Training Our players and basic skills

[Square Peg]

The sports science and high performance gurus will no doubt sniff with disdain, but do players still get hammered on the basic stuff we all got taught as kids?
Yes I know they have to have complex trigonometric formulas in their heads executing gameplans, and have every grey cell massaged by a sports psychologist, but do they have room for the basic shit that win you the 50:50 small moments in games, and so in the end wins you games.
There are many examples but my number one beef at the moment, Freo players, please put your head over the ball. A number of times this year including too many yesterday our players fumble simple ground balls because their heads were in the wrong position.
Are you afraid of getting hit? I think some of our guys need a few sessions training with the ammos and just smash some basic basic skills into them. They can't be training this stuff properly.

 

[beetz]

Yesterday skills were putrid. Worst I have seen in quite a while.

I read somewhere that WC seem to do much more skills based work than Freo - may have been Duffield who made the comment.

 

[eastfreo75]

Yesterday skills were putrid. Worst I have seen in quite a while.

I read somewhere that WC seem to do much more skills based work than Freo - may have been Duffield who made the comment.

This weekend when they control the ball and we turnover the ball, questions will need to be asked.

 

[nurries]

There is no question the WC training regime value skills where ours values effort.

Its not going to be pretty next weekend

 

[StingBitten]

Yesterday skills were putrid. Worst I have seen in quite a while.

I read somewhere that WC seem to do much more skills based work than Freo - may have been Duffield who made the comment.

It was Duffield.

I'm not a regular training watcher, but I've heard that skills receive less focus over other areas of the game - until they become an obvious issue and it receives greater focus (reactive).

I've no doubt the training this week will increase focus on skills, however I imagine this will be short term.

 

[beetz]

It was Duffield.

I'm not a regular training watcher, but I've heard that skills receive less focus over other areas of the game - until they become an obvious issue and it receives greater focus (reactive).

I've no doubt the training this week will increase focus on skills, however I imagine this will be short term.

It's been an obvious issue for nearly 3 years.

 

[Deveraux]

A Knee-jerk reaction this week is a bandaid, major time needs to be spent on skills not just in repsonse to poor skills with 4 points on the line.

Imagine what the scoreline would have been if we had the skills to match our endeavour and game plan yesterday!!

 

[Cesoir]

It's been an obvious issue for nearly 3 years.

A lot longer than that. Our "good" teams of 2012 - 2015 had some of the worst exponents of skills we have ever had - think Zac Dawson, Danyle Pearce, Tom Sheridan, Matt DeBoer - but we were allowed to compensate for that with extreme effort.

The game has been forced away from that paradigm with all the rule changes, and will continue to do so, which means that we are having to change as well. I don't think skills are our problem at the moment, I just think we can't execute under pressure and that is exactly how West Coast were not that long ago. We are transitioning to a more attacking game plan, there is no question about that, and it will just take time to "bed down". Some of the guys making basic skill errors yesterday were guys like Mundy, Hill, McCarthy, shit even Cerra lobbed one out on the full and we know all those guys have great skills. They are just over thinking it. I think our focus is and will continue to be getting the guys to play the new game style instinctively and until that happens we will continue to see highly skilled players make skill errors.

As far as West Coast, they have their game plan well bedded down, have had a pretty stable list for a number of years and can now focus on fine-tuning skills. They are a long way ahead of us an only time will close that gap.

 

[wild side]

Cam McCarthy is one of our best field kicks, and he sprayed at least 2 out on the full yesterday, and failed to spot Hogan who was miles in the clear in the last quarter.
He really is an exceptional kick, so it just goes to show pressure of game day is very different to pressure at training

 

[Righteo]

It's probably one of the main reasons many of us here covet Jack Martin so highly, beautifully weighted kick on both sides

imo we need to get Bewley in to see what he can add, mature ager with a highly touted left boot should be pressing for selection sooner rather than later.

 

[FreoMonocle]

A lot of new faces in a short time. They do need to focus on game plan, tactics - and keep at that. When players are getting in better positions and not getting in each others way all the time, then the focus can shift...

 

[Square Peg]

It isn't just kicking, though that's clearly a problem. It's something even more fundamental IMO. Head over the ball, three guys up at a contest and none down, knowing where to run to help out a teammate. We seem poor at ammo level basic game knowledge

 

[Admiral Byng]

It's everything. It is lack of basic skills, lack of confidence, not putting your head over the ball, not getting your body behind the line of the ball, not going at the ball with soft hands... plus things like being too close in the contest so not giving time to react and take control of the ball, instead the ball comes out and rebounds off hard hands before the player has time to react and grab the ball.

Been a problem for years with Freo. We don't win and maintain enough ball. not because we can't get hands on it first, we lose the ball because our first hands are not clean and it rebounds off hard hands until someone else can pick it up.

 

[AAACockburn]

It isn't just kicking, though that's clearly a problem. It's something even more fundamental IMO. Head over the ball, three guys up at a contest and none down, knowing where to run to help out a teammate. We seem poor at ammo level basic game knowledge

We are about to face the free kick farmers and you want our players to put their heads over the ball.
Cripps would be frothin if that was the case. It would be like watching some one play ten pin bowling.

Jokes aside I see where you are coming from with the basics, its woeful and has been for a while now.
It is so frustrating to watch week in week out.

 

[Belnakor]

Yesterday skills were putrid. Worst I have seen in quite a while.

I read somewhere that WC seem to do much more skills based work than Freo - may have been Duffield who made the comment.

Ross doesn't believe in teaching skills. He thinks you can't change anything by the time they arrive at the club.

 

[Monument Hills]

I got their early and was sitting way up in the stands behind the goals that Freo were practicing in front of.

I specifically noticed and was disappointed that during their earlier kicking drills to each other and coaches, most of our players bar Hogan and Cerra were lackadaisical, rarely hit a player on the chest, the markers constantly had to reach across or down to mark the ball, they just didn't appear to take every kick seriously. Handballs half-hearted rarely hitting the hands of the recipient. And that was with no pressure.

Contrast that to later when they started taking shots on goal. Careful, slotted from every angle, there was hardly a miss, even from the boundary. Carefully choosing their lines, where their mark was.

Nek minut, the game starts, we hardly miss a goal, yet can't hit a player on the chest with a kick or handball and you all saw the rest. My thought was, well what a (Fn) surprise.

I tell the kids I coach, what you do in practice you do in the game. It's not rocket science. The coaches/leaders at Freo obviously don't see it as important enough because most of the players don't seem to and we see the resulting poor skills bs week after week. Even when we win, it's that kamikazee pressure football that overcomes the opposition, but never classy, maintain possession kick to kick. And it is always our undoing.

 

[Belnakor]

PS on the weekend i noticed the lines on the ground were not clear in the sun which meant it was possible sometimes the players misjudged where the ball could be kicked.

 

[masai]

Number 1 - get a decent pair of bloody boots.

Number 2 - sticky up hands ( rozen ? ).

Number 3 - kick through the ball, when kicking.

Number 4 - kick on both sides of body. Yes that is a message to Brandon Matera, banana passes don't work all the time.

Number 5 - marking contest, one up + one down + mosquitoes buzzing around.

 

[Alfonz]

Freo have the most turnovers in the competition. WC have the fewest. Going to be a nightmare.

 

[Unique Name]

Just said it in the other thread but consistent poor users of the ball need to be transitioned out of the side.

The club has clearly seen foot skills as a major part of the rebuild.

Wilson, Hogan, Cox, Ryan, Cerra, Sturt, Valente, Duman, Matera, BHill, Bennell, Tucker, McCarthy, Switta, Bewley.

All drafted or traded in within the last three drafts and known for having better than average field kicking.


Add in those already on the list with good skills I can see we are trying to change the list over to a more skilled side.

Skills in the Saints games were genuinely awful though. Handballing skills especially. The dinky kicks didn't really work either.

 

[One_Wing]

Just said it in the other thread but consistent poor users of the ball need to be transitioned out of the side.

The club has clearly seen foot skills as a major part of the rebuild.

Wilson, Hogan, Cox, Ryan, Cerra, Sturt, Valente, Duman, Matera, BHill, Bennell, Tucker, McCarthy, Switta, Bewley.

All drafted or traded in within the last three drafts and known for having better than average field kicking.


Add in those already on the list with good skills I can see we are trying to change the list over to a more skilled side.

Skills in the Saints games were genuinely awful though. Handballing skills especially. The dinky kicks didn't really work either.

So players with poor foot skills like Langdon? or even Blakely?

 

[eastfreo75]

I got their early and was sitting way up in the stands behind the goals that Freo were practicing in front of.

I specifically noticed and was disappointed that during their earlier kicking drills to each other and coaches, most of our players bar Hogan and Cerra were lackadaisical, rarely hit a player on the chest, the markers constantly had to reach across or down to mark the ball, they just didn't appear to take every kick seriously. Handballs half-hearted rarely hitting the hands of the recipient. And that was with no pressure.

Contrast that to later when they started taking shots on goal. Careful, slotted from every angle, there was hardly a miss, even from the boundary. Carefully choosing their lines, where their mark was.

Nek minut, the game starts, we hardly miss a goal, yet can't hit a player on the chest with a kick or handball and you all saw the rest. My thought was, well what a (Fn) surprise.

I tell the kids I coach, what you do in practice you do in the game. It's not rocket science. The coaches/leaders at Freo obviously don't see it as important enough because most of the players don't seem to and we see the resulting poor skills bs week after week. Even when we win, it's that kamikazee pressure football that overcomes the opposition, but never classy, maintain possession kick to kick. And it is always our undoing.

Spot on.

Surely, mental concentration is the biggest effort measure in my view.

Jeff Gieschen got to West Perth he noticed in training a lot of grounded balls and miss kicks because the things you noticed with the warm up.

Gieschen turned the club.

 

[Unique Name]

So players with poor foot skills like Langdon? or even Blakely?

I don't think Blakely's foot skills are as bad as some make out. I put him in the Hamling, Taberner grouping of serviceable.

Also, Blakely like Fyfe offers something that overrides the average field kicking. He is a prolific ball winner. We need players that can win the ball first. If he keeps within his limits Blakely is a massive asset.

Langdon I agree. He's borderline for me. His gut run and ability to spread like Brad Hill are a massive positive for our side.... but his poor disposal can really hurt us (Like it did on the weekend).

Luckily for Langdon our depth on the wings though isn't very diverse. Giro is very similar to Langdon. Bewley needs to show something in Peel to start putting pressure on. Would love SHilly to come back and play the opposite wing to BHilly.


Alex Pearce's disposal isn't great either. But defensively he more than makes up for it.


My point was that the majority of the team will have good foot skills. Those that aren't great have other strings to their bow that give them a pass.

Logue - Hamling - Ryan
Wilson - APearce - Duman
S Hill - Cerra - B Hill
Walters - Hogan - McCarthy
Matera - Taberner - Lobb

Darcy - Fyfe - Tucker

Conca - Brayshaw - Blakely - Mundy

Potential to add Cox, Switta, Valente, Bewley, Sturt.

 

[apuchar]

Just said it in the other thread but consistent poor users of the ball need to be transitioned out of the side.

The club has clearly seen foot skills as a major part of the rebuild.

Wilson, Hogan, Cox, Ryan, Cerra, Sturt, Valente, Duman, Matera, BHill, Bennell, Tucker, McCarthy, Switta, Bewley.

All drafted or traded in within the last three drafts and known for having better than average field kicking.


Add in those already on the list with good skills I can see we are trying to change the list over to a more skilled side.

Skills in the Saints games were genuinely awful though. Handballing skills especially. The dinky kicks didn't really work either.

I agree with that, but it doesn't mean you still don't have to practice your skills on a regular basis.
I would also like us to move out as many poorly skilled and poor decision- makers as they can over as short a time as possible. We have a critical mass of poor disposers and it makes everything harder. They must get worn out constantly having to win the ball back. Someone like Hughes has obvious and just as good replacements available for selection, who also have tidy skills and are quicker in the mind than him, so his selection is baffling to me

 

[jedi mind tricks]

Yesterday skills were putrid. Worst I have seen in quite a while.

I read somewhere that WC seem to do much more skills based work than Freo - may have been Duffield who made the comment.

I've been saying this for years that Freo don't do much skills training.

Some posters shout me down and say that's B S. Others say they don't need skills training because once they are on the list skills can't be improved.

What a load of shit.

Ross doesn't coach skills and his coaching staff underneath him are putrid.

I know I'm right because I've been watching training ever since day one Ross Lyon at Freo.