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Lynchy's Comments

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acuguy

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Last night i was very interested in Lynchy's comments about Matthews being very big on players getting to their dominate side to use the footy. Lynch basically said (reading between the lines) that Lions players aren't pushed to improve their opposite foot skills. Dwayne Russell then chipped in and said we need to keep Lethal away from Auskick clinics.

Honestly we all know Lethal has done a great job etc etc, but this would worry me greatly that our boys aren't working on their non preferred side deficiencies, if anyone watched the Gellong vs Bulldogs game they would have seen Mooney firing off big left hand handballs to set play up and turning on his left foot to get the ball moving. Johnson hitting targets in forward 50 with his left, Gamble kicking an amazing left foot goal, Milburn coming out of attack and hitting targets on his left, the list doesn't stop and i haven't even got to the bulldogs players!

The very best teams have highly skilled footballers that are able to use both sides of the body!

A very interesting insight into the Lions camp!
 
I heard that as well, and to be honest was shocked. I wonder if this a major part of our skill deficit problems compared to other teams. I can't remember the other stat used, but it was 1 in 5 of our disposals are clangers. A problem.
 
acuguy said:
The very best teams have highly skilled footballers that are able to use both sides of the body
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I think the other way of viewing this is that if you aren't the most skilled team it is best not to have your efficiency drop further by using your "other" side.
 
notting18 said:
I think the other way of viewing this is that if you aren't the most skilled team it is best not to have your efficiency drop further by using your "other" side.
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Did you ever play football as a youngtser Notting 18? I think what they mean, is that at auskick level and up. Children are taught the skill of handball and kicking with both sides. This is so they have that equal ability with all their skills. I think they were shocked that our coach doesn't regard this as a request or that we work on this at all.
 

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triplemac said:
Did you ever play football as a youngtser Notting 18? I think what they mean, is that at auskick level and up. Children are taught the skill of handball and kicking with both sides. This is so they have that equal ability with all their skills. I think they were shocked that our coach doesn't regard this as a request or that we work on this at all.
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As much as kids are taught to be equally able, almost NO FOOTBALLER is equally able on both sides besides Jason Akermanis. Thus if Leigh puts emphasis of trying to have the most accurate disposal by using your dominate side I am not fussed, it is just a smart tactic. I think it is a slight over reaction to assume that Leigh and the lions coaching staff don't "work on this at all". "Reading between the lines" is not something that I treat as fact...
 
I think perhaps the idea is that if the players have not developed that aspect of their game by the time they reach AFL level that they would have to spend too much time working on it to get their non dominant side up to a usable standard.

This approach did not seem to hold us back too much 01-03.
 
I am definitely a fan of players having good skills on both sides of the body, but this thread reminds me of a story my brother-in-law told me many years ago about when he was playing Teal Cup for Qld. Robbie Flower had been invited to take the team for a skills session and he asked my BIL what he was like on his left foot. The BIL said that he was "pretty good" to which Flower replied "well, never use it, always use your dominant side unless you have no other choice".

I always found that story interesting, and given that Flower and Leigh are from the same era it may reflect a style of play that has long since been superseded. I have also wondered whether Luke Power was coached by Flower as a youngster!
 
notting18 said:
I think it is a slight over reaction to assume that Leigh and the lions coaching staff don't "work on this at all".
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Agree Notting. Lynch didn't say they don't practice it, just that in a match situation they are encouraged to get into position to use their preferred foot.
 
Interesting point this. I wonder if this is making our boys more predictable. The opposition always knows which way our boys are going to swing around.

I thought there were an inordinate number of smothers in last night's game, especially of our inside 50 kicks. Could this be partly due to the man on the mark being able to read what side the kick will come from?
 
I've seen training drills reasonably regularly over the past 7-8 yeras and they usually do kicking and handballing drills on both sides of the body. I didn't hear the comment from Lynchy, so I can't really comment on it specifically.
 
As a father of two, I have a son now playing under 10's and one still in Auskick. In Auskick, the kids are aged 5 to 8 years. Time is spent introducing and assisting the kids with some basic skills. This morning the 7 year olds were learning to bounce the ball, handball and shots at goal.
A lot struggle to hold the ball correctly to be able to kick properly.
Able to use the ball on both sides of the body is not taught at Auskick.
Under 10's training is all about teamwork, tackling, shepherding, goal kicking etc. Again use of ball on both sides is not taught. :)
 
The fact that Matthews wants the players to steady up and utilise their dominant side is commonsense.

While most players are proficient on both sides of their body, the fact is all players are better on one side. When able, they need to utilise that side of the body.

Lynch mentioned this when Clark tried the banana along the ground for goal when he should have steadied and kicked a drop punt. Attempting to blame our attrocious skills on this directive is ridiculous.
 
Monkey Daniel said:
As a father of two, I have a son now playing under 10's and one still in Auskick. In Auskick, the kids are aged 5 to 8 years. Time is spent introducing and assisting the kids with some basic skills. This morning the 7 year olds were learning to bounce the ball, handball and shots at goal.
A lot struggle to hold the ball correctly to be able to kick properly.
Able to use the ball on both sides of the body is not taught at Auskick.
Under 10's training is all about teamwork, tackling, shepherding, goal kicking etc. Again use of ball on both sides is not taught. :)
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I can tell you right now that learning to kick on both sides of the body should be achieved as early as possible, with kids your age they should begin with tennis balls, kicking is about ball drop and correct swing of the foot, a good ball drop requires control of the ball, that is why starting with a tennis ball is a good idea.

Okay i am going to tee off, if you don't see the benefit in using both sides of your body than you know little to nothing about football in the game application, all these people that are saying try and get on your dominant side at all costs don't realise that use of the non preferred side prevents you from being caught and as long as you get your kicking to be effective then it is going to be advantageous to your team. If you watch our team play, the amount of times our players are caught, trapped or miss attacking opportunities due to their lack of skill on their non dominant side is outrageous.

Finally if your child is playing junior footy and they aren't learning to use both sides of your body then their coach is hindering their development
 

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The Flying Belgian said:
I've seen training drills reasonably regularly over the past 7-8 yeras and they usually do kicking and handballing drills on both sides of the body.
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Yep, as soon as I read this thread I thought the same.

Any statement that the Lions don't work skills on both foot is easily dismissed by watching a Wednesday skills session.

Lynchy was probably just trying to say something insightful. He hasn't played a game with the club since 2004, so it would appear things have changed.
 
OMG what an overreaction. Lynchy said that Leigh tells them to play on their preferred side and make the effort to do so. Makes sense to me especially given the circumstance that he was commenting on.

Isn't that part of playing accountable football.
 
Id rather see players who are not skilled on both sides of their body try and get onto their preferred side. It is about knowing ones limits.

To be honest, i feel this kicking on both sides of the body argument is the least of our problems at the moment. Im more worried about getting enough of the ball to beat good sides.
 
kimp said:
OMG what an overreaction. Lynchy said that Leigh tells them to play on their preferred side and make the effort to do so. Makes sense to me especially given the circumstance that he was commenting on.

Isn't that part of playing accountable football.
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No it isn't, footy is about judgements, when you play footy you know there are times you cannot get onto your favoured side, or by doing so it takes you longer and hence an attacking opportunity is lost. Having skills on both sides of the body opens up so many more options for a footballer, having poor skills on one side of your body closes down alot of your options. This is part of our problem, through the midfield and in our forward line, we have so many players that cannot use their non preferred foot and it makes them predictable. When you play in any competition over the years you get to know players strengths and weaknesses, you know the players that will run an arc because they can't use their non preferred hence the run down is likely to happen, i could go on.


The point is our recruiters have erred over the last 5 years and we are left with a group of poorly skilled footballers that are being carried by some great players.
 

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What you have extrapolated from Lynchy's words is OTT. You're just using it to justify you old mantra.

People who have been to trianing have already said that they train on both sides. Was that passage of play (that Lynchy commented on) better because he played on his non-preferred side? Or would it have been better if he'd taken the time to get onto his preferred side given the circumstances.

It is a big exaggeration to blame not having ambidextrous players as to why we're currently having a form slump.
 
I think acuguy's point that being able to use your non-dominant side is an advantage and kimp's point that Lynch's comments are being taken out of context are both true.
 
Having watched about a zillion junior footy games, those who have more skills, develop better awareness as they have more options to choose from - their play book dictionary just has more entries. How they use them is the key .. if you are courageous, athletic and have a few tricks, you can get away with some skill difficencies ( witness Scott Lucas ! ) but if you can go left and right ...

One of the best natural options is to be left handed / right footed ( or visa versa ) .. never stuck for a solution ( unless you kick goals ! ).
 

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