KICKING MECHANICS KINOGRAM METHOD

My previous post titled "The Kicking Mechanics Rabbit Hole"  looked at how I've seen kicking mechanics taught by various coaches and what the potential shortcomings could be of those various methods.

In a nutshell too many internal cues (hands here, leg does this, arm goes there etc) serves to only overload the kicker with information and making what should be an instinctive action into a robotic one that has little, if any, variability to it, meaning in a game situation where there are opposition and many, many moving parts, the time to think isn't there in 99% of decisions are made instinctively.

This results in low transference from training to games.

What I'll propose here is something I've picked up from track and field areas called the kinogram which is a series of images showing the different stages of a movement, allowing you to see what shapes are made at those different stages that can help provide context to an otherwise low context situation.

It also decreases the information to the kicker, essentially getting rid of the noise and focusing on the big rocks which will clean most, if not all deficiencies one might have.

It's critical that kicking actions will vary from person to person and there is definitely not just 1 model to fit everyone so the images also provides the coach an insight into what shapes a kicker makes in the action, and then they can design kicking drills around that, not force them into a shape or action that isn't right for them.

Here's my kicking kinogram from video's I took the other day with the top 5 images being a regular kick for height and distance and the bottom 5 images being a low and hard stab pass.

Image #1 - Taken just as the ball leaves your guiding hand

Image #2 - Taken as the plant foot is flat on the ground

Image #3 - Taken just as both knees are parallel to each other

Image #4 - Taken as the ball makes initial contact with foot

Image #5 - Taken at the top point of the follow through

Now it's not that these specific points in the kicking action are the most important, it's that they occur in all kicking actions regardless of technical/mechanical variability.

From here you can now see what micro differences there is between a long/high kick and a low/hard kick - can you list them?

I would encourage you to get out in the next few days, take some videos of both kicks and then put them through Instagram and make a 3 image photo and a 2 image photo, then chuck them through Canva to make the finished product I have above, and post them in the comments below.

I'll be very interested in seeing what shapes are common among different kickers and what changes from person to person.