Pathetic Shooting Practise At Training.

[mrsblue]

Not at all. Theres a massive difference in teaching technique and general training.

We should be training in all aspects, my point is if Weston isnt hitting the ball at 26 then there is something wrong and focussing just on that is highly unlikely to result in him turning into a prolific striker.

Id rather we were practicing on how to attack as a team rather than focusing on individuals technique at how to strike a ball, when in reality its composure and decision making thats actually more to blame, and other than general striking practice I have no idea how you improve on what is a matchday issue.

Defensive and offensive training is definitely what we should be doing, teaching an experienced pro to kick a ball isnt going to have a lot of effect, certainly in the short term.

I agree :smile:

Professionals are talented and can hit the ball with accuracy which us mere mortals can only dream of,The difference between training and matches are IMO worlds apart.

Phil said in the press perhaps he has put too much fear into them and maybe he had?

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Will you still hold that view if lack of goals costs us promotion again ?

What view? I think lack of goals will cost us promotion unless we get a proven goalscorer in. It's not like they aren't given the chances, they just aren't hitting the back of the net.

I was being diplomatic on Barney. I don't think he can or will cut it.

 

[borientater]

Instead of the usual shooting practise why not practise converting crosses ? this gives wingers and full backs crossing practise and lot more like real play .

 

[Jam_Man]

I agree :smile:

Professionals are talented and can hit the ball with accuracy which us mere mortals can only dream of,The difference between training and matches are IMO worlds apart.

Phil said in the press perhaps he has put too much fear into them and maybe he had?

Maybe, certainly could have added to it, although it didnt affect Payne.The problem is when you are in poor form then its even more pressure on the strikers. They carry the weight of expectations on their shoulders more than anyone at this time.

As been said already being able to deal with that at that instant you need to take your shot when you have keeper and defenders bearing down on you is something you have or you dont have.

Technique is one thing, composure another.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I don't understand why strikers need coaching in how to hit the ball, that's basic as basic and they already have these skills, in fact most decent amateur players can strike the ball well, what they need is coaching in movement, taking up the correct position, spinning your man etc. not shooting !!!! As for missing the target that is almost always down to getting the mind right not the feet, that's why players at world class level still miss when 1-1 with the keeper or balloon penalties over the bar.

Getting everybody working on the same wavelength would to me seem like time better spent.

I refer to Ian Rush again. He played 9 games for the greatest team at that time in Britain in 1980 and didn't score a goal. Remarkable as they were thrashing teams. He missed so many chances that Bob Paisley was getting a lot of stick from fans and media for signing and playing him. He didn't score until 30th September 1981. He was given special training and was shown a few minor adjustments, and then couldn't stop scoring and became their greatest ever scorer with 346 goals. So a few minor adjustments can make a massive difference.
In my own case, I was striking the ball slightly too far in front of me, and if my body was at an angle it could go anywhere off the front of my boot. I was taught to be more upright and to strike the ball under my body more, rather than in front of it, and this meant that I was striking it with more contact with a bigger area of my boot. It gave me so much more accuracy and power.
So I'm a big believer that even a professional football striker can be improved by the right person. Just like a professional golfer can be improved by the right coach.

 

[Shrimper2thecore]

Get SVC in to teach them a thing or two.

 

[Pubey]

I refer to Ian Rush again. He played 9 games for the greatest team at that time in Britain in 1980 and didn't score a goal. Remarkable as they were thrashing teams. He missed so many chances that Bob Paisley was getting a lot of stick from fans and media for signing and playing him. He didn't score until 30th September 1981. He was given special training and was shown a few minor adjustments, and then couldn't stop scoring and became their greatest ever scorer with 346 goals. So a few minor adjustments can make a massive difference.
In my own case, I was striking the ball slightly too far in front of me, and if my body was at an angle it could go anywhere off the front of my boot. I was taught to be more upright and to strike the ball under my body more, rather than in front of it, and this meant that I was striking it with more contact with a bigger area of my boot. It gave me so much more accuracy and power.
So I'm a big believer that even a professional football striker can be improved by the right person. Just like a professional golfer can be improved by the right coach.

Was it the minor adjustments that saw the change in his form, or was it the faith that was shown by Paisley, the fact that he was given more chances, or the fact that he focussed on a particular problem (technical) rather than dwell on the bigger problem (not scoring).

No one can be sure of the answer, but I'd suggest it's a combination of things and it's very reductive to say to a professional striker who hasn't scored in a few games to change your technique because it's the cause of all your problems.

I'd argue that being a good striker is about technique, decision-making and confidence. The first you develop as a youngster, and seeing as Coulthirst has been at Spurs for several years I'm pretty sure he'll have been coached well and developed good technique. The second you get from match experience and general training. The third you get from scoring goals and a manager and team having faith in you.

Like I said before - we should continue to give Coulthirst a chance and he should continue to work on general training and linking up with Corr et al. I'm sure once a goal goes in he'll start firing.

 

[Beefy]

Plenty of strikers have gone a while without scoring their first goal for a new club. Happened to Gavin Tomlin for us. Remember both Bergkamp & Henry going close to a dozen games before getting their first goals for Arsenal. Bergkamp was being ridiculed in the media for being a striker who never scored and he was one of the best technical footballers in England in the last 20 years.

 

[Jam_Man]

Tomlin being the perfect example as I said earlier.

Couldnt hit a barn door with another barn door, wasted chance after chance. Then got one and away he went.

Confidence does wonders for a striker.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Tomlin being the perfect example as I said earlier.

Couldnt hit a barn door with another barn door, wasted chance after chance. Then got one and away he went.

Confidence does wonders for a striker.

Improved technique will bring goals, as they are having so many shots. With goals will of course come composure and confidence.

 

[mrsblue]

When I was 14 some old bloke was invited to take training I had no idea who he was ..It was Bill Garner the blues legend from yesteryear.He was informative and helped us all yet he just could not give us the talent required:smile:

 

[Jam_Man]

Improved technique will bring goals, as they are having so many shots. With goals will of course come composure and confidence.

At their age they should already have technique.

All improving it will do is surely raise it a few percent at most.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

At their age they should already have technique.

All improving it will do is surely raise it a few percent at most.

O.K. Jam, I know your going to say red if I say white, and will never agree. Why don't you open your mind a bit on this one. Take Coulthirst for example. Nearly all his shots are flashing past the post with plenty of power. Don't you think there may be a technical reason for this? To aim for the goal and keep missing is unbelievable. Even a striker that is low on confidence will hit the target a bigger percentage than he has done.
I know that his shooting can be improved, no matter what you say.

 

[chapperzUK]

At their age they should already have technique.

All improving it will do is surely raise it a few percent at most.

While I agree that they should already know the technique by their age, football games are won and lost on fine margins. Add to that the fact that the mental side of the game can improve a player too. Clifford said that he read a book about the mental side of being a football and that he believes it has improved his game.

Just a small tweak to someone's game could improve them and if a striker coach who has been there and done it is giving you advice that just makes a slight improvement will breed confidence from training which will transfer to the match.

Just a quick search and even the top strikers work on specific things in training. Benzema is 26 and still doing it:

http://www.tribalfootball.com/artic...hing-staff-improved-form-4010309#.VAb6fPldWSo

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I'm not sure you can extrapolate your improvements as a result of coaching as amateurs to professional footballers.

The gains from extra coaching will decrease the higher you go as the players will have already been coached. Far more significant would be the mental confidence from practicing.

Coulthirst would help himself in front of goal by learning to use his other foot. It's only occasionally you'll find sides so naive that they'll let a one-footed player get it onto their better foot and line the goal up. Sadly that was us last night for Wimbledon's second.

 

[IloveShrimp]

Every professional sportsman that I know of has a coach. Tennis, Golf, Snooker, darts, boxing you name it.

The reason they have a coach is not to improve their ability (they already have that) but to iron out bad habbits that they pick up and to continually improve technique.

It's probably a simple problem with our strikers, like lifting their head too early - and so miskicking the ball or not looking up at all all to pick the correct shot, either way the result is the same a missed opportunity.

I know that when I coached snooker that many of the problems of missed shots are because the player looks up to see where the shot has gone before they have actually hit the ball! This can be caused by nerves, pressure to perform too.

Small problems need ironing out at an early stage before they become bad habits, and only good coaching can do this, also lets not forget that some of our players are still young and they have not learnt everything they need to know yet. Experience is not inherited and so experienced coaches are required to instill their experiences into young players to help them along the way. ... imo.

 

[fbm]

O.K. Jam, I know your going to say red if I say white, and will never agree. Why don't you open your mind a bit on this one. Take Coulthirst for example. Nearly all his shots are flashing past the post with plenty of power. Don't you think there may be a technical reason for this? To aim for the goal and keep missing is unbelievable. Even a striker that is low on confidence will hit the target a bigger percentage than he has done.
I know that his shooting can be improved, no matter what you say.

Coulthirst seems to either miss the goal or wham it with major force straight at the keeper so that he couldn't get out the way if he tried. For me, he needs just a touch of composure and instead of trying to break the net, just place it past the keeper. I reckon half of our chances this season have fallen to him and I'm sure once one goes in, he'll be off. What I want to see from him is a bit more bottle as he pulls out or gives up on challenges too often for my liking.

 

[ozzie]

That's what I thought. I was a winger for my school and some local teams. As I got older I converted to a centre forward. I scored a few goals but would miss bucket loads of chances. It was only when I came across an ex semi-professional striker, that it all changed for me. He completely re-taught me how to strike a ball. I never realised it was so technical. It was so much easier to put the ball where I wanted it with power.
So that's why I know that with the right person training them, they would vastly improve.

What teams did you play for??i played for Prittlewell united-1976-1980.it was part of the supporters club,but no one could help me,i was crap.........also when i read the times these mails are written,does not anybody work back home now????

 

[united we stand]

Don't really understand the argument against practice. David Beckham had probably the best dead ball kick of his generation. He practiced it every single day after training for decades. Kevin Keegan when he was European player of the year is on record of saying that Hoodle (naturally talented) would do stuff in training and afterwards Keegan would get him to teach it to him.

Even if it not directly related if a player is improving in general and learning new stuff if must help surely?

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Don't really understand the argument against practice. David Beckham had probably the best dead ball kick of his generation. He practiced it every single day after training for decades. Kevin Keegan when he was European player of the year is on record of saying that Hoodle (naturally untalented) would do stuff in training and afterwards Keegan would get him to teach it to him.

Even if it not directly related if a player is improving in general and learning new stuff if must help surely?

Are you saying Hoddle was naturally untalented?