Have players gone too far when opting to snap for goal anywhere other than near the goal line or lining up for a shot, out of the field of play?

[Conca Cuddle]

Don't get me wrong, snap kicking is an art form that I enjoy, when appropriate. I watch players do this on the reg, sometimes with minimal to no angle (Castagna on the weekend 25 metres out). Perhaps I'm a traditionalist and appreciate a drop punt set shot, or maybe I'm way off and people couldn't care less.

i wonder if it's that players do it because they think they're a better chance for goal, or if it'st that they don't like the responsibility/pressure of going back and taking a shot?

I'll concede that some of the better set snap kickers (Menzel, Gray, Martin, C. Cameron etc.) have more of a right to snap, but by and large players should stick to a set-shot unless along the boundary or goal line.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Yes

 

[Quivorir]

As long as it goes through the middle I couldn't care less how they kick it.

 

[AndyLucimitis]

What gets me is the dribble kick along the ground.

Surely its more accurate to take the 'ground' and bounce factor out of it and just kick it through the goals on the full ??

I also can't believe how many well-paid, full time professional footballs run too close to the man on the mark - kids stuff.

 

[HTT]

Jason Castagna is just a really bad set shot

Personally I can see why you snap from seemingly easy positions. Far easier to control the ball off the side of the boot. There’s a reason soccer players don’t kick with their toe.

 

[Back2Back2Back]

Does it really matter? Torpedos used to be more popular way back, they fell to the wayside when players opted for more control of a drop punt. Now players are currently finding they get more control with intentionally curving the ball rather than trying to lay one out dead straight. It's just a progression.

 

[Shane Heard]

Stevie Johnson started the trend.

Blame him.

 

[Conca Cuddle]

Fun fact - accuracy on snap goals are the lowest recorded in 2019 (37.9%) since the stat was first measured in 2013 (39.6%)

Are players worse at converting these shots, or are there lots of factors to consider?

edit* 8 times more shots are being attempted.

 

[Conca Cuddle]

Does it really matter? Torpedos used to be more popular way back, they fell to the wayside when players opted for more control of a drop punt. Now players are currently finding they get more control with intentionally curving the ball rather than trying to lay one out dead straight. It's just a progression.

Snap goal kicking accuracy has gone down so it potentially matters

 

[Conca Cuddle]

What gets me is the dribble kick along the ground.

Surely its more accurate to take the 'ground' and bounce factor out of it and just kick it through the goals on the full ??

I also can't believe how many well-paid, full time professional footballs run too close to the man on the mark - kids stuff.

Couldn't agree more

 

[Milanista28]

Players miss from 25 meters out directly in front when using a regulation drop punt as well, Should they have snapped?

 

[kickazz]

I think a well executed kick around the corner has a better chance at being a goal than a well executed straight kick for most angles. By well executed, I mean say the best 70 to 80 % of attempts. Kicking around the corner gives you more control of the left/right movement of the ball and opens the goal face when the ball passes through.

A good kick around the corner usually goes through. A good straight kick sometimes fades or pulls a little bit.

With the worst 20 to 30% or so of attempts it becomes a bit more about the look than the result. I think the behaviour of poor straight kicks gradually decline from an aesthetic point of view. But with kicks around the corner, get it slightly wrong and you look really stupid and miss by miles.

Basically I recon (numbers not precise but meant to be viewed relatively)

Around corner:
75% good kick, goal
5% ok kick, goal
5% ok kick, no goal
15% embarrassingly shithouse kick, no goal

Straight:

60% good kick, goal
15% good kick, just miss
5% ok kick, goal
10% ok kick, no goal
5% poor kick, no goal
5% embarrassingly shithouse kick, no goal


My point being around the corner gets better results, but looks a lot worse when you get it wrong and you are more likely to get it badly wrong.

Hope someone understands what the hell I'm on about.

 

[Conca Cuddle]

Players miss from 25 meters out directly in front when using a regulation drop punt as well, Should they have snapped?

Nope. Set shot is the preferred method for mine. Has been a standard feature of the game for a very long time

 

[kickazz]

What gets me is the dribble kick along the ground.

Surely its more accurate to take the 'ground' and bounce factor out of it and just kick it through the goals on the full ??

I also can't believe how many well-paid, full time professional footballs run too close to the man on the mark - kids stuff.

I think there only time this is acceptable is from deep in the pockets, when the curve you can get from the ground, Daicos style, is greater than you would get with a traditional in the air banana kick

 

[Milanista28]

Nope. Set shot is the preferred method for mine. Has been a standard feature of the game for a very long time

No such thing as "the preferred method"

Just kick the goal, doesn't matter how.

 

[Conca Cuddle]

I think a well executed kick around the corner has a better chance at being a goal than a well executed straight kick for most angles. By well executed, I mean say the best 70 to 80 % of attempts. Kicking around the corner gives you more control of the left/right movement of the ball and opens the goal face when the ball passes through.

A good kick around the corner usually goes through. A good straight kick sometimes fades or pulls a little bit.

With the worst 20 to 30% or so of attempts it becomes a bit more about the look than the result. I think the behaviour of poor straight kicks gradually decline from an aesthetic point of view. But with kicks around the corner, get it slightly wrong and you look really stupid and miss by miles.

Basically I recon (numbers not precise but meant to be viewed relatively)

Around corner:
75% good kick, goal
5% ok kick, goal
5% ok kick, no goal
15% embarrassingly s**thouse kick, no goal

Straight:

60% good kick, goal
15% good kick, just miss
5% ok kick, goal
10% ok kick, no goal
5% poor kick, no goal
5% embarrassingly s**thouse kick, no goal


My point being around the corner gets better results, but looks a lot worse when you get it wrong and you are more likely to get it badly wrong.

Hope someone understands what the hell I'm on about.

Love the analysis. If true it probably puts the argument to bed. Would love to know the legit percentages

 

[Conca Cuddle]

No such thing as "the preferred method"

Just kick the goal, doesn't matter how.

the "preferred method for mine"

 

[Milanista28]

the "preferred method for mine"

Fair enough. I don't care how they kick it as long as they commit to the kick, The Castagna one missed because his approach was lazy.

 

[4THAWN]

Some of the shots players take as snaps are plain ridiculous. Having said that, many players can't even have a straight run-up when taking a set shot, which limits their potential accuracy heaps. I just don't understand how they aren't being coached to stop this. I'd say the majority of players run at least a small arc when coming into kick a set shot and it does my head in. That's not proper technique, you're not buddy franklin, have a straight run up and maybe, just maybe, you'll find that you can kick the ball straighter at goals.

 

[RonnieRaven]

Yes
What shits me more is in warmup when they kick one out of four from straight in front instead of staying there and getting it right they jog to the boundary for half a dozen snaps!
You can kick a drop punt from 90% of angles the other ten percent you can pin point a pass to someone on a better angle.
It’s ridiculous
It was only twenty years ago in the country that if you couldn’t kick and handball on both sides you were average.
Now half the afl can’t do that or kick a drop punt goal from 30 straight in front.
It’s all about skinfolds and time trials
* me it shows in the standard

 

[Conca Cuddle]

Some of the shots players take as snaps are plain ridiculous. Having said that, many players can't even have a straight run-up when taking a set shot, which limits their potential accuracy heaps. I just don't understand how they aren't being coached to stop this. I'd say the majority of players run at least a small arc when coming into kick a set shot and it does my head in. That's not proper technique, you're not buddy franklin, have a straight run up and maybe, just maybe, you'll find that you can kick the ball straighter at goals.

So sad that goalkicking is the one skill that has not improved in the last 100 years of footy.

 

[Paganism mark II]

When they line up and kick straight, the ball deviates in the air 7 times out of 10, and for some bizzare reason it happens a lot under the roof at Marvel.
I actually feel more confident when a player kicks around his body

 

[4THAWN]

So sad that goalkicking is the one skill that has not improved in the last 100 years of footy.

I still remember getting sternly told by my junior coach who worked at an AFL club to stop running around on an arc when I was having a shot at goal. Yet seems like the coaches at these AFL sides are barely working on the goalkicking at all.

 

[Conca Cuddle]

I still remember getting sternly told by my junior coach who worked at an AFL club to stop running around on an arc when I was having a shot at goal. Yet seems like the coaches at these AFL sides are barely working on the goalkicking at all.

I couldn't pinpoint why it's gone backwards tbh but there's very few players in the AFL you'd put your house on from 30 metres out haha

 

[kickazz]

When comparing to accuracy of days gone by we need to remember:

1. A much greater percentage of shots at goal were taken by a fewer number of players; the specialist goalkicking forwards.

2. The aforementioned specialist forwards were not completely buggered from running repeatedly up and down the ground when they took their shots at goal.