Doog's kicking

[Exeter]

Mainly a question for Mead as he's seen more of the team than most.

What seems to be the issue with Doog's kicking for goal? Or more precisely, is there an issue?

From the few times I've seen him he presents really well, he's great at ground level and on the snap but his set shots look a little shaky. I've been of the view that he needs to kick through the ball a bit more and take more time in his approach to set shots to get better balance.

Any thoughts?

 

[Eagles4Ever]

There doesnt seem to be too much wrong with his action. I had a couple of glances over my shoulder up at Suma in the coaches box on the weekend and both times cought him scratching his head. Dont know if you notice but he pulled him aside from the rest of the group during the 3 qtr time huddle and had a one on one with him obviously trying to sort out the issue. Hopefully he has just got the jitters and will be ok.

On the bright side of things he cant be any worse than Willson

 

[Exeter]

Didn't get to the game unfortunately.

I don't think its a major problem, maybe just a mild case of the yips - his first bag of 7 or 8 may not be that far away.

Its probably just a fine tuning and confidence thing - Again, I haven't seen that much of him but from what I have seen he may need to lengthen his approach a bit and watch a possible tendency to stab at the ball.

Bu then speaking as someone who sprays them out on the full from 15 out directly in front I'm probably not really qualified to comment.

 

[Eagles4Ever]

Originally posted by Exeter
.

Bu then speaking as someone who sprays them out on the full from 15 out directly in front I'm probably not really qualified to comment.

I thought you were refering to Willo for a second

 

[Thrawn666]

Prior to this preseason it wasnt an issue really. Then again it wasnt until now that he was getting so much of the ball inside the forward 50.

I dont see his kicking for goal becoming a long-term problem based on what Ive seen previously. If he does start at full forward for most of the year id say he'll be on or above average for accuracy, without being in the top echelons.

 

[Captain Random]

A quick look at AFL Tables tells me that Doogs has kicked 9.8 in his 12 games (not including preseason) for the Eagles. His best was in the home game against Melbourne, in which he kicked 4.2.

On a quick scan of past performances, you're really looking for a percentage of kicks to goals greater than 70%, although some blokes wind up in the 80's for some periods of their careers. On that score, he's not really there yet.

(Incidentally, 70% was Lockett's average for his entire career - how phenomenal is that?)

Personally, I'm stoked that we've got a tall who can take a mark in the forward line, even if the kicking is wayward. Spooning it out of defence on the run is always going to be a damn sight easier than a kick-in against a disciplined zone. So regardless of whether it's problems with his action or just the yips, either way it's still a win of sorts.

 

[Exeter]

Originally posted by carneagles
A quick look at AFL Tables tells me that Doogs has kicked 9.8 in his 12 games (not including preseason) for the Eagles. His best was in the home game against Melbourne, in which he kicked 4.2.

On a quick scan of past performances, you're really looking for a percentage of kicks to goals greater than 70%, although some blokes wind up in the 80's for some periods of their careers. On that score, he's not really there yet.

(Incidentally, 70% was Lockett's average for his entire career - how phenomenal is that?)

Personally, I'm stoked that we've got a tall who can take a mark in the forward line, even if the kicking is wayward. Spooning it out of defence on the run is always going to be a damn sight easier than a kick-in against a disciplined zone. So regardless of whether it's problems with his action or just the yips, either way it's still a win of sorts.

Quite right Carny, The option of having quality tall marking forwards is something we haven't had for quite a while and the prospect is exciting to say the least.

Mine's an observation rather than a criticism. The fact that we are likely to have the option to play one or more of Doogs, Johnson, Gardy and Gaspar down there is a radical turnaround from where we've been the past few years.

I expect him to improve. Doogs is no Antonowicz or Buzan and once he settles and bulks up a bit - well, there's only upside.

I'm also looking forward to having Fido and Samps crumbing around goal and generally creating havoc with opposition backlines.

 

[Mead]

Originally posted by Eagles4Eva
I thought you were refering to Willo for a second

Troy Wilson, Brauny, we're accumulating quite an assortment of eagles past and present

Mcdougall's kicking is a bit of a mystery to watch because on paper, sometimes there is absolutely nothing wrong with it- in fact, from where I'm sitting I think in terms of style he's actually far far better than a lot of big men- kicks through the ball very cleanly, and gets good spin on it and so on.

Having said that, its true that there have been a few times (particularly this preseason) where he has missed several very gettable shots on goal. Perhaps the interesting thing is that almost all of those were set from mid-range, sort of 30 or 40 out, with not a huge angle to speak of- in short, the easy ones. In contrast, he usually bags snapshots on the run or set shots from further out- If we had doogs kicking a set shot to win a game for us, I'd actually feel far better if he was 55m out rather than 30m from goal.

In his three most dominant games up forward (Hawthorn last week, the pies 3 weeks ago, and round 21 last year), there was an identical trend- he started off the game in fine form, bagged several goals (including some very high difficulty shots), and then got a bit of an attack of the yips.

So what can you take from that? I think his problems are mostly in his head- when he's mainly trying to get good distance on the ball because he's a long way from it or is kicking in general play and doesn't have time to do anything other than jam it on his boot, generally the fact that he basically has a very good kicking action means that his natural class takes over and more often than not he bags the goal- put him on a setshot in front of goal, and he does his campy little Lloyd grass throwing thing, and probably gets a bit befuddled, and ends up stabbing at it.

So yeah, I reckon he just needs to relax, and if anything, go through his routine faster when kicking set shots? He's instinctively a very good kick, but the longer he takes the more likely he overcooks it- rather than pulling up his socks and pulling them down and tossing grass up in the air and calculating the moons gravitational pull on the ball or whatever the hell else he does sometimes on set shots, he just needs to pick someone behind the goals, run in and kick it nice and hard in their direction, and let his natural ability guide it home- the more he worries about it the less effective he'll be.

 

[Eagles4Ever]

I think that about sums it up too, he gets the Yips, and he has been under pressure this week in keeping a place.
Maybe no need for nice and hard from 30m out, but pick someone in the crowd and kick it as if passing it to them and blank out the big sticks. Save the nice and hard when hes about 55 out

 

[Frodo]

On the money again there Mead.

I tried to work him out on Friday and it is confusing. Yes, a set routine would help him but I think he's over thinking, causing tension. He kicked three shockers, missing everything. Two were stabs, not kicking through the ball and the other was a hook. I thought the stabs were a result of him trying to get his head too far over the ball. The hook was a mystery. I think he may be trying too hard, trying to remember everything he's been coached to do....and that results in tension, which can murder you.

I relate that to golf. Try and think of your backswing, keeping head still, hitting thru the ball, head down, completing the swing etc. Do it on the practice range okay...do it in a game and you have a nightmare game. Relax and it all comes together ( well sometimes at least), but you know what I mean? I can't see a lot wrong with his action. In fact on non set shots he is deadly. So the mental factor must be important.

 

[jod23]

It cant be a confidence thing because he starts games like a house on fire. After banging home 3 goals in the first quarter you would think his confidence would be so high, he would go on to kick 5 or 6. IMO he looks confident with every set shot and looks almost as puzzled as we do when he misses.

Hope he figures it out though because he could be a really dominant player up forward for us if he can sort out this little problem.

 

[carlyp]

After watching him a couple of times this preseason I definitely agree with Meady. He doesnt suffer from Sumaitis or anything like that. Infact I believe he's a beautifull kick of the ball when he relaxes and just kicks it. He'll be right though, if he has to have some counselling or something or even if we have to get one of the other forwards to go over to him and say: Settle Pettle or Relax Max! Remember he's young and needs time to fix it and make it perfect.

 

[The Passenger]

His kicking off a set shot is absolutely brilliant.

Off a snap i can't say i've noticed too much.

 

[Mead]

Originally posted by Black Thunder
His kicking off a set shot is absolutely brilliant.

Off a snap i can't say i've noticed too much.

iirc, all three of his goals against the Pies came from snaps across his body...?

 

[The Passenger]

Originally posted by Mead
iirc, all three of his goals against the Pies came from snaps across his body...?

possibly......

haven't seen the game in its entirety unfortantely.