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Skills Straightening kicking leg

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obscura

obscura

Club Legend
Aug 31, 2009
1,023
84
Melbourne, Australia
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Tottenham Hotspur
I am in the process of remodelling my kick in the off-season and the biggest problem I can see from other people's observations is my propensity to always swing my kicking leg (right) to the left across my body. I think it hinders distance and fluency in my kicking. Is there an easy way to correct this and train body to follow through straight?
 
Are you lining your shoulders up perpendicular to the target? If your torso is straight with both your hips & shoulders pointing to the target, the leg should swing straight and not accross the body.

I found this harder to correct on the run than from a standing start.
 
Can be a muscular issue actually.

I tore some fibers in my medial ligament and lost a lost of strength right on the inside point of my knee.

I was intending to re-modeling my kicking action anyway, as I wasn't kicking from the hip, and when I started to do it I could only keep my leg's (below the knee) swing straight when I was actually concentrating on that aspect.

If I wasn't concentrating the bottom half of my leg would move towards my non-kicking leg.

This may not be the problem, but I thought I'd post it as food for thought.
 

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i would also like a response to this but i want to improve my use of my opposite foot... i dont use mine now so want to improve over summer my left side skills....
 
obscura said:
I am in the process of remodelling my kick in the off-season and the biggest problem I can see from other people's observations is my propensity to always swing my kicking leg (right) to the left across my body. I think it hinders distance and fluency in my kicking. Is there an easy way to correct this and train body to follow through straight?
Click to expand...

The trend to kick across the body is common practice amongst players under 17 years of age .
- The reason being that players up to that age generally yet to develop their core strength .
Inturn players swing there legs either by crossing the body or running in an ark to increase the speed at which the foot connects with the ball .
- Speed of the foot when connecting with the ball has a direct impact on result distance !
- I haven't come across a player who chooses to kick across their body or feels comfortable in doing so .
So to fix your problems, pending age, I'd suggest 2 things , firstly build core strength , secondly work on how close your foot gets to your butt during the back swing( your heal should get within 20-30mm of your butt ) , this is the most important , easiest , yet most often overlooked facet in kicking .
 
sup3rfish said:
i would also like a response to this but i want to improve my use of my opposite foot... i dont use mine now so want to improve over summer my left side skills....
Click to expand...

Mate there is only one way to improve your opposite side, and that is by repetition. I started practicing on mine at about 6 or 7, by the time I was 14 is was almost second nature.

I have a cousin who won 3 league b&f's in the old Bass Valley league who taught me the importance of being able to use your opposite foot, if only to get yourself out of trouble. It certainly is an advantage if you can use it well.
 
pace to freeze said:
The trend to kick across the body is common practice amongst players under 17 years of age .
- The reason being that players up to that age generally yet to develop their core strength .
Inturn players swing there legs either by crossing the body or running in an ark to increase the speed at which the foot connects with the ball .
- Speed of the foot when connecting with the ball has a direct impact on result distance !
- I haven't come across a player who chooses to kick across their body or feels comfortable in doing so .
So to fix your problems, pending age, I'd suggest 2 things , firstly build core strength , secondly work on how close your foot gets to your butt during the back swing( your heal should get within 20-30mm of your butt ) , this is the most important , easiest , yet most often overlooked facet in kicking .
Click to expand...

I've never thought about the backswing, I might give this a crack. I have the ability to be a very good kick but consistency is my problem. I find it a lot easier to kick over 35-50m than 20-25.

I feel as well that coaching is less stringent. I think there is less focus on technique and more on result with football today. Certainly as well once you get past a certain age there becomes an expectation that you already know all the fundamentals and they dont get critique or improved upon.
 
Try landing on the foot you kick with. So both feet off brig kicking foot down first...if you swing your leg - you fall over.....great incentive.
 
Butts_JZZ30 said:
I've never thought about the backswing, I might give this a crack. I have the ability to be a very good kick but consistency is my problem. I find it a lot easier to kick over 35-50m than 20-25.

I feel as well that coaching is less stringent. I think there is less focus on technique and more on result with football today. Certainly as well once you get past a certain age there becomes an expectation that you already know all the fundamentals and they dont get critique or improved upon.
Click to expand...

Ah ha , now this is a different problem although slightly linked . I'll have a guess and suspect your short passes generally are a little more up and under in projectory than you'd like ???
If so it's most like you are not over the ball enough when you make connection , ideally and for basic purposes , your shoulders should be straight over your hips when kicking .
The fixing of this fault is quite easy also never , ever , ever kick the Footy without taking 2 steps after kicking . So every tome you kick whether it be kicking to mates at school , if at school, or before training always take 2 steps after kicking . It actually forces you to stay over the Footy and to a lesser extent stay straight .
 
Thanks for the tips guys. It certainly is a case of what you described. When I take a take mark and quickly plan on and switch the play for example I generally kick the ball effectively. It does seem to happen when I hesitate, think about and then force myself into kicking off one step, across my body, or in a rushed process. I really just need to kick a stack of balls keeping my body over the ball.

The kick is certainly up and ender and I'm always hesitant to really kick through the ball and justifiably because rather than kicking it flat I'm sending it in an upward motion. Strange I kick it fairly flat and accurately over distance.
 
Im starting from scratch again because coaches are too fitness orientated and they forget skill and brains is permanent while fitness is temporary.......How can I improve my swing, like how do the best in AFL improve their swing ? How far should your leg go back?
 

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"Roar Passion" said:
Ah ha , now this is a different problem although slightly linked . I'll have a guess and suspect your short passes generally are a little more up and under in projectory than you'd like ???
If so it's most like you are not over the ball enough when you make connection , ideally and for basic purposes , your shoulders should be straight over your hips when kicking .
The fixing of this fault is quite easy also never , ever , ever kick the Footy without taking 2 steps after kicking . So every tome you kick whether it be kicking to mates at school , if at school, or before training always take 2 steps after kicking . It actually forces you to stay over the Footy and to a lesser extent stay straight .
Click to expand...

What websites are out there to help with ur technique ?? What test would Dan Carter do to improve his swing ?
 
I find most of my kicking problems come from my ball drop, which can result into my leg coming across my body sometimes. I can usually sense when this is happening, so I alter my ball drop to something similar to Ben Cousins, holding the ball as long and as low as possible, so that in order to hit my target, my leg must come through straight, providing my shoulders and hips are lined up with the target. I usually use this action for anything up to a 35m kick, after that I load up a bit more.

I also have numerous ball grips depending on what I feel on the day, all seem to work fine. But my further front on grip (hands further around towards the laces) is good for penetration and lower passes.

In terms of my leg, it is something I have never really changed, I had problems when I was younger trying to kick for distance. I guess the key is to not try and kick the ball too hard and have cues at trainings and games if you must, telling yourself "straight leg, follow through strong, placement not power" or along those lines.
 

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Skills Straightening kicking leg

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