A few Tigers should read this......Brian Taylor says we're simply failing to kick on
Brian Taylor | April 03, 2009
IN THE 1920s our game was almost unrecognisable from what it is today - apart from one aspect.
While every other skill has improved out of sight in the past 80 years, the accuracy of set shots for goal has improved by only 8 per cent.
Considering goals are still what decide games, this is virtually inconceivable.
While the data is not complete, the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming.
Did it cost Geelong the premiership last year? Arguably. Clearly the final scoreline flattered Hawthorn.
And the Cats were one of several teams in Round 1 that were guilty of failing to convert what should have been easy set shots for goal.
Yet Geelong is one club that has designated goalkicking sessions and a fine goalkicking coach, David Wheadon.
I'm sure Wheadon, like every other goalkicking coach in history, would be frustrated at the lack of time given to such a critical component of the game.
Some may say 8 per cent is significant improvement. But compare set-shot goalkicking with the 20 to 30 per cent increases in field kicking and handball accuracy.
An 8 per cent improvement isn't nearly enough, given far better ground conditions, fewer wet days, improved balls, stadiums that block wind and better boots and coaching.
Coaches and footy managers will tell us, via the media, they work hard at this skill.
But having worked at three AFL clubs and viewed many others from a distance, I can assure you this is nonsense.
So why don't they spend more time on set-shot goalkicking? Because of a lack of belief from coaches that this all-important part of the game can be improved.
Conditioning coaches plan training sessions. They are either non-believers or of the belief there is already too much load on their players, with midweek predominantly about recovery these days.
It staggers me that time can be found for stoppage training, forward structure, rolling zones and a heap of minor facets of the game, all of which are likely to result in a set shot on goal.
And a third of the time players reach that point they can't convert, simply because they don't know how to.
At the three clubs I've worked with, I asked players which way their natural curve swings (right to left or left to right). At least half of them did not know.
Some were 200-plus-game veterans. Incredible, but true. Most are used to having a bit of a kick at the end of training.
This in itself implies that clubs do not consider it important enough to be included in mainstream training. Let's put time into another team meeting instead, so players can hear another barrage of words.
Teach them about zoning off your man, altitude tents, eating two apples instead of three.
What for? A gain of 0.5 per cent. Whereas staring us in the face is an area that can be improved up to 10 per cent and actually win games.
Watch kids playing their first games. They are suddenly confronted with a set shot and have no idea of the process required for a good converter.
I have spent the past four months watching every training session of an under-18 TAC club. Not once did I see a structured set-shot goalkicking routine, despite this being the end of the pathway for our elite juniors.
Maybe half the problem is there are few coaches who can actually pass on this skill. A lot more players can kick well rather than coach well.
"Look, I used to do it this way, so should you" is the worst advice you can give.
Every player is different physically, mentally and technically, and few are capable of replicating Mark Williams or Matthew Lloyd. The single most important factor is the goalkicker feeling comfortable, and that won't happen if you try to be someone else.
Brian Taylor has worked as a goalkicking coach with the Bulldogs, Richmond and Collingwood. He kicked 527 goals in 140 matches, including 100 goals in 1986.http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25281952-19742,00.html
