The Ball Drop

[Ozza]

It's something that is a bit of a bug bear for me. But around the league, including at the bulldogs, there are so many AFL players with awful or unconventional ball drops when kicking.

I guess akin to State and Test cricketers having unorthodox or flawed batting techniques - I find it amazing that so many players make it all the way to the highest grade with ordinary kicking styles.

One of the culprits is one of our best players, in Jackson Macrae. Macrae is usually quite an effective quick when in space, but with his ball drop, he is generally hitting the ball from right under the point. This means that in congestion, under pressure or when kicking over someone (man on the mark etc) for a short or mid range kick - he is hitting it like a pitching wedge. I'm a huge fan of Macrae's, but my worry is that this aspect of his game will hold him back from being an elite player.

Another one is Jarrad Grant. His ball drop is so awkward that it takes forever (comparitively to a natural action) to get the ball to his foot. He also hits the ball at the bottom point of the ball - meaning he will never be a good kick as he is not hitting the fat part of the footy.

We have others in the team with awkward ball drops (Jones, Wallis, Smith, and to a certain extent Dahlhaus) all in different ways - with the common theme that kicking the footy is not a particular strength.

I'm not sure I have a specific question for posters - but interested in any thoughts around this.

[bornadog]

Against Freo, I noticed how good their kicking was compared to ours, made a huge difference kicking for goal or passing around the ground.

Even Tutt, who can kick the ball ok, gets under the ball and seems to scoop it up (similar to Dimma many years ago), like a 9 iron.

What can we do about it, who knows, maybe lots of kicking practise with someone who knows what they are doing.

[bulldogtragic]

I'd love kids to be taught Akermanis' ball place technique, harder for taller kids I know, but by not having any or much room between hands to foot saw him being a very reliable kick. But it seems hard to change, Jason Dunstall spent years with Buddy working on kicking and got nowhere.

[Happy Days]

The worst ball drop on the list is Talia by a mile, but he marginalises it by making really good, conservative decisions with the ball.

The only guy who's ball drop is an active imposition on his game is Clay Smith, because given his spacing on the ground he is expected to use the ball to set other players up. Coupled with having to rush most of his possessions and it leads to some ugly play.

Of the other guys listed it's more a case of bad decision making. Grant especially is a pretty good user; he and Dahlhaus have the exact same ball drop as Ablett the God, who doesn't get enough respect as the best kick in the league because he's so good at everything.

It's a total lack of composure and kicking for territory 100% of the time when the ball is within 150 metres of goal at's the real concern.

[Twodogs]

I'm not sure I have a specific question for posters - but interested in any thoughts around this.

The question would be how bloody hard is it to get the ball drop right? I remember when Buddy was having trouble shooting straight for goal in his early years, Jason Dunstall said words to the effect of "It's all to hard to fix now". No it's not. It's pretty simple. It's all technique. Hold the ball properly, drop it straight and kick through the ball.

Pretty soon a coach will get his team kicking the ball properly and will be hailed as a genius. The delivery between players will be better and goalkicking will be more reliable. As I said earlier, it's not hard. Most kids can learn how to do it in less than an hour.

[bornadog]

A ball drop should be from as close to the boot as possible. So as you are about to kick you almost guide the ball onto your foot and let go at the last minute. Some of these guys drop it much higher than they should and all that ends up is the ball hitting the boot on an angle or not in the right spot to kick it accurately.

[1eyedog]

Against Freo, I noticed how good their kicking was compared to ours, made a huge difference kicking for goal or passing around the ground.

Even Tutt, who can kick the ball ok, gets under the ball and seems to scoop it up (similar to Dimma many years ago), like a 9 iron.

What can we do about it, who knows, maybe lots of kicking practise with someone who knows what they are doing.

With the exception of Michael Johnson who has an ungainly action. His field passes suffer because of it and it also takes him slightly longer to dispose of the ball giving the opposition time to affect the kick.

[Ozza]

When I was 4-6 years old, learning how to kick a footy - Doug Hawkins was every young bulldogs' hero. I just copied Doug! All kids should be copying a Doug Hawkins equivalent.

Good example of Aker earlier on. Particularly in the wet - Aker would go even further in really placing the ball on his foot.

Going further back - I'd have thought having a parent who could kick a footy, showing you how to do it in the backyard, has got to have a big influence on kicking style.

[Bulldog4life]

When I was 4-6 years old, learning how to kick a footy - Doug Hawkins was every young bulldogs' hero. I just copied Doug! All kids should be copying a Doug Hawkins equivalent.

Good example of Aker earlier on. Particularly in the wet - Aker would go even further in really placing the ball on his foot.

Going further back - I'd have thought having a parent who could kick a footy, showing you how to do it in the backyard, has got to have a big influence on kicking style.

Another player who was a great kick and "placed the ball" perfectly on his foot from low down was Tony Lockett. The low ball drop reduces errors considerably.

[Jam Donuts]

Perhaps with the emphasis on kids developing a huge engine and being hard at it through the junior ranks, and dare I say it " cracking in" the teaching of technique that we older kids had plenty of growing up is being left aside somewhat, it is a shame, each week I sit there and watch and every week I say to Princess (who listens patiently to my ranting's) " how did this kid (applicable to most teams) make it without simple skills". I am not sure how much you can retrain a technique in older players, in the panicked moment of getting rid of the ball they would revert to their original technique. Perhaps drafting skills should be a priority instead of good blokes who have a crack, it is no good getting the pill 30 times and then poor disposal to the opposition 25 times. Better of getting it 20 times and delivering 20 times to advantage.

[Greystache]

It's an issue that seems to be increasing in kids coming through. The cricket analogy is a good one, most of the batsmen under 30 at the elite level have glaring technical flaws that get exposed when they get to the top level.

There was a trend starting to come through when I was in the elite junior programs and imagine it's even worse now, coaches focus nearly all their time and energy developing the 1%er skills. Skills that can be developed as icing on the cake of an accomplished kid. In football it's endurance, zoning, tackling technique, weights programs, in cricket it's running between wickets, outfield sliding, throwing etc. All things that make an elite player an all round star, but not something that's going to keep a player in the elite system if they haven't mastered their core skill, which in the end is >80% of the game. The number of key forwards have hopeless conversion rates, and midfielders that can't kick or handball on their non-preferred side at all it shocking.

Junior coaches seem to think these little 1%ers will give their team the edge, where in reality if nearly every player can do the basics well they'll win easily. I remember a gun young batsmen getting cut from the Victorian under 17 cricket squad because, and I quote 'his running between the wickets is slow and unaggressive, and I'm not impressed with his agility in the field". Nothing mentioning he'd topped the run scorers in all the practice matches and was the most technically sound batsman. The coach didn't even know he'd had a knee reconstruction 2 years earlier and was still regaining fitness. He was still the best batsman I've bowled to, yet went back to playing local cricket at 18 because he was told he wasn't what they were looking for.

[always right]

With the exception of Michael Johnson who has an ungainly action. His field passes suffer because of it and it also takes him slightly longer to dispose of the ball giving the opposition time to affect the kick.

I actually consider him to be a perfect example of a tall bloke who is quite a precise kick because of the short distance he drops the ball from hand to foot. Sure he misses some targets but no more than anyone else. His late ball drop also allows him to side step opponents with apparent ease. Along with Lenny hayes I've never understood how blokes continue to fall for this time and time again.

[1eyedog]

I actually consider him to be a perfect example of a tall bloke who is quite a precise kick because of the short distance he drops the ball from hand to foot. Sure he misses some targets but no more than anyone else. His late ball drop also allows him to side step opponents with apparent ease. Along with Lenny hayes I've never understood how blokes continue to fall for this time and time again.

Johnson is a precise kick in terms of accuracy but he repeatedly lands the ball either a foot in front of his team mate or he slightly over kicks it - not sure if this is a product of the way he drops the ball though. Agree with him having extra time to side step opponents which he often does to good effect, however because he seems to take a split second longer to dispose of the ball by foot he can sometimes put himself under the pump.

[Scorlibo]

It's something that is a bit of a bug bear for me. But around the league, including at the bulldogs, there are so many AFL players with awful or unconventional ball drops when kicking.

I guess akin to State and Test cricketers having unorthodox or flawed batting techniques - I find it amazing that so many players make it all the way to the highest grade with ordinary kicking styles.

One of the culprits is one of our best players, in Jackson Macrae. Macrae is usually quite an effective quick when in space, but with his ball drop, he is generally hitting the ball from right under the point. This means that in congestion, under pressure or when kicking over someone (man on the mark etc) for a short or mid range kick - he is hitting it like a pitching wedge. I'm a huge fan of Macrae's, but my worry is that this aspect of his game will hold him back from being an elite player.

Another one is Jarrad Grant. His ball drop is so awkward that it takes forever (comparitively to a natural action) to get the ball to his foot. He also hits the ball at the bottom point of the ball - meaning he will never be a good kick as he is not hitting the fat part of the footy.

We have others in the team with awkward ball drops (Jones, Wallis, Smith, and to a certain extent Dahlhaus) all in different ways - with the common theme that kicking the footy is not a particular strength.

I'm not sure I have a specific question for posters - but interested in any thoughts around this.

It seems, based on the players you've named Ozza, that your problem isn't so much with the ball drop per se but with players who kick an upright ball. For instance, Jarrad Grant as a very controlled ball drop and is a good kick, but as with every other player you've mentioned he hits the point of the ball. There's nothing wrong with this - it works for Gary Ablett!

The issue with the ball drop of Jack Macrae is that he doesn't always look to have control of the ball, he gives it a lot of time to move around between his hand and his boot. Same goes for Michael Talia and Clay Smith. In Macrae's case he also doesn't take any momentum through the kick, he really just leans back and pokes at it. He needs to lift himself off the ground with the kick, really put his whole body into it and use his running momentum as a weapon. Cooney is the best at this, it's why he was the number one pick, why he won a Brownlow. He not only has pace but can kick at pace too, he hits the ball with complete fluency as though the kick was just another stride in his run. It's an undervalued asset, not many players can do it at full pace.

[wimberga]

It seems, based on the players you've named Ozza, that your problem isn't so much with the ball drop per se but with players who kick an upright ball. For instance, Jarrad Grant as a very controlled ball drop and is a good kick, but as with every other player you've mentioned he hits the point of the ball. There's nothing wrong with this - it works for Gary Ablett!

The issue with the ball drop of Jack Macrae is that he doesn't always look to have control of the ball, he gives it a lot of time to move around between his hand and his boot. Same goes for Michael Talia and Clay Smith. In Macrae's case he also doesn't take any momentum through the kick, he really just leans back and pokes at it. He needs to lift himself off the ground with the kick, really put his whole body into it and use his running momentum as a weapon. Cooney is the best at this, it's why he was the number one pick, why he won a Brownlow. He not only has pace but can kick at pace too, he hits the ball with complete fluency as though the kick was just another stride in his run. It's an undervalued asset, not many players can do it at full pace.

Ditto Patrick Dangerfield

[BornInDroopSt'54]

The other kicking technique issue that is glaring and can easily be addressed is angle of body lean. For example, Bontempelli was practising goal kicking during the warm up and was leaning to the right at impact and the ball was going to the right. He had a shot on goal during the game, from forty out, leant to the right at impact and missed to the right.
Head should be over the ball at impact AND torso vertical at impact = straight kick.

[LostDoggy]

It's not hard :D

[Twodogs]

The other kicking technique issue that is glaring and can easily be addressed is angle of body lean. For example, Bontempelli was practising goal kicking during the warm up and was leaning to the right at impact and the ball was going to the right. He had a shot on goal during the game, from forty out, leant to the right at impact and missed to the right.
Head should be over the ball at impact AND torso vertical at impact = straight kick.


Amen.


Head over the ball when it hits your foot.
Just like driving on the first.

[Scorlibo]

Amen.


Head over the ball when it hits your foot.
Just like driving on the first.

Some of the best kicks the Bulldogs have had over the last 10 years have done exactly the opposite. Griffen, Gilbee, Gia even.

[lemmon]

Some of the best kicks the Bulldogs have had over the last 10 years have done exactly the opposite. Griffen, Gilbee, Gia even.
Is Griff a good kick?

[Pembleton]

General field kicking of the average and below average kicks has improved immensely over the years (to the detriment of entertainment imho). If it was as easy to implement perfect technique as some are suggesting here then i'm fairly sure elite junior coaches and AFL coaches would have nailed it. Don't forget how many terrible kicking styles used to get around in the elite comp. Imagine Clay Smith had come on the scene in the 80's . He'd kick it as poorly as Charlie Manson used to.

[Greystache]

Is Griff a good kick?

Certainly not for goal. A career conversion rate of 56% and I would expect it to be below 50% from a set shot. With his horrible across his body kicking action there's not many I would choose Griff over for a set shot.

[Scorlibo]

Is Griff a good kick?

One of the best kicks I've seen play for us (on execution alone).


Certainly not for goal. A career conversion rate of 56% and I would expect it to be below 50% from a set shot. With his horrible across his body kicking action there's not many I would choose Griff over for a set shot.

Fair enough but plenty of excellent kicks have been bad once in front of goal. Having said that, I've seen Griff kick goals that most players simply aren't capable of kicking. Scott Clayton said when he was drafted that Griff was 'the best kick in the world' or something alone those lines. I wouldn't agree with that but I can certainly see why he said it, if that makes sense.

[lemmon]

One of the best kicks I've seen play for us (on execution alone).



Fair enough but plenty of excellent kicks have been bad once in front of goal. Having said that, I've seen Griff kick goals that most players simply aren't capable of kicking. Scott Clayton said when he was drafted that Griff was 'the best kick in the world' or something alone those lines. I wouldn't agree with that but I can certainly see why he said it, if that makes sense.

Fair enough, can't say I particularly agree. It's as much to do with his more inside role as anything but he is one of those guilty in banging it forward to no one in particular. Boyd is always one to cop it for his effectiveness (and rightly so) but Griff's disposal efficiency is very comparable.

[LostDoggy]

Griff has a penetrating right foot kick that looks slick in the air though.

[bornadog]

Griff has a penetrating right foot kick that looks slick in the air though.

He has a booming kick and I wish he would use it more often. It seems sometimes he doesn't realise how far he can kick a ball.

[always right]

Griff has a penetrating kick but uses it poorly too often.

For those lecturing players on correct kicking action, I give you Matt Suckling.

[F'scary]

At least none of our players hold the ball "boutso" style - a la Russell Greene.

[Bulldog4life]

Griff has a penetrating kick but uses it poorly too often.

For those lecturing players on correct kicking action, I give you Matt Suckling.

Yes he kicks like McEnroe when serving. Facing the wrong way.