Is Goal Kicking From 50 A Concern In AFL? | Thebigtip

Have the last 2 to 3 years seen the best quality of football being played for two decades? There is no definitive answer to the question…that may be a debate for another day. I write the following with the ‘Last Eaten Steak Theory’ firmly in mind, where most people generally rate the last steak they ate as the best they have ever had. Not often the case, but carnivores often get caught up in the moment.

A number of key performance indicators (I love talking like a modern day coach or a member of staff of a football department) highlight that players are fitter than they have ever been, cover more territory during a game and most would agree, perform the skills of the game with more efficiency than in days gone by.  And so they should, given how professional the game has become, and the use of sports science in the modern game, the increase in coaching staffs etc etc etc, this list is endless.

However, one thing that has not improved and universally agreed upon by those who have observed the game and seen it morph into the product it is today, is goal kicking.

Whilst only an opinion, the best kicks for goal I have seen in the last 30 years of closely watching football are, in no particular order, Jason Dunstall, Tony Lockett and Matthew Lloyd.  If these guys are lining up for goal, mark it down in your record. (Besides Collingwood El Presidente Eduardo McGuirez, do people still keep score in the football record when attending live games?) Note: the best field kick since I have been watching football - Darren ‘Fud’ Jarman…also one of the great ‘nick-names’ of the modern era.

We have heard football analysts, including the aforementioned Dunstall and Lloyd bang on about how important it is to have the pre-kick routine identical every time, to pick a spot in the crowd between the posts, guiding the ball down to the boot and the importance of kicking through the ball. Replace the names Dunstall and Lloyd with Baker-Finch and Ogle, and the term goal kicking with the swing or putting stroke are similar (ball drop aside), both mechanics of the two are applicable.

Hang with me here…take a par 5 on a golf course. Off the tee = a rebound from defence in Aussie Rules, iron play = midfield, short iron/short game = inside 50 entry and finally, the point of this piece, putting = goal kicking.  For the sake of the exercise, lets equate a 6-foot put with a kick from 50 metres.  If you were a betting man, would you take a professional golfer putting from inside 6 feet, or would you take an AFL footballer kicking from 50 or closer.

Before you answer, let me run some statistics by you taken from the PGA website, for the 2011 season of golf including the British Open, sourced from the PGA Website.

Year to Date, Putts from 6 feet. Top 5
(Note: This refers to putts from 6 feet NOT inside 6 feet)
Name                         Total Putts   Made Putts             Percentage
Ian Poulter                             25          23                              92
Jim Renner                             28          25                              89.29
Kevin Kisner                             38          33                              86.84
Steve Stricker                     48          41                              85.42
Kevin Streelman                     68          58                              85.29
 

Admittedly, there are elements that make goal kicking more difficult (wind, crowd noise and kicking for goal after an exertion of energy with heart rate still very high which is plausible). However, it is widely agreed that a goal kicking percentage of above 70% is excellent.

The best Bi-Athletes in the world have the ability to bring down their heart rates extremely quickly, it is a requirement of their sport. skiing for a certain distance, at an extremely high heart rate, then switch activities to shoot a rifle at a target.  For accuracy in the rifle shooting competitors need to drop their heart rates, remain calm and shoot a target 50 metres away. 

The above has spawned my idea about a reality TV show called Heart Rate. A man/woman cheat on their significant other, then wear a heart monitor when being questioned by the cheated partner about their extra-marital affairs. The lowest heart rate wins! Any merit? I don't think so.

Should kicking at goal be more efficient levels than it currently is? Of course it should. Teams have lost finals (and at least two Grand Finals) because of poor kicking, the Cats losing to the Hawks in 2008, a game that is played ten times, the Cats win 9 of then and North Melbourne spraying to all corners of the MCG, much like Viv Richards carting the Australian attack, in 1998 against the Crows.

Is it plausible that key forwards are not practicing goal-kicking as much as they should be. Do footballers spend as much time as a golfer on a putting green or a jump shooter on a court?  Is it possible that the dominance of sports-science prevents the lost art of goal kicking from developing to its fullest potential?