1 minute ago, pineapple dee said:

I remember the Hawthorn game and I recall Oliver lining up on Breust in the centre at the start of the last quarter. I thought to myself, well how's this going to go? Soon after the bounce, Breust was on his knees and nowhere and Clarry had dished out the ball to a team mate in space. This is the precise thing we can expect Oliver to do an awful lot this year. The thicker the traffic, the better he likes it. Oliver will have a massive year this year! ( and I shook his hand in the supermarket ) The previous AFL player whose hand I shook was Buddy Franklin, and he's turned out OK. 

Can you please head to training and shake everybody's hands then PD?

 

2 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

It is interesting, I remember seeing Scully getting some sort of kicking analysis while he was still at Melbourne (it didn't seem to help) and it surpises me that there isn't more work done with this like golfers get with their swings.

My theory is that kicking actions are developed at a very young age, therefore by the time a player is at AFL level it is almost too late to change (aside from a tweak here or there).

The problem is every man and his dog has a theory/opinion on Jesse's kicking

No one went near him yesterday, did have one of the staff feeding him balls to kick but they made no comment

Think they just want him to practice with no input from anybody so he can become comfortable with a routine and it will transfer to match day, seemed to be trying to just simplify his routine, threw his cap off at one point, as if to say 'I don't wear one in the game"

With the comments Trac received whilst he was kicking, no other player said a word to Jesse the whole time I was watching, again, leave him alone let him sort it out

1 hour ago, Vogon Poetry said:

I'd like you to get a similar photo of Spencer and see what people think.  Criticised for his kicking there is nobody in the AFL that has a ball drop closer to his foot.  He's a very reliable kick now IMO, contrary to popular opinion.

That would be interesting to see.  Maybe a @Six6Six sequence mission? 

In junior footy ages 11 -15, I was often asked to do 1-on-1 kicking training with kids having difficulties. We focused on 4 things:

1. Holding the ball.

2. Moving ball from hand release to kick.

3. Body movement through the line of the kick (often forgotten or neglected). The run up, follow through etc...

4. Differneces in set kick versus on the run.

But one of the main things to understand is to gauge the sense of eye-hand coordination in different kids. James Hird let the ball go from very high with both hands but his kicking was very, very good. Buddy Franklin's line through the ball is horrible. But the eye hand coordination was so good they could coordinate their basic flaws into an effective kicking action. As long as they drop the ball in its almost stationary drop-punt position, hits the foot at that angle without deviation, and they kick through the line, it will work. 

Hogan's action aften results in the ball making contact with the foot when the seams of the footy are not parallel to the angle of his leg. Often, the seams are still moving across ways. Result - the classic shank. His bent arm in point of release comes from how he holds the ball and drops it far too close to his body. 

Best goal kicking action - try Barry Hall or Taylor Walker.

Best kicking action on the run -  Gary Ablett. He hunches over and almost places it on his foot. 

MFC's best - Jack Watts. His kicking action is a training manual. 

And for what it is worth, Dean Cox of WCE had an amazing kicking action for a tall man. At that height, there is a huge gap between ball drop and kick and yet he couod coordinate it really well. 

2 hours ago, Clint Bizkit said:

It is interesting, I remember seeing Scully getting some sort of kicking analysis while he was still at Melbourne (it didn't seem to help) and it surpises me that there isn't more work done with this like golfers get with their swings.

My theory is that kicking actions are developed at a very young age, therefore by the time a player is at AFL level it is almost too late to change (aside from a tweak here or there).

So though are the golf swings of pros (developed at a very young age) and then grooved with hundred of thousands of repetitive swings in training. Yet still some top golfers retool completely and change their swing - either because of injury or because they fell they need to improve their swing to get better. Tiger Woods has done it on at least three occasions (for both reasons actually) as has any number of other pros over time.

Pro golfers have their won sing coach who monitor their swing to ensure it is not changing (as it does organically over time) or errors are not accidentally creeping in. But also pro golfers and their coach might want to add a small tweak to improve an aspect of their game (eg fading long irons, punch shots under wind, using a new club like a hybrid).

If a really big swing change is required/wanted usually a new coach will come in to retool. Which involves thousand and thousands of practice swings.

So if a player want to improve their kicking they could but of course they only have so much time and most of it is devoted to fitness, whereas for golfers the opposite is the case, with most time devoted to skill development and much less to strength and fitness. 

23 minutes ago, Maldonboy38 said:

Best kicking action on the run -  Gary Ablett. He hunches over and almost places it on his foot. 

 

1 hour ago, Vogon Poetry said:

I'd like you to get a similar photo of Spencer and see what people think.  Criticised for his kicking there is nobody in the AFL that has a ball drop closer to his foot.  He's a very reliable kick now IMO, contrary to popular opinion.

Trent Cotchin would be right up there with smallest gap I reckon.

7 minutes ago, binman said:

If a really big swing change is required/wanted usually a new coach will come in to retool. Which involves thousand and thousands of practice swings.

So if a player want to improve their kicking they could but of course they only have so much time and most of it is devoted to fitness, whereas for golfers the opposite is the case, with most time devoted to skill development and much less to strength and fitness. 

And I think kicking is harder on the body so they want to limit the repetitions.  I recall counting and limiting kicks at training was a huge thing when OP was a big problem a few years back but they seem to have relaxed that these days.

The thing about Hogan is he's a beautiful field kick. His goal kicking only bothers me because the low margin for error in his style means it can become a mental game. 

First year - no mental pressure - had a great conversion rate

Second year - misses a few in preseason, the media catch wind and blame it on his run up (which really wasn't the issue), the mental demons circle - poor accuracy rate

I imagine smoothing out his run up and converting plenty of goals early in the year could take away the mental concerns and see him finish the year with a good accuracy rate, but my concern is if it starts to go south and becomes a media topic then you end up in that Joe Daniher/Travis Cloke stage of the pressure building with every kick.

I hope they get his technique right and confidence set before the start of the season. Same goes for Petracca who is far worse, but is also unlikely to have as many set shots on goal. 

18 hours ago, Fifty-5 said:

That would be interesting to see.  Maybe a @Six6Six sequence mission? 

I remember watching his action a few years ago and noting his hand position. Back then (and possibly still) both hands were at the same height, with his motion being not unlike the 'dropping the ball' signal from the umpire (without the theatrics). Quite comical

If we're going to analyse ball drops, I'd love to see some of Tom McDonald's work scrutinised.  I am absolutely convinced during a game he will more often than not have his right hand more toward the top of the ball, almost to the point that he has a claw-like grip on it (picture those old skill tester machines!).  He does this more when he is on his own, but I believe this is a big weakness in his game that he needs to iron out ASAP.