Fixing our ****ing awful goal kicking

[GVGjr]

So many shots are being taken by mids and HBF's these days. The players that are forwards are also expected to be part time mids and run all day

Thats why they practice their goal kicking at the end of training session to simulate fatigue however, it also wouldn't explain why we miss so many shots early in the game.
Fixing the goal kicking techniques and making it a priority is worth a try.

[Twodogs]

Thats why they practice their goal kicking at the end of training session to simulate fatigue however, it also wouldn't explain why we miss so many shots early in the game.
Fixing the goal kicking techniques and making it a priority is worth a try.

There is a Cosmic Psychos song called "Hooray *!*!*!*!" I've been banging my head against the wall talking about goalkicking technique for more than ten years (bad goalkicking has been a developing problem in AFL football in particular for at least that long) and now I think I know how the bloke who wrote the song felt!


BTW they can try and replicate the fatigue factor all they like but until they plant players on the mark and replicate other match conditions at training then they are just kidding themselves.

[The bulldog tragician]

Is it possible the distracting neon lights play any role in the poor goal kicking. In one of the kicks Bont missed, the display flashed just as he launched into the kick. Surely it must have some effect on peripheral vision. (I loathe them as a spectator too).

[ledge]

Do players having set shots actually Have someone up in the crowd to aim at or do players just look at both posts ?
As a coach of under 10s and under 12s cricket I used to paint a dot in the middle of the pitch for bowlers to try and hit , it was amazing how much it bought the wides down, under 10s cricket is usually won by the amount of wides bowled.
kids at that age just look at the whole pitch and it tended to miss a lot . Getting them to focus on the dot brought automatic improvement you wouldn't believe. Won a lot of games once that improved.

[GVGjr]

Is it possible the distracting neon lights play any role in the poor goal kicking. In one of the kicks Bont missed, the display flashed just as he launched into the kick. Surely it must have some effect on peripheral vision. (I loathe them as a spectator too).

Players have the sun to deal with as well so I'm not sure. Sounds logical though and it might be worth a good practice session or two to gauge why players are missing easy shots. I see at training sessions there is time devoted to the fun goals on angles etc.

Twodogs touched on an interesting point before and that is having someone standing on the mark with our goal kicking training which is something that we are not good at.

There has to be some reasons behind players like Suckling are regarded as great kicks but not as good from a set shot position with someone on the mark.

[Twodogs]

Players have the sun to deal with as well so I'm not sure. Sounds logical though and it might be worth a good practice session or two to gauge why players are missing easy shots. I see at training sessions there is time devoted to the fun goals on angles etc.

Twodogs touched on an interesting point before and that is having someone standing on the mark with our goal kicking training which is something that we are not good at.

There has to be some reasons behind players like Suckling are regarded as great kicks but not as good from a set shot position with someone on the mark.

Technique. When you are shooting for goal your head needs to be over the ball and you need to keep it down as you kick, the second one goal Bont missed was because he forgot his technique and lifted his head as the ball hit his boot. When you kick right foot and lean back then the ball is going to go left as it reaches the end of its arc.

I don't know why players do it, as the old saying goes 'you don't stare at the mantelpiece while you stoke the fire' I'm sure players have been told a thousand times how to kick a ball correctly.


Suckling is a problematic example. He kicks the ball like a goalkeeper so we cant really hold him up as an example of how to kick the ball. (i've got some views about how to improve goalkeepers kicking out too. I think that they could have a shot at the goals at the other end occasionally just to keep the other teams on their toes)

[MrMahatma]

Just off the top of my head, from outside 50 against Adelaide to win/seal a game. Against Port Adelaide at their home deck when we won by 3 points. Against Richmond is a close game 2016 he kicked a big last quarter goal. Against Collingwood late in 2016 when we won by 3 points. Think he might have kicked the sealer as a set shot against the lions in the unnecessarily close game last year, and against Essendon he broke them late in the game.

But you’re probably right - just a myth that he kicks the clutch goals.

Good memory.

The Tigers and Pies goals were from pretty much point blank. Fair enough with the others, albeit in the Lions game he kicked 2:4 and a couple OOB

He's clearly the best player we have, but I wouldn't be putting my house on him kicking a goal from a set shot not matter the time in the match.

[BulldogBelle]

You would think that one of the traits of truly elite players is nailing the money shot. Remember the hoo-hah about Chris Grant and Macavanie with his "Carey would have kicked it*" comment (I can't even remember who that game was against). The knock on Grant lasted right up until he kicked that goal to win the game against Essendon in 2000.
*yeah but Chris Grant won't run off with your missus.

Hated McAvaney ever since he put sh1t on Chris Grant that day. McAvaney must be 900 years old, why haven't they retired him. How long do I have to put up with him!

[BulldogBelle]

Well there are a few people here who reckon they know what's wrong with our goal-kicking and how to fix it.

For the first time in many-a-year I watched from behind the goals last Saturday.

Lo and behold I immediately spotted a goal-kicking flaw. Couldn't believe my eyes to see AFL players making such a fundamental error.

When the players run in to kick the ball for goal they hold the ball out in front of them. That's OK. But as they run they wobble from side to side, the ball, in their hands travels from one side of their body to the other.

Then they drop the ball to their foot, hopefully the ball is above their foot when they do so and goes straight down or at least the ball is not travelling sideways due to momentum.

Many times the players wobbled the ball from side to side and dropped the ball to their foot during the wobble. Well, where is the ball going to land, somewhere near their foot maybe? Hopefully.

MacRae has a better technique. He will run in and wobble the ball from side to side like the others but on his last two steps he will straighten up, no ball wobble, drop and kick.

I have also seen players not run straight at the goal. If everything else is correct then that's going to miss too.

I think that we should send these messages to Bev.

[Bulldog4life]

AFL goalkicking continues to be under scrutiny as league accuracy falls to its worst since 1990

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl...4e7ef0a41f75d5

THEY’RE the numbers that confirm what we’re all seeing on the field.
Goalkicking is as wayward in the AFL as it has been in decades.

As of the end of Round 6, the AFL’s 18 clubs have combined to kick 1317 goals and 1232 behinds.

With none of these numbers including shots at goal that missed entirely, that gives the competition overall goalkicking accuracy of 51.67 per cent.

It would also be the first time since 1990 that the league has been below 52 per cent accuracy.

That comes a week after Melbourne great Garry Lyon called the kicking skills of AFL players “putrid” and as bad as he has ever seen it.

“(Kicking) for goal, kicking inside 50 and some of the general field kicking, at some stage you’ve just got to say enough is enough,” he said on SEN Breakfast.

“These are professional full-time footballers who have more access to resources and time than ever before and it is putrid.”

The numbers mark a definite trend change. Accuracy soared in the late 1990s, reaching a peak in 2000 at 55.17 per cent (goals versus behinds).

From the middle of the 00s until last year, things seemed to steady, with accuracy between 52.43 per cent and 53.94 per cent in every season from 2006 to 2017.

While it is possible things will change over the rest of the season, it’s a definite sign for concern.

All numbers sourced from AFL Tables.

[bornadog]

From the middle of the 00s until last year, things seemed to steady, with accuracy between 52.43 per cent and 53.94 per cent in every season from 2006 to 2017.

I would like to see the numbers broken down to set shots versus other, that would be interesting.

[Twodogs]

I'm really suspicious about that 52 % figure. I'd like to know the medhadology they used to arrive at it because I think it's too high. I don't think players convert at over 50% at all.

[bornadog]

I'm really suspicious about that 52 % figure. I'd like to know the methodology they used to arrive at it because I think it's too high. I don't think players convert at over 50% at all.

This year to date there has been 1317 goals and 1232 points kicked, so total scoring shots 2549. Therefore 1317 is 52% of the total

[LostDoggy]

The percentages don't take into account complete misses, including out on the full or players within range who fail to kick the ball over defenders heads.

[Greystache]

Over the past 2 seasons Bont is now the third worst shot for goal in the league, converting at 36.1% when you factor in shots that miss entirely. Jack Billings is the worst, and Ironically the next 3 worst are either current of former Bulldogs players (Bont, Stringer, Higgins).