In the modern game goal kickers are increasingly becoming more and more important and often decide games at both international and club level. The precision of these goal kickers is incredible and I am continually surprised by the distance and accuracy that goal kickers are achieving week in week out. So how do they achieve these results? The answer is simple, with a lot of practice under the guidance of expert coaches. Stuart Lierich is one of these coaches and spoke to me about being a kicking coach.
Stuart Lierich advertises himself as a ‘specialist kicking coach’ and has coached several top teams in the UK including Pro12 & UK Superleague. Originally an AFL professional, after moving to a rugby dominant area of Australia he took the chance step into coaching in rugby union. Kicking was an area that he believed “lacked structure and process in its delivery”. He is still trying to “educate rugby clubs at all levels of the virtues of a kicking program”.
Lierich has worked with several top kickers during his time in coaching. When asked who was the best he plumps for Racing Metro and Argentina star Juan Martin Hernandez saying that he has the most raw talent. He goes on to credit the Argentine’s willingness to improve saying “aside from the physical attributes required for this level of rugby, he also has an incredibly professional approach to personal improvement. This is something that Lierich appreciates and says that “it makes the coaches job all the more easier when the player buys into the interventions”.
One of the most interesting topics was who Lierich believed he could improve most. Whilst he believes Leigh Halfpenny is the best kicker in the world, he believes teammate Rhys Priestland could benefit from his training. His observations of Priestland are very interesting saying “that he still isn't consistent in his execution and may be lacking the ‘trust’ one develops through a sound routine. I feel he's one of those lads that perhaps isn't realising his fullest potential as an internationally capped player.”
The ‘trust’ that Lierich speaks of is an element of his coaching and something he fully believes in. He explained it to me as; “trust being the skill that essentially allows a player to free themselves from any conscious controlling thoughts during goal kicking.” We see this with many goal kickers but more than any other perhaps Leigh Halfpenny, who has said in interviews that when he closes his eyes he is going ‘back to’ Gorseinon where he practiced as a boy.
In Lierich’s mind “Visualisation would help build trust, for sure, and is a separate practice method to assist confidence and build skill execution.” These methods certainly seem to work for Leigh Halfpenny, and Priestland could benefit from the same according to Lierich.
As important as the psychology is, the most important part of kicking is to, “establish a reliable pre performance routine that frees the mind from conscious controlling thoughts and directs attentional focus.” If any kickers are watched carefully you will notice that they all have a set technique which will doesn’t change whether the kick is 20 metres or 60 metres.
Therefore, the technique is not the most important aspect of a goal kickers training, something that might surprise many people. The technique is important of course but unless the ‘trust’ and routines are set in place then the technique will not perform under pressure.
I the quizzed the coach on the legal issues surrounding goal kicking in rugby union, issues like the worth of a penalty and the time that a kicker should be allowed. The first of these issues is the most contentious and the argument is that a lower value for penalties would lead to more ‘positive’ rugby and more tries. However, Lierich does not see it like this and argues that, “It's important to consider that any decrease in penalty goal value may decrease the willingness to not give away that penalty.” However, this was after I pointed out to him that the importance of his job is reliant on penalties!
Another issue that is prevalent in modern rugby is the time that kickers take over their kicks at goal. In games where there are several penalties, a lot of time can be taken up whilst kickers prepare for their kick at goal. Jonny Sexton is one goal-kicker who makes use of the full minute to take his kick whatever the situation. Lierich believes that they should have the full minute but says that “There is an optimum amount of time for a player to take before conscious thoughts may affect their routine.” However, he states that there is a limit meaning that, “Generally the longer they take; the harder it is to maintain focus and concentration whilst resisting distraction.”
There is certainly a lot to be said for good kick coaching and it can be worth many points and wins to teams by the end of the season. In an age when results are becoming more and more important in rugby kick coaching is becoming a very important in the modern game.
For more information on Stuart Lierich and his techniques visit his website at www.kickcoaching.com.au, where he also has an excellent blog on training methods.
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