How to Develop Your Leg Swing to Maximise Distance

 

When watching great kickers perform there are a few things that are instantly recognizable; the amount of control and balance they have, the fluency and rhythm of how they move, and the consistency at which they can repeat the same action over and over again. This of course comes from a couple of different sources; a) their level of competency from a physical perspective and b) their level of competency from a mental perspective.

These two individual things when bought together at an optimal level of effort combine to produce extraordinary results. The key message here is that neither operate in isolation from the other, if one side of the equation is a little off then the level of balance is not quite stable or optimal, and the resulting outcome, whilst might still be very good, won’t be quite as good as it could have been if an optimal level of balance was underpinning the effort.

In this article I want to look at how to develop a great leg swing from a physical perspective, meaning, the leg swing technique you employ to kick the ball. However, we mustn’t forget that in order to achieve this optimally, it must align with our mental approach to its learning.

When working with athletes who kick and looking at leg swing specifically, I often use the cue words “long and strong” as my key coaching points. These come from the notion that a) we allow our leg to swing through contact and follow through to meet our shoulders without actively decelerating or stopping our leg and b) we accelerate our leg and swing with aggression into contact.

To elaborate on the above points… a) swing “long”, a long and fluid leg swing is a good indication that you have accelerated it through contact and allowed it to travel its natural course. The body is a clever thing and generally won’t allow you to swing beyond the point where you will incur an injury or tear, so trust that your leg can swing through and will remain safe. Our follow through is also a good indication of our level of balance and what our leg swing prior to contact looked like. Often a leg swing that comes across the body started by swinging ‘outside’ the line of our kicking leg’s hip. Just as a boomerang does, if it goes out, it’s gonna come back at some point!

N.B. It must be noted that these cues are in reference to a close to maximal effort kick for distance.

Swing “strong”, the last thing we want to happen is for our kick to fall short of its target, if we’re kicking for touch or looking to clear our territory, let’s give the ball every chance to get there! Swinging with aggression is an element that requires control and judgment, too often one will look to “kick the living heck out of the ball” only then to find it has sliced off the side of the boot or gone anywhere but its intended target. This is often due to a breakdown in our technique on some level. So we need to exercise controlled aggression, and I’m not meaning in any sort of angry or negative capacity here, just one where we explode on to the ball powerfully and swing strong.

If I can just mention here quickly another point, it is important when developing technique for kicking, and any skill for any sport or training for that matter, that focus is put toward mastering each technique level through progression before increasing the intensity at which it is performed. For example, if going out for a kicking session and attempting 50m punts, but your technique is breaking down or changing with each kick, reduce the distance and intensity at which you are kicking, recognize and focus on correcting the technique errors, then progressively increase the distance and intensity, but only if you are maintaining proper technique throughout.

We can play around with the variables of progression and regression; don’t be afraid to regress when necessary because small improvements over time will give you momentum, confidence and a feeling of success. When you have momentum you increase your chances of achieving consistently at the next level. Perhaps that 50m punt we we’re trying for???

I would also like to bring up the issue of flexibility here too. In my experience this is one of the top three things preventing kickers from maximizing their potential. Functional flexibility is your best friend and will open up a world of joy if you are currently limited by it on some level. It will help greatly from a strength and control perspective; critical elements to producing a successful kick. It seems rare now days to see an athlete playing rugby who can swing his leg much above horizontal!

So to recap, allow your leg to swing long, and swing it strong!

Happy Kicking!!!