Balance of player when taking shots at goal

Balance of player when taking shots at goal

Hi All. I am coaching a senior ladies side this year and have one player, who is a provincial player, that after practically every second shot at goal she is flat on the turf. She is extremely fast and very accurate with her shots but has more turf roasties than skin on her knees and elbows. Thanks. Bev

Bev KochCoach, South Africa
TOP ANSWER
Mick MasonCoach, Australia

G`day. I struck this before and it was a reasonably simple fix. Video her action inside the D and look at her hitting technique. A couple of players I had that were doing this were hitting without cocking their wrists and so to get stick head speed they were rotating at the hips which upset their balance when they swung. They let the ball drop a little behind and then twist back to the right, making it very hard to keep running (their torso being for a time facing to the right). Or they were running at a tangent to the goal (towards the right T ) and were swinging hard at balls poked out a little in front and the big swing would have their legs trying to go one way while their upper body tried to follow the ball. Some work on smaller swings with more wrist action cut out almost all the falls. Another action that helps is for them to learn hits off the right foot which allows them to turn and head towards the goal and still hit the ball at the goal. They stay more upright and all their body is headed in the same direction. They don`t have to move the ball right and twist to strike the ball. It also catches a good number of GKs off guard.
I hope this helps
cheers

Mick

ANSWERS
Mick MasonCoach, Australia

G`day. I struck this before and it was a reasonably simple fix. Video her action inside the D and look at her hitting technique. A couple of players I had that were doing this were hitting without cocking their wrists and so to get stick head speed they were rotating at the hips which upset their balance when they swung. They let the ball drop a little behind and then twist back to the right, making it very hard to keep running (their torso being for a time facing to the right). Or they were running at a tangent to the goal (towards the right T ) and were swinging hard at balls poked out a little in front and the big swing would have their legs trying to go one way while their upper body tried to follow the ball. Some work on smaller swings with more wrist action cut out almost all the falls. Another action that helps is for them to learn hits off the right foot which allows them to turn and head towards the goal and still hit the ball at the goal. They stay more upright and all their body is headed in the same direction. They don`t have to move the ball right and twist to strike the ball. It also catches a good number of GKs off guard.
I hope this helps
cheers

Mick

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