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Hawkins

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My theory on Hawkins kicking is that he's good from 5 metres out and 40+ out. Anywhere in between and I'm worried. In all seriousness though, it is a worry when he's so much more confident kicking on his side. Hopefully he's spending plenty of time working on it before and after training and we'll see a Cloke-like turnaround.
 
Stig_90 said:
My theory on Hawkins kicking is that he's good from 5 metres out and 40+ out. Anywhere in between and I'm worried. In all seriousness though, it is a worry when he's so much more confident kicking on his side. Hopefully he's spending plenty of time working on it before and after training and we'll see a Cloke-like turnaround.
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A couple of Valium washed down with a carafe of VC homemade red and he'd be slotting them from anywhere.
 
James1970 said:
Hawkins is an old-fashioned footy guy. He plays at his best when his confidence is high and his gut-footy-instinct can take over.

Sadly, most games are now thought-out and played before the game even starts. The poor guy must have a dozen set plays runnuing through his brain each time the ball heads his way. By the time one of the plays is switched to 'go', his instinct is shot to pieces, culling any confidence.

It's no coincidence his best game this year by a country mile was played in the soaking wet, where set plays were minimized, and old-fashioned footy was the name of the game. Same in the second half of last years GF. He was left on his own and could just let rip.

I'd be keeping it simple with him, and just telling him to run, run, run and demand the ball, no matter who's in his way - Pods, SJ, Stokes, whoever. The others have to 'get around him', not the other way around.
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was speaking to a lad who knows Hawk and says he aint no rocket scientist - more a "see ball, get ball" brain. Think its gotta be damn simple for it to work for him
 
juzcat said:
was speaking to a lad who knows Hawk and says he aint no rocket scientist - more a "see ball, get ball" brain. Think its gotta be damn simple for it to work for him
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Who was the last rocket scientist to play AFL??
Tom is a natural footballer, and our MVP, at his best. IQ was not part of the screening.
 

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VEEDUBS said:
Who was the last rocket scientist to play AFL??
Tom is a natural footballer, and our MVP, at his best. IQ was not part of the screening.
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Is there a rocket scientist playing AFL?

Posted by Vietnam Swans on August 15, 2007
Is there anyone out there in the la la land of AFL who should be called a genius? Mick Malthouse doesn’t think so. Daryl Taber has just forwarded to the Swans Blog a bit of evidence that supports Mick’s claim about there being a dearth of rocket scientists. Below are the Top 10 Examples (and soon we will also post another Top 10 – Wait a minute, is that two Top 10′s or 1 Top 20?)

1. “Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.” (Mick Malthouse)
2. “I’m going to graduate on time, no matter how long it takes.” Peter Bell, Fremantle – on his University Law studies
3. “You guys line up alphabetically by height.” and “You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle.” Barry Hall Sydney Captain at Training
4. Brock Maclean (Melbourne) on whether he had visited the Pyramids during his visit to Egypt: “I can’t really remember the names of the clubs that we went to.”
5. “He’s a guy who gets up at six o’clock in the morning regardless of what time it is.” Kevin Sheedy on James Hird
6. Jonathan Brown, on night Grand Finals vs Day Games “It’s basically the same, just darker.” (Ed’s note: Hearin’ ya, Jonathon)
7. Ron Barassi talking about Gary Cowton “I told him, ‘Son, what is it with you. Is it ignorance or apathy?’ He said, ‘Barass, I don’t know and I don’t care.’ “
8. Barry Hall (Sydney) when asked about the upcoming season: “I want to kick 70 or 80 goals this season, whichever comes first.”
9. “Luke Hodge – the 21 year old, who turned 22 a few weeks ago.” (Dermott Brereton)
10. “Chad had done a bit of mental arithmetic with a calculator.” (Mark Williams)
And don’t
 
Stig_90 said:
My theory on Hawkins kicking is that he's good from 5 metres out and 40+ out. Anywhere in between and I'm worried. In all seriousness though, it is a worry when he's so much more confident kicking on his side. Hopefully he's spending plenty of time working on it before and after training and we'll see a Cloke-like turnaround.
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I know he is going to look stupid, but even if he is straight in front 30 out maybe he should use the Stevie J style of 'round the corner kicking. :D
 
Well, he is a terrible shot for goal unfortunately. But.....hopefully thats the next piece of the puzzle.

Think back 12 months ago and he was about to be dropped, was useless. Now he leads the comp for I50 contested marks (I think) and has a scoreboard impact in every game. He has come a long way.....and we are still not sure what his ceiling is. I thought it was GOP but he has now shown more than that (GF, the Hawks and Brisbane games).

Whatever is wrong with Pods (age? shoulder? hand? he is not right) is also affecting us, Pods isnt much of a threat at the moment and that means his opponent is getting over to help out on Hawk.
 
Skerret said:
Hawkins might not be gifted academically but he has a decent footy brain.
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Not sure how anyone knows this. The interviews I've seen with him he seems pretty articulate and well-spoken.

To me they just need to go through him at every possible chance. I still believe his kicking will turn around once, but only if he keeps taking the chances himself. It won't improve while he looks to give it off.
 
http://www.geelongcats.com.au/geelongnews/newsarticle/tabid/3933/newsid/139624/default.aspx

“I think its madness that scientists are in charge, surely a player that is trained and warmed up can have 50 shots at goal,” Gullan said.

“If you kick the highest score you win.

“The forwards should be having two or three sessions a week.”


Pretty interesting actually. If these scientists are telling Hawkins not to practice goal kicking so he doesn't hurt himself that's complete bogus.
 
Partridge said:
Not sure how anyone knows this. The interviews I've seen with him he seems pretty articulate and well-spoken.

To me they just need to go through him at every possible chance. I still believe his kicking will turn around once, but only if he keeps taking the chances himself. It won't improve while he looks to give it off.
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Dunno about articulate, but I never said that I know he isn't academically gifted, I said he might not be academically gifted. Good thing is he doesn't need to be.
 
If you have a solid routine , you can come to form quickly with little work. Tom is not like this. He has engraved a poor routine. Everyones an expert but to my mind its a little like gold. You dont need to hit balls to work on your swing. He could ensure that he has his routine down pat , same number of steps etc without ever touching a ball. I watched a Freo guy last week kick 4 straight and what did he do? He marked the mark , walked a know distance , marked the kick spot , walked another know distance,. Maybe a bit mechanical to it becomes auto but I love the idea of repeating the routine.
Several of us have previously noticed that Toms in play kick is fine. Its not like you are trying to teach a hockey player to kick the ball. Frankly I would have him kicking from 25/35 out over a man on the mark and just hard enough to make the distance. Once confident then go for long shots.
 

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Turbocat said:
If you have a solid routine , you can come to form quickly with little work. Tom is not like this. He has engraved a poor routine. Everyones an expert but to my mind its a little like gold. You dont need to hit balls to work on your swing. He could ensure that he has his routine down pat , same number of steps etc without ever touching a ball. I watched a Freo guy last week kick 4 straight and what did he do? He marked the mark , walked a know distance , marked the kick spot , walked another know distance,. Maybe a bit mechanical to it becomes auto but I love the idea of repeating the routine.
Several of us have previously noticed that Toms in play kick is fine. Its not like you are trying to teach a hockey player to kick the ball. Frankly I would have him kicking from 25/35 out over a man on the mark and just hard enough to make the distance. Once confident then go for long shots.
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Heard and saw Brad Smith ( WAFL/ Eagles FF) demonstrate exactly that - a simple , repeatable and consistent routine at a coaching course. His belief was a consistent and repeatable routine boosts confidence , provides focus and improves accuracy. He is a super kick for goal.
Tom seemed to lose the left to right swing earlier in the season and have a more fluid routine but that seems to have gotten lost now. He's back to getting too close to the mark , looks too rigid in his approach and is no longer kicking straight. Needs to get it right as he is now getting plenty of the ball and must start converting that to goals if we are to be a threat.
 
vealesy said:
I think theres a pretty simple fix.

Kick it round the corner from within 40m.

If hes more confident, i dont know why he cant do it too.

SJ doesnt have exclusive rights!
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Heard SJ say somewhere he was teaching a few players along those lines. Including Hawk. However, as with most aspects of Hawk's football, it's a confidence thing and I'm not sure there's a quick and easy answer - eg Riewoldt, Cloke, Tippett........
 
AM said:
Heard SJ say somewhere he was teaching a few players along those lines. Including Hawk. However, as with most aspects of Hawk's football, it's a confidence thing and I'm not sure there's a quick and easy answer - eg Riewoldt, Cloke, Tippett........
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Heard some player interviewed on SEN early this week, and the interviewer, and myself, found it incredulous that this guy said they did not have TIME to do lots of goal-kicking practice because of all the other commitments during the week. I'm pretty sure that anyone else in the workforce would MAKE time to perfect an obvious area of weakness in an important job. Imagine a surgeon was crap at sewing up at the end of an operation, because they never had time to stitch up properly in training. Things about this game are farcical.
 
There apparently has to be a balance struck between the needs of the fitness and sports science group and the coaching group. That said, in an interview Hawk did say he spent plenty of time on his kicking but recreating actual game day conditions and stresses was an issue.

Regrettably, goal kicking accuracy is an inexact science as Buddy, Roo, Tippett, Cloke....... will attest. Even heard an ABC commentator on the subject tonight draw attention to how efficient Dal Santo is with his field kicking but how his accuracy falls away when kicking for goal.

BTW. Hawk is no fool and a top bloke. He went out of his way to help someone I know who was doing it tough and did it in an unassuming quiet manner.:thumbsu:
 

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AM said:
There apparently has to be a balance struck between the needs of the fitness and sports science group and the coaching group. That said, in an interview Hawk did say he spent plenty of time on his kicking but recreating actual game day conditions and stresses was an issue.

Regrettably, goal kicking accuracy is an inexact science as Buddy, Roo, Tippett, Cloke....... will attest. Even heard an ABC commentator on the subject tonight draw attention to how efficient Dal Santo is with his field kicking but how his accuracy falls away when kicking for goal.

BTW. Hawk is no fool and a top bloke. He went out of his way to help someone I know who was doing it tough and did it in an unassuming quiet manner.:thumbsu:
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Good points.
Have heard before that Tom is a genuinely good bloke, great to hear it from someone with personal knowledge.
That interviewee I heard, and really annoyed can't recall who it was, freely admitted he did NOT spend enough time practicing. I would have thought there was time to make time, surely a priority for a forward. MOST players are now full time.
 
Ablett snr is still involved with the club, wonder if they can get him down to give Hawkins a few tips in kicking for goals :thumbsu:
 
Just on accuracy, I looked up the following stats for some current and past players. Interestingly Tomahawk has a accuracy percentage relative to others.

Player Goals Behinds %
Gary Ablett Snr 1030 689 60%
Ben Graham 145 113 56%
Kent Kingsley 239 180 57%
Cam Mooney 297 208 59%
Tom Hawkins 135 83 62%
Brendan Fevola 623 401 61%
Lance Franklin 498 368 58%

(* Disclaimer I only got these stats in a rush and it only includes raw goals / behinds stats, not out on the full, etc. It also doesnt show set shots for goals which would be interesting to see.)
 
TheWoodenSlug said:
Probably not a bad idea, but I think the biggest problem with Hawkins is that he has had a few too many tips given to him about his kicking.
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coach needs to try something revolutionary, take what Travis Cloke did with the headphones but do it differently.
Coaching staff already have enough problems to worry about let alone an established players kicking issues but he really needs to just think outside the box rather the usual tips which are obviously having no effect whatsoever on his mentality when lining up for goals.

Maybe get a custom made sherrin specifically made for the Tomahawk, make it little more heavier than usual (don't wanna hurt the feet), make it much bigger/longer than usual and get him to practice with footy everyday for the next 2 weeks.
Once he gets use to using that heavier BigFooty....bring in the normal footy and it will feel like a kids toy to him :D
 
although my analogy would actually make more sense if he practiced non stop using a tiny sherrin which was super light in weight but a lot more longer in shape.

actually no it wouldn't, the bigger ball would teach him to kick through the footy and also help with the the drop from hand to foot :thumbsu:
 

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