Koop
kicks on
FOOTBALL is front
and centre for Cranbourne coach Doug Koop and that passion has led to a new
venture for the former AFL Melbourne midfielder.
While he has been
kicking goals with the Eagles on top of the Casey Cardinia League ladder, his recent
business venture ‘Kicking On’ has been gaining rapid and positive momentum
across the district.
Kicking On is an innovative
kicking improvement program that has been operating since the start of the year
and has returned outstanding results.
Koop and several business
partners hatched the idea to develop the program after watching senior players
struggle to kick consistently over many years and tracing the problem back to
inconsistencies with their style and bad habits that were never addressed as
they came through their learning years.
He trialled the program at
Cranbourne last year and, after seeing the progress of the Eagle players,
launched it as a business this season.
“This is something that has been
a problem with young players for a long time and we thought it was an area that
needed attention,” said Koop.
“The elite players are looked
after with the TAC Cup squads but every player could improve their kicking, no
matter what level they play and that includes juniors.”
The program promotes visual
understanding of each player’s kicking style and provides an individual program
aimed at immediate improvement.
A recent success
story involved senior Chelsea Football Club player Todd Gardiner, whose father
Steve said improved his kicking by 64 percent in April.
“I
thought he was a pretty good kick but to see him miss all the targets initially
then improve so much in such a short time was impressive,” he said.
“To his
credit he did all the sessions in the program. He has played senior footy this
year and he looks far more confident at training and in games.”
Devon Meadows under 16 Jason
Schoefield showed a 42 percent improvement in April this year after being
described by his father Steve as ‘an average kick’ before he entered the
program.
Langwarrin under 12s coach Vin
L’Huiller had eight participants do the program and all improved significantly.
“I have
been coaching this team for the last four years, since under 9s and I’ve seen
more improvement in two weeks with the boys doing this program than over that
whole time,” he said.
Koop said the aim was to assist
footballers be the absolute best players they could be.
For more information call 0457
965 376 or go to www.kickingon.com.au.
Last Modified on 13/07/2010 12:25