Drop kicks and stab passes

[Vandenbergfan]

Why is it that professional footballers, with the capacity to be 100% committed to their sport can't kick dropkicks or stab passes. You would think with the time they have they would at least play around with various kicks at training just for the fun of it. Watching Johnson take the penalty in the IR the other night, it showed he had no idea how to kick a round ball low and hard. He made poor contact and it rolled fairly slowly into the net, due to the fact that the Irish goalkeeper had already committed to the wrong side.

The best way to kick a round ball accurately and fast is to use the drop kick and stab pass; but neither the Australians or Irish seem to have worked it out, or they no longer know how to kick a ball this way. I remember when I was a kid getting a pamphlet outlining all the various kicks and how to hold the ball to execute them. Nowadays, you struggle to find an AFL player who can kick anything more then a drop punt.

Kudos to Brett Deledio for pulling the torp out on a few occasions this year.

 

[Dont think Do]

2 points

1) the round ball is harder to kick than our 'football'. we get to hold the ball the way we want to kick it, most miss kicks in AFL are from dropping the ball the wrong way, not in the kicking.

2) AFL players have become boring robots, with most to scared to make a mistake by trying something different. I love the torp, but seems must AFL coaches dont.

 

[Johnson#26]

They should bring back the torp. It just needs to start with something small (ie - a few players doing it - A&S Rocca, Dew, Riccardi, Buckley) and it will catch on.

How the game has changed. Watching both the Collingwood and Essendon heartstoppers videos last night, the 1990's was all about play on, kick long footy. The game was much better.

 

[scooter600x]

They should bring back the torp. It just needs to start with something small (ie - a few players doing it - A&S Rocca, Dew, Riccardi, Buckley) and it will catch on.

How the game has changed. Watching both the Collingwood and Essendon heartstoppers videos last night, the 1990's was all about play on, kick long footy. The game was much better.

Forget the torp, if you want to bring back a kick for distance bring back the drop kick. They went every bit as far as a torp but were easier to mark.

Have you ever seen the footage of the drawn '72 semi between Carlton and Richmond? When the siren goes Jesaulenko has a mark almost on the wing and he lets rip with a drop kick. A Richmond player marks it in the goalsquare.

 

[thepower]

As a former goalkeeper I concur with vandenbergfan about the round ball. a drop kick is the best way to hit a round ball low. personally i kick it with a bit of the outside foot too.

but who cares if afl players cant do that, they only kick a round ball for what, 2-3 weeks a year.

 

[LordLucifer]

Have you ever seen the footage of the drawn '72 semi between Carlton and Richmond? When the siren goes Jesaulenko has a mark almost on the wing and he lets rip with a drop kick. A Richmond player marks it in the goalsquare.

The dropkick & the stab pass are two of the best kicks ever seen in our game and as highlighted above, have far better penetration than the floating drop punt.

My father played for Kew & Victoria in the ammos and was a prodigious kick on both feet with the 'droppy'. He was even more deadly with the stab pass and decided to show a couple of my mates how it worked.

(This was about 20 years ago and he was in his 50's) He told my mate to run at full pace to a certain spot (about 30-35m away) and he pinpointed him with a tracer bullet stab pass that went so fast & hard that my mate marked in on his chest without breaking stride. The noise it made when hitting his chest was incredible and near knocked the wind out of him. My mate was playing u/19's for St. Bernards at the time so he was in peak physical state and he was rather gobsmacked at the ferocity and accuracy of the kick.

I'd love to see a coach have the courage to bring them back in, they are/were two great features of the game.

 

[Vandenbergfan]

2 points

1) the round ball is harder to kick than our 'football'. we get to hold the ball the way we want to kick it, most miss kicks in AFL are from dropping the ball the wrong way, not in the kicking.

2) AFL players have become boring robots, with most to scared to make a mistake by trying something different. I love the torp, but seems must AFL coaches dont.

Disagree with point one, with the round ball it is easier to kick using drop kicks and stab passes due to the reliable bounce you get, which isn't always the case with the oval shaped ball. A really good exponent of the stab pass from years gone by, would be able to beat a goalkeeper from 20m out.

On point two, I agree. But you would have to think its disappointing that so-called fine exponents of the kick, like Nick Davis, seemingly can't kick a dropkick.

 

[thekid178]

just a quick ppoint as to why the drop kick ws phased out of afl football...

boots used to have steel caps look work boots back in the day, and with these, the drop kick could be executed really well. then boot manufacturers started producing more comfortable boots, and the steel cap was taken out for the soft toe boot. with that, the drop kick ws harder to hit and therefore was easier to spray. thats why the players started kicking the ball on the top of their boot, and the torpedo and drop punt became the norm. if u actually try to hit a drop kick with the point of ur boot these days it nearly breaks ur toes, hence y droppies arent used.

u can hit a drop kick on the top of ur foot, but its easier to hit a drop punt.