I really like that we are practising the NP. If the players feel comfortable using it, there is less hesitation, which creates panic, generally resulting in a turnover.

Thanks for the insights, keep em coming guys.

 

 

Travis Johnstone was so adept with either foot it was difficult to know which was his preferred (although it was his right I think). And when he was on song his evasive skills using either foot were sublime!

And who can forget Bernie Vince's left foot snap for a goal at Geelong in 2015- from around the 50 meter line on the flank. One foot good two feet better!

3 hours ago, Gorgoroth said:

I think ANB has the makings of a decent mid, really hope he at least gets a good run at it.

I agree. I believe I rate ANB higher than most here. His problem will be trying to crack it into the midfield rotation of the seniors. At Casey he is a high possession winner who can run all day and then, when promoted, plays a small forward type role. He needs to take it up a notch if he is going to succeed. I think he can.

Good luck to him and I hope he recovers quickly.

4 minutes ago, fndee said:

I agree. I believe I rate ANB higher than most here. His problem will be trying to crack it into the midfield rotation of the seniors. At Casey he is a high possession winner who can run all day and then, when promoted, plays a small forward type role. He needs to take it up a notch if he is going to succeed. I think he can.

Good luck to him and I hope he recovers quickly.

Just to let you know, you can add Harmes to the list of competition, he has been training along with Salem as a mid, both been doing a lot of stoppage work

Interesting discussion about whether clubs prefer to improve the non-preferred or work on making the preferred side even better. Ignoring the obvious point that clubs could actually do both, I would have thought the sheer amount of improvement available by working on the non-preferred would mean that there is more to be gained by doing this. To use a cliche, it's low hanging fruit.

I also hadn't thought about but respect DeeSpencer's point that improving the non-preferred is likely to keep the physiology of the body in better balance. (If you want to see the true effect of being one-sided, look at the relative size of the arms of tennis players such as Federer and Nadal. It's amazing they don't fall sideways.)  

14 hours ago, Satyriconhome said:

There was a lady of a certain age today at training, who said she was preparing a calendar, and the only two she could convince to get the rig out were Max and Jack Watts   I was warned by Jack to put my camera away, didn't want the pic on Instagram

I told my wife to stay away from training! She only wants a pic of Bernie. 

Most of our left-footers are useless on their right foot and it does need to improve if we are to improve.

However, too often players like Watts and Vince who can kick on their left do so when they don't need to. Prime example was Watts' kick to Jetta on the half forward line in the final quarter against Hawthorn. Yes, it's great they can kick on their left but it should be only if 100% necessary.

My son playing in a GVFL final is right footed. About 45 from goal at a stoppage they prepared for him to turn onto his right, he turned on to his left and goaled. For the rest of the match at stoppages they were saying watch him he is a leftie. It makes a big difference if you can turn and kick on both sides. All players should have the NP option.

17 hours ago, Buffalo said:

From my experience coaching juniors, training on the non-preferred foot seems to automatically improve your kicking on the preferred side. Stuffed if I know why!

My experience was you have to think much more about technique when kicking with the NP and have to get it right or it doesn't work and this rubs off on you thinking more about it with your preferred. 

57 minutes ago, It's Time said:

My experience was you have to think much more about technique when kicking with the NP and have to get it right or it doesn't work and this rubs off on you thinking more about it with your preferred. 

I think it is more this mindset when you do not use your NP often.

4 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Most of our left-footers are useless on their right foot and it does need to improve if we are to improve.

However, too often players like Watts and Vince who can kick on their left do so when they don't need to. Prime example was Watts' kick to Jetta on the half forward line in the final quarter against Hawthorn. Yes, it's great they can kick on their left but it should be only if 100% necessary.

Grimes and Morton were experts at that.  Just because they can, doesn't mean they should.  I honestly believe Grimes would've been a better player if he used his preferred foot more than he did.

4 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

Most of our left-footers are useless on their right foot

 

1 hour ago, billy2803 said:

Grimes and Morton were experts at that.  Just because they can, doesn't mean they should.  I honestly believe Grimes would've been a better player if he used his preferred foot more than he did.

Grimes was one of the worst kicks I have seen on his preferred foot. 

Out of bounds on the full was his right foot specialty.

5 minutes ago, faultydet said:

Grimes was one of the worst kicks I have seen on his preferred foot. 

Out of bounds on the full was his right foot specialty.

I preferred neither of his feet.

Thanks so much Deespencer, Hell bent and Saty your brilliant reports make the abscence of footy at this time of year almost bearable.

On 14/12/2016 at 5:41 PM, It's Time said:

rjay I attended a coaching session with the Swans a couple of years ago and their kicking bio mechanics specialist spoke to us. He said their philosophy was that your preferred is your strongest and np is weaker. So not much point spending a lot of time improving what is always going to be a weaker option. They were spending their time concentrating on getting their preferred even better rather than waste time on the np.

Personally I can't understand this. If you're in a game and are covered so your only option is np why wouldnt' you work on developing it. The one knock I've heard on Hibberd was in 14/15 he was becoming less effective because the opposition had worked out he doesn't have a right foot and so were covering him so he had to use it and it made a big difference cutting down his effectiveness. 

It's interesting we have gone so much the opposite to this. 

Astounding!  One of the greatest loads of bull$%!^ I've ever read.

25 minutes ago, pinkshark said:

Astounding!  One of the greatest loads of bull$%!^ I've ever read.

Late entrant for sweeping statement of the year? Happy to hear your retort as I find the concept interesting but to just slam it and provide no counter is rude quite frankly

21 hours ago, ManDee said:

My son playing in a GVFL final is right footed. About 45 from goal at a stoppage they prepared for him to turn onto his right, he turned on to his left and goaled. For the rest of the match at stoppages they were saying watch him he is a leftie. It makes a big difference if you can turn and kick on both sides. All players should have the NP option.

Yes. It's not just being able to kick on the NP, it's the ability to turn the other way - with confidence.

8 hours ago, pinkshark said:

Astounding!  One of the greatest loads of bull$%!^ I've ever read.

some of the junior development stuff that i was fortunate enough to be a part of would 100% back that statement up.

Whilst we often worked on weaknesses, a key focus was making your strengths weapons as it is often off the back of your strengths that you will get drafted e.g. if you have a solid NP foot, it is not going to stand out as much as if you are damaging with your preffered.
We were also encouraged ub scrimmages to throw the ball as "umpires could not see this and would rarely guess." The best exponent of this was Libba

9 hours ago, pinkshark said:

Astounding!  One of the greatest loads of bull$%!^ I've ever read.

How many times has Lionel Messi scored a goal on his right foot? 

How many lace-out passes does Suckling hit on his right?

Why doesn't every full forward use NP when kicking from the 'dead side' to open up the angle? 

I could go on, but what's the point? 

Basically every human has a preferred side, and it will always be better than the non-preferred. And the precision required required to play at the top level means that unless you are truly ambidextrous (such as Mitchell, Brayshaw, Vince) you won't be able to hit passes with the required level of accuracy on your NP, no matter how much you practice. 

The only value it has is in being able to kick a short pass to space / a free teammate from congestion. 

14 hours ago, pinkshark said:

Astounding!  One of the greatest loads of bull$%!^ I've ever read.

What. You don't think he said that. 

5 hours ago, Thrice said:

How many times has Lionel Messi scored a goal on his right foot? 

How many lace-out passes does Suckling hit on his right?

Why doesn't every full forward use NP when kicking from the 'dead side' to open up the angle? 

I could go on, but what's the point? 

Basically every human has a preferred side, and it will always be better than the non-preferred. And the precision required required to play at the top level means that unless you are truly ambidextrous (such as Mitchell, Brayshaw, Vince) you won't be able to hit passes with the required level of accuracy on your NP, no matter how much you practice. 

The only value it has is in being able to kick a short pass to space / a free teammate from congestion. 

Never played Thrice?

At a stoppage, you gain possession and exit the defensive side of the pack, there are no clear players, as a right footer you turn left (anti clockwise) and the opposition knows that, what do you do? You go clockwise and kick on your left surprising the opposition. It only needs to work once a game or to do it once a game and the opposition have more difficulty trying to stop you. If every player does it once per game the opposition will have no idea where to defend at stoppages. 

It is another tool that every player should have, it spooks the opposition. It does not have to be as good as the preferred side just an option.

5 hours ago, Thrice said:

How many times has Lionel Messi scored a goal on his right foot? 

 

Amazing Messi 42 Right Foot Goals

 

 

6 minutes ago, ManDee said:

Never played Thrice?

At a stoppage, you gain possession and exit the defensive side of the pack, there are no clear players, as a right footer you turn left (anti clockwise) and the opposition knows that, what do you do? You go clockwise and kick on your left surprising the opposition. It only needs to work once a game or to do it once a game and the opposition have more difficulty trying to stop you. If every player does it once per game the opposition will have no idea where to defend at stoppages. 

It is another tool that every player should have, it spooks the opposition. It does not have to be as good as the preferred side just an option.

If only it were so simple 'Man'...

So you spin out the other side put it on your np, kick it straight to an opponent (because your np is nowhere near as accurate as your preferred) who now has open options down the ground and off they go.

This is why elite coaches stopped players using their np years ago...it went the way of the drop kick and the stab pass.

Not saying it won't come back into vogue but I think it will be for different situations then you are suggesting...

32 minutes ago, ManDee said:

Never played Thrice?

At a stoppage, you gain possession and exit the defensive side of the pack, there are no clear players, as a right footer you turn left (anti clockwise) and the opposition knows that, what do you do? You go clockwise and kick on your left surprising the opposition. It only needs to work once a game or to do it once a game and the opposition have more difficulty trying to stop you. If every player does it once per game the opposition will have no idea where to defend at stoppages. 

It is another tool that every player should have, it spooks the opposition. It does not have to be as good as the preferred side just an option.

Could've saved you the trouble of a reply had you read the last line:

6 hours ago, Thrice said:

The only value it has is in being able to kick a short pass to space / a free teammate from congestion.