Left footers at the club

[Scully_to_Watts 0]

Just want to have a brainstorm of players in our list who are left footers?

[The Big Ticket 94]

Scully, Davey, Green, Jamar off the top of my head...

[DeeSpencer 23,695]

Bate

Not sure of the Hawthorn model of having left footers all over the park but I feel we could do with a left footer off half back. Grimes likes to kick on his left and is decent at it, but one more could do.

Blease I pretty sure is a right footer but was drafted as a player who can also use his left well.

Edited November 2, 2010 by the master

[ox_5 163]

Add to that list Bate...I dont think there are anymore

[The Big Ticket 94]

Not sure of the Hawthorn model of having left footers all over the park but I feel we could do with a left footer off half back. Grimes likes to kick on his left and is decent at it, but one more could do.

Well it worked in 2008 didn't it? Supposedly, left footers have a better kicking efficiency.

[Dannyz 2,355]

Michael Newton is surely a left footer.

[hrob 2]

bartram mite as well kick on his left

[e25 5]

Bartram may as well headbutt the ball downfield.

[Fork 'em 6,632]

It's 1 thing to be a left footer but you must also have a reasonable right , very few do .

[Eth 4]

It's 1 thing to be a left footer but you must also have a reasonable right , very few do .

I can back this up. When it comes to kicking with my right, I'm probably better off holding the ball over my head and screaming

[Swampfox 190]

Just want to have a brainstorm of players in our list who are left footers?

Whats being a left footer got do with anything?

Being able to hit the target is what is important

Being able to do it either foot makes you more effective

[No16 1]

Whats being a left footer got do with anything?

Being able to hit the target is what is important

Being able to do it either foot makes you more effective

There is a belief by some that left-footers tend to have better skills by foot.

Most are very accurate with their left but shocking with their right....

[GolfBoyPro 43]

Is Luke Tapscott a lefty as well???

I think its good having a few of them in the team, allows players to go through packs on different prefered angles. Mixes it up more, harder for the opposition to pick which way were going.

[jayceebee31 692]

Bartram may as well headbutt the ball downfield.

Iwouldn't say that--give dredit where it is due,he improved his kicking some what in 2010.

[e25 5]

Ok, his kicking improved from atrocious to dreadful.

He is still the last player on the list I want to have the footy in hand, Spencer, Newton, et al included.

[ox_5 163]

I can back this up. When it comes to kicking with my right, I'm probably better off holding the ball over my head and screaming

Can you shed some light on this eth38? Why is it that left footers have no idea how to use the right side of their body? From personal experience I have played with I think only 1 left footer who was clean on his right also, and in the AFL Pendlebury would be the stand out.

Is Luke Tapscott a lefty as well???

Nah he is a natural right, but he is a freak on both.

[Chook 14,710]

Can you shed some light on this eth38? Why is it that left footers have no idea how to use the right side of their body? From personal experience I have played with I think only 1 left footer who was clean on his right also, and in the AFL Pendlebury would be the stand out.

I'm a left footer too and it's simply practice. It took me a while to get good on my right and can see how some might get discouraged from using it simply by how weird it feels. It takes quite a long time to get that "throwing a lump of meat at a ball" feeling to go away. I have the advantage that I'm pretty short, so my drop has less time to go wrong. I can imagine that the taller you get, the harder it would become to kick reliably.

[ox_5 163]

I'm a left footer too and it's simply practice. It took me a while to get good on my right and can see how some might get discouraged from using it simply by how weird it feels. It takes quite a long time to get that "throwing a lump of meat at a ball" feeling to go away. I have the advantage that I'm pretty short, so my drop has less time to go wrong. I can imagine that the taller you get, the harder it would become to kick reliably.

But isn't that the same feeling that right footers have when they first try to kick on their left? I guess at local level there are plenty of right footers who cant kick on their left also.

For left footers, would it be also about the fact they get away with it so much as a junior? Everybody expects you to go onto your right (not knowing your a left footer) so you can step around on your left time and time again.

[titan_uranus 23,294]

Iwouldn't say that--give dredit where it is due,he improved his kicking some what in 2010.

I give Bartram plenty of 'dredit' for his shut down jobs, his tackling and his running.

I give him no 'dredit' at all for his insipid kicking, which, if it improved in 2010, made it only slightly less insipid.

[Chook 14,710]

But isn't that the same feeling that right footers have when they first try to kick on their left? I guess at local level there are plenty of right footers who cant kick on their left also.

For left footers, would it be also about the fact they get away with it so much as a junior? Everybody expects you to go onto your right (not knowing your a left footer) so you can step around on your left time and time again.

Yeah, it's definitely a weapon that turns into a crutch with age. Lefties might feel like they don't need to get better on their right, because no-one expects you to kick with your left in the first place. I also read that left-handers' brains are more one-sided than right-handers', so it might actually be physically harder for us to learn a skill on our non-dominant side than the other 80% of the population.

[Triple Jack 13]

i have to say that the whole left footers can't kick with their right foot theory is a bit of a myth. There are as many [censored] right footed players who can't kick with their left as there are left footers who can't kick with their right. It comes down to the skillful players, for example Hodge Penders, Davey all can kick damn well on their right.

[Eth 4]

Can you shed some light on this eth38? Why is it that left footers have no idea how to use the right side of their body? From personal experience I have played with I think only 1 left footer who was clean on his right also, and in the AFL Pendlebury would be the stand out.

Chook pretty much summed it up. It feels like a lump of meat when I kick, and I only ever kick the footy with my mates, so it's not that important to me anyway.

[daisycutter 28,730]

Yeah, it's definitely a weapon that turns into a crutch with age. Lefties might feel like they don't need to get better on their right, because no-one expects you to kick with your left in the first place. I also read that left-handers' brains are more one-sided than right-handers', so it might actually be physically harder for us to learn a skill on our non-dominant side than the other 80% of the population.

Left footers also seem to kick with a wider arc than right footers, and find it harder to run in on a straight line to the mark when taking a set shot. I also get the feeling that many left footers kick better on the run than on a set shot, though this doesn't apply to all left footers.

Anyway these are just my impressions, I have no theories on why though

[H_T 2,941]

It's 1 thing to be a left footer but you must also have a reasonable right , very few do .

Leon Cameron and Darren Jarman were not too shabby. Robbie wasn't bad either on the left. ie. snapping for goal on the run.

[Chook 14,710]

Left footers also seem to kick with a wider arc than right footers, and find it harder to run in on a straight line to the mark when taking a set shot. I also get the feeling that many left footers kick better on the run than on a set shot, though this doesn't apply to all left footers.

Anyway these are just my impressions, I have no theories on why though

Part of it is that left-footers sort of have to do their own thing, since usually whoever teaches them how to kick is a right-footer. This causes them to kind of do what comes naturally to them.