More development work was on display as the Junior Coaches of the Goulburn Murray region were provided the opportunity to learn from the coaches at TAC level, at the Coaches Session held recently at the AFL-GM Meeting Rooms at Kialla.
Junior Coaches from the Under 12 age group, right through to Under 18 were able to take on board the pathway of skills development and the needs of the teams as players enter elite level.
Lee Fraser, as the Talent Manager for Murray Bushrangers provided a great insight into the skills and traits that talent scouts look for in the aspiring talent around the region. The message that keeps coming through is the search for those players that do the simple things well.
"Attitude and competitiveness are key components in this development, which underlies the players’ discipline and behaviour in their drive for improvement." Lee said. He pointed out to the coaches that "Each player needs to know how to ‘win your own ball’".
Darren Ogier provided a down-to-earth presentation to the coaches reinforcing the value to ‘do the basics well’. He left a good reminder that no system or game plan can work without doing the basics well. Darren said "The key factor affecting success is not completing the skill".
He then went through each basic skill, so coaches have an understanding that of improving ball handling, reading the football, eyes on the ball, completing the skill. Repetitive training, on and off the track is important, using multiple takes, multiple footballs for marking.
Darren reinforced the need for improving in kicking, on both sides of the body, don’t move the head (like Federer playing shot). Repeated efforts in kicking and handballing are important, so the action is ‘autonomous’, not ‘auto pilot’. Thousands of touches lead to instinctive and quick handling of the ball and proper completion of the skills.
A great night of learning was had by all, for lessons learnt for the coaches to take back to the training sessions of our junior playing ranks. These key messages remain from the highest level – "Do the basics well".
Last Modified on 15/12/2014 11:43