Please, Mr Choco: Time to unleash your Kicking Skill Magic

[dieter 3,325]

I applaud MFC recruiting Mark Williams. I would love to see him make projects of the woe and misery players like Fritsch, Jackson, Petracca, to name just a few, cause when they line up for goal. These guys are Professionals, kicking straight from set shots should be a KPI. Go on, Chocko, take these gifted dudes aside, teach them how to finish the job!

[Mazer Rackham 14,968]

"Fremantle coach Ross Lyon made it clear it’s on the players to improve their goalkicking, as due to limitations regarding player work hours, the coaches simply don’t have enough time or access to make shots for goal a consistent formal part of training."

Madness. It's like a snooker player saying there's not enough time to practice sinking balls, or a golfer saying there's not enough time to practice putting. Those guys would be looking for new jobs one week later.

 

"[David] King said allocating time to goalkicking was clearly necessary — whether that came through contracted hours or the players using their time off to work on it."

Players have to use their "time off" to practice a fundamental skill of the game?

 

'Fundamentally if you’re a full-forward or a centre-half forward, a forward pocket, you’ve got to convert. You can’t do that under the current program — there’s just not enough kicking being done by the current players.'"

Something something cart something horse something.

 

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2019-whos-to-blame-for-inaccurate-kicking-epidemic-and-how-it-can-be-fixed/news-story/4fdaf79cdbc2c26df92474f2fbdf3e3b

[BDA 19,978]

The scoreline in the currently reads

8-16 Freo

2-11 GWS

Some of the set-shot attempts are truly pathetic.

[Brownie 5,119]

Could the network execs help out with goal kicking coaching.?

They want more goals.?

[Demonland 64,361]

3 hours ago, Better days ahead said:

The scoreline in the currently reads

8-16 Freo

2-11 GWS

Some of the set-shot attempts are truly pathetic.

 

[tiers 2,761]

Goal kicking is a skill that can be taught and practiced.

The components of where to start the run in, how to hold the ball, how to run in, how to drop the ball and how to kick tghe ball can all be taught but does not require constant repetitions. It requires only a proper mindset and an easy, regular and readily repeatable process that follows the player's own rules.

I believe that the major impediment to better goal kicking is the now formalised 30 sec rule that ostensibly allows players to get their heart rate down (a la LLoyd) and to set up but also allows for all the doubts and bad habits to intervene.

The best goal kickers from days gone by (Lockett, Dunstall, Ablett, Hudson) did not need 30 sec. They were ready to kick as soon as they were in position and had a simple, regular process.

Get the basics right and goals will follow.

[Sydee 3,612]

Most of these guys would have no trouble getting a kick under no pressure to within a couple of metres of a team mate standing 40 metres away 

The problem is in my opinion is not so much about technique but what is going on in their heads

Think golfer on tee who rarely hits a ball off line until he gets to his bogey hole - there he regularly hooks the ball into a hazard - not because of technique so much but because he is focused on missing the fairway 

Fritsch always looks to me that he is over thinking every kick - if he ignored the goal posts and just imagined he was kicking to a team mate behind the goals he might just find things turned around quickly   

[NeveroddoreveN 1,034]

16 minutes ago, Sydee said:

Most of these guys would have no trouble getting a kick under no pressure to within a couple of metres of a team mate standing 40 metres away 

The problem is in my opinion is not so much about technique but what is going on in their heads

Think golfer on tee who rarely hits a ball off line until he gets to his bogey hole - there he regularly hooks the ball into a hazard - not because of technique so much but because he is focused on missing the fairway 

Fritsch always looks to me that he is over thinking every kick - if he ignored the goal posts and just imagined he was kicking to a team mate behind the goals he might just find things turned around quickly   

I was never a great footballer, but generally accurate when kicking for goals, was told pretty early on to pick a target behind the goals, kick through the ball and ignore the sticks. It takes most of the complications away.  Fritsch is a lovely kick and i would say he is overcomplicating this area of his game.   Definitely between the ears, like you said these guys call hit targets from 40 metres away with no pressure on a regular basis.  The pressure should not actually feel amplified when shooting for goal if the routine is simple and repeatable.  

If while lining up you thinking please don't miss, you are much more likely to get the yips as your focus is on the pressure side of things rather than passing it to someone in the crowd.  It is really not that hard to do.

[bush demon 1,875]

Block out the fugazzi.

[deegirl 1,282]

On Saturday night I was sitting 5 rows behind our bench and was watching to see what Williams was doing.  There were three clear occasions where I did notice him yelling out to Clarry, Brayshaw & Pickett.  Clarry was after a contest where he found space and took the option to kick into our forward line (Q3).   Gus was after he laid a good shepherd (Q4), and Kosi...I can't remember ?.   Clarry and Gus' effort both resulted in goals.  

These examples make up exactly 1% of what Chocco is doing so I'm drawing no conclusions other than to say they might be some of the players he's focusing on.

Edited March 29, 2021 by deegirl
Added more details

[Wells 11 4,648]

1 hour ago, Sydee said:

Most of these guys would have no trouble getting a kick under no pressure to within a couple of metres of a team mate standing 40 metres away 

The problem is in my opinion is not so much about technique but what is going on in their heads

Think golfer on tee who rarely hits a ball off line until he gets to his bogey hole - there he regularly hooks the ball into a hazard - not because of technique so much but because he is focused on missing the fairway 

Fritsch always looks to me that he is over thinking every kick - if he ignored the goal posts and just imagined he was kicking to a team mate behind the goals he might just find things turned around quickly   

Agreed, especially re fritter. he’s soooo tense when he kicks. you can see that a mile away.  Needs to find the right relaxation/ tension mix. atm he’s just trying too hard and he’s losing his natural flow. hoping someone is getting in his ear and helping him in this way. but it was the same last year too.  he’s out an out elite re marks inside 50... but it may be time to move him further upfield for a stint. or fr stints within quarters. release the pressure valve a bit. 

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,095]

Literally every single set shot that Fritsch has taken this year has been on a difficult to very difficult angle. Name me a player that’s going to have elite conversion with the high degree of difficult set shots that Fritta takes.

Either Fritsch needs to lead more central or our players need to use him way less as an option as his set shots are going to cost us a game soon. A pity as he’s a classy and important component to our forward line.

He is a clever snap on goal so hopefully he gets a couple of those opportunities next week.

Edited March 29, 2021 by Bring-Back-Powell

[Pickett2Jackson 3,904]

3 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Literally every single set shot that Fritsch has taken this year has been on a difficult to very difficult angle. Name me a player that’s going to have elite conversion with the high degree of difficult set shots that Fritta takes.

Either Fritsch needs to lead more central or our players to need use him way less as an option as his set shots are going to cost us a game soon.

 

Something needs to be done.  Hes taken more marks inside 50 than any player in the comp and only kicked 3 goals.

[The heart beats true 16,006]

Fatigue is playing a much more significant part this year. I think coaches are more intent on having the ball in any players hand in the 50 so everyone can catch their breath, than they are worrying about deeper entries (the focus of the last few years). 

Be interested to see if this is backed up by kicking for goal position stats.

[IRW 1,212]

3 hours ago, Sydee said:

Most of these guys would have no trouble getting a kick under no pressure to within a couple of metres of a team mate standing 40 metres away 

The problem is in my opinion is not so much about technique but what is going on in their heads

Think golfer on tee who rarely hits a ball off line until he gets to his bogey hole - there he regularly hooks the ball into a hazard - not because of technique so much but because he is focused on missing the fairway 

Fritsch always looks to me that he is over thinking every kick - if he ignored the goal posts and just imagined he was kicking to a team mate behind the goals he might just find things turned around quickly   

Frisco just needs a normal hair cut so he won't be embarrassed that everyone is looking at him

[ProperDee 1,698]

A couple of posters have mentioned kicking at a target behind the goals. I was taught to select somebody behind the goals and kick it to them as if passing a field kick. To do that, we were told to go further back on the mark and build a bit of speed up before kicking, simulating a field kick. That is more natural than slowly walking in to kick without much momentum.

[Supreme_Demon 3,009]

Mark "Choco" Williams should be helping them here. Particularly when it comes to goal kicking execution. It is good to see the red or yellow tape on the footballs to help those players who need to improve their kicking skills.

Adem Yze who was always a great kick for goal and should be helping those players who wish to get better at goal kicking too.

AFL players get paid alot of money compared to us regular people with our regular jobs. If an AFL player can't volunteer an extra 30 minutes to 1 hour to practice their goal kicking before or after training then they will never improve their goal kicking or become the great player they wish to be.

It can't be that hard? Just get a bag of footballs and practice kicking goals from various angles for 30 minutes to 1 hour every training session. Apparently, even Mark "Whacko Jacko" Jackson used to do it and would kick a 100 footballs at goal to improve his kicking accuracy. In the end practice makes perfect.

[Pates 9,536]

I actually think our field kicking has improved which I feel would’ve been his number one job, of course all kicking needs to be looked at but I’d say he’d be happy with the progress so far. Kicking for goal is so much between the ears, I think for Fritta in particular that’s his issue. 

As another hypothesis on our kicking for goal issues, is Casey making it harder for us to improve at it? Sounds silly because you’d think it would make it easier but if the players are constantly practicing at a ground that’s blowing a wind that forces you to always compensate does that play on the players when they line up in still conditions?

Petracca had a shocker for his shots for goal, usual he is so pure with his shots from 50 but none of them were even close.