?

good thing plugger's not still playing.

Plugger?

I don't even know her!

boom tish

[Enrico_Misso]

That damning table in the Heraldscum today confirms all this.

Our percentage conversion rate from set shots is the WORST in the league.
Barely 40%

Woeful!

Confirms that we should be doing heaps and heaps of practise instead of this cottonwool rubbish.

[Junction Oval]

It's interesting. Against Richmond, at the Punt Rd end, nearly all of the late misses were to the right side of the post - Milne, Montagna, Archer.

They talk to each other on these shots, but nothing changed - not once did someone miss to the left hand side

I raised the subject of general kicking practice before the end of last year. Can it be that onlty the "dud supporters" pick this up

[Dr Spaceman]

It's interesting. Against Richmond, at the Punt Rd end, nearly all of the late misses were to the right side of the post - Milne, Montagna, Archer.

They talk to each other on these shots, but nothing changed - not once did someone miss to the left hand side

I raised the subject of general kicking practice before the end of last year. Can it be that onlty the "dud supporters" pick this up

Practice yes, talk yes. But maybe we're just not very good at it!

[repta]

The game has been over complicated with strategies, game plans and structures. If you ask someone to sum up the point of a game in a sentence it would go along the lines of "Kick the ball through the big sticks".
I am just dumb founded that the skill that is most neglected in practice is kicking the ball through the big sticks. The justification for this is that "it might casuse injury". What do they actually do at training. Everything I can possibly think of could potentially casuse an injury. Adding extra time to a training session is a stupid arguement as all training (eg with balls) should be aimed at kicking the ball through the big sticks. A team can be the best at marking, handballing, pressuring, running etc etc etc however it is completely useless if they go to pieces each time they need to take a shot on goal. A 40% strike rate from a set shot is a disgrace.
With a game plan that is very heavy on stop start non free flowing football, to kick 4 goals from every 10 shots is unacceptable and would not be accepted in any other sport.
Best exponent I can think of is Johnny Wilkinson
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_u ... 204746.stm

[stevie]

So, by the logic of these 'fitness staff', if Roo does his hamstring while having a shot in a game, it's....OK????

Can you imagine Sir Alex Ferguson coming to watch an AFL team train?

'So, laddies, when d'ya doo ya goalkicking practice'?

'Um, actually, Sir Alex, we don't...too risky. chance of injury and all that'.

Uncomfortable silence...

'Are you fookers off yer fookin' rockers then? What sort of FOOTBALL club is this'?

[bergholt]

A team can be the best at marking, handballing, pressuring, running etc etc etc however it is completely useless if they go to pieces each time they need to take a shot on goal.

...a team can be the best at kicking for goal, however it is completely useless if they never actually get on the park to play because of soft-tissue injuries.

i don't know what the answer is, but it's not a simple as just saying "do three hours of goal-kicking each night".

[Furphy]

Maybe they can prctice tackling, it's been woefull so far...

[borderbarry]

Maybe the Saints need to get hold of whoever taught Aaron Sipposs to kick and put him in charge of Jones, Gilbert and Reiwoldt (and a few others).

[Dr Spaceman]

Maybe the Saints need to get hold of whoever taught Aaron Sipposs to kick and put him in charge of Jones, Gilbert and Reiwoldt (and a few others).

Siposs's action is so pure I doubt it was taught at all.

With the three you have named they are so far into their careers that the best we can hope for are subtle tweaks.

[QuestionOfAccuracy]

What constantly staggers me, is how many AFL players (not just at the Saints) don't have a goal-kicking routine. I understand that goal-kicking practice is limited because of injury-risk and so on, but to not even have a routine is just mindless. Imagine a golf player without a routine when he addresses the ball?

[bigcarl]

Imagine a golf player without a routine when he addresses the ball?

Line every shot up from behind. Pick where you want it to land. Take dead aim. Check your grip, your alignment and posture. Start back low and slow. Complete your backswing and hit through the ball.

Mind you, this doesn't guarantee a good shot. All it does is gives you the best possible chance of making one.

Some of our guys resemble weekend hackers in the way they go about kicking for goal.

[saint6709]

Agree Siposs can certainly kick - not sure you can just teach that to guys who have already playing footy for 10 -15 years -- But totally agree with the above sentiment - If you can't kick goals you can't win .. One more converted shot in the first 2 games and we would be sitting on 2 wins and I agree Alex Ferguson would go mental if he was told " sorry can't practice that we might get hurt".. At half a million a year some of these lads will just have to train a bit longer - come in on their day off and shoot goals all day - If you can't score from 20 metres out on a set shot and fairly simple angle - either give some of your pay back or go and train on goal kicking for a couple of hours - You can talk speed, intensity pressure work rate till the cows come home - but if you keep missing the big sticks when all the work has been done to get someone a set shot - then theres no helping us

[bergholt]

If you can't kick goals you can't win ..

you can't kick goals if you're sitting in the stands with chronic hamstring injuries.