TYPES OF KICKS USED IN ROUND 1

                                         

In my previous post I looked at a study recently released that aimed to find correlations between collective behavior and team performance in regards to how tactical, technical, physical and psychological actions affect the outcome of AFL games.

One of it's conclusions was that it may be beneficial to focus on optimising attacking via low pressure ball movement and off the back of that I thought I'd take some hard stats on what AFL teams actually do in games.

Knowing what happens in games allows you to train more efficiently and effectively and instead of training what you want to happen, like center clearance work with zero defenders or opposing ruck, you train what actually does happen, and give yourself the chance of actual transfer of training into games otherwise you're really wasting your time.

Below you'll find stats for all 1st quarter kicks taken from the Melbourne v Western Bulldogs game, followed by all 3rd quarter of kicks taken from the Sydney v GWS game, both from round 1 this past weekend.

All category totals are for both teams combined for the entire quarter.

MELBOURNE v WESTERN BULLDOGS

KICKS PERFORMED

• Closed Kick (from a mark or free kick) x 67
• Open Kick No Pressure (ground ball, handball receive, mark then play on n the clear) x 18
• Open Kick Some Pressure (pressure within 3 - 5m) x 16
• Open Kick High Pressure (immediate pressure, being tackled while kicking) x 17
• Hack/Dump Kick Down the Line (kicks out of congestion with no obvious target) x 4

KICKS TO

• Teammate Under Zero Pressure x 24
• Even Number Contest (1v1, 2v2, 3v3) x 15
• Pack x 9
• Stationary Teammate x 9
• For Territory/To Space (long down the line kicks) x 15
• Leading Teammate x 14
• Hotspot Contest x 2
• Turnover x 16
• Scoring Shots x 13

SYDNEY v GWS

KICKS PERFORMED

• Closed Kick (from a mark or free kick) x 67
• Open Kick No Pressure (ground ball, handball receive, mark then play on n the clear) x 8
• Open Kick Some Pressure (pressure within 3 - 5m) x 11
• Open Kick High Pressure (immediate pressure, being tackled while kicking) x 19
• Hack/Dump Kick Down the Line (kicks out of congestion with no obvious target) x 16

KICKS TO

• Teammate Under Zero Pressure x 14
• Even Number Contest (1v1, 2v2, 3v3) x 19
• Pack x 12
• Stationary Teammate x 18
• For Territory/To Space (long down the line kicks) x 11
• Leading Teammate x 14
• Hotspot Contest x 3
• Turnover x 12
• Scoring Shots x 14

In my next post I'll break some of these stats down a bit more but what do you make of them?