Crosby being taught to aim for goal post

[channtheman]

I can't access the article but I could read a few lines in a Google search.

https://www.jsonline.com/packerinsider/80266767.html

Special teams coach Shawn Slocum encouraged Crosby to aim for an upright. "We sometimes get on the end line and practice kicking toward the one

That's the little bit I could get out of the google search.


It seems absurd just thinking that a coach would teach his kicker to aim for a goal post and not right between the uprights. All of Crosby's misses on the right hash miss right by the goal post.

[ThunderDan]

Re: Crosby being taught to aim for goal post

I can't access the article but I could read a few lines in a Google search.

https://www.jsonline.com/packerinsider/80266767.html

Special teams coach Shawn Slocum encouraged Crosby to aim for an upright. "We sometimes get on the end line and practice kicking toward the one

That's the little bit I could get out of the google search.

It seems absurd just thinking that a coach would teach his kicker to aim for a goal post and not right between the uprights. All of Crosby's misses on the right hash miss right by the goal post.

That's how PGA Tour players do it. They aim just inside the trouble and hook or fade the ball away from it. Of course it is much easier to control the flight of a golf ball verses a football.

[red]

unless the rest of the article says he's aiming towards the opposite goal post

if he's on the right hash mark, aim towards the left upright

if that isn't the case then we just have all the more reason to fire slocum

[ThunderDan]

unless the rest of the article says he's aiming towards the opposite goal post

if he's on the right hash mark, aim towards the left upright

if that isn't the case then we just have all the more reason to fire slocum

It really depends on if Crosby hook or fades his kicks. If the ball moves left to right on his kicks then you would aim at the left upright. If the ball moves right to left you would aim at the right upright.

I assume he is playing for a hook on his long kicks and not getting it.

[Patler]

It's a common practice for some kickers, not all kickers, especially on long field goals. They aim at one or the other goal post and expect that their normal "slice" or "hook" will bring it between the uprights.

As I recall, in practice a couple weeks ago Crosby was using the upright more for target practice than anything, because they weren't kicking from standard field positions either. It gave him a definite target to gauge against.

If Crosby is trying to play a natural hook, he isn't getting it on the long kicks.

[channtheman]

unless the rest of the article says he's aiming towards the opposite goal post

if he's on the right hash mark, aim towards the left upright

if that isn't the case then we just have all the more reason to fire slocum

It really depends on if Crosby hook or fades his kicks. If the ball moves left to right on his kicks then you would aim at the left upright. If the ball moves right to left you would aim at the right upright.

I assume he is playing for a hook on his long kicks and not getting it.

Which would just mean he should kick it down the middle right?

[ThunderDan]

unless the rest of the article says he's aiming towards the opposite goal post

if he's on the right hash mark, aim towards the left upright

if that isn't the case then we just have all the more reason to fire slocum

It really depends on if Crosby hook or fades his kicks. If the ball moves left to right on his kicks then you would aim at the left upright. If the ball moves right to left you would aim at the right upright.

I assume he is playing for a hook on his long kicks and not getting it.

Which would just mean he should kick it down the middle right?

No, the theory is if you "know" the ball will move to the left on your kicks you should always aim just inside the right upright. If you accidentally hit it straight it sneaks in the right side. The problem with Crosby is he is playing for the ball to move left but on his long kicks it really flies pretty damn straight.

In golf the PGA Players talk about the dreaded straight ball. They never want to hit it straight. They are always curving the ball even if it is only 5 feet. They have to move the ball to take half of the trouble away on any hole.

[Smidgeon]

unless the rest of the article says he's aiming towards the opposite goal post

if he's on the right hash mark, aim towards the left upright

if that isn't the case then we just have all the more reason to fire slocum

It really depends on if Crosby hook or fades his kicks. If the ball moves left to right on his kicks then you would aim at the left upright. If the ball moves right to left you would aim at the right upright.

I assume he is playing for a hook on his long kicks and not getting it.

Which would just mean he should kick it down the middle right?

I would surmise that's part of the learning process here. It's just speculation, but I think Crosby has an unnaturally straight kick. When he kicks the ball, it doesn't hook or slice very much at all. Pretty sure that's not what you see with other kickers across the league. But I imagine all this will help him more than hurt him because he'll have a much better feel on what his kicked balls look like after they've been in the air for 50 yards. I also imagine that much of kicking in the NFL is getting used to the stadiums he's kicking in. Neil Rackers told the announcers that in their stadium, the ball travels an extra two or three yards when it's full of people. That's something that wouldn't happen at Lambeau or Soldier Field or many other places. So part of Crosby being a young kicker in the NFL is getting used to the stadiums idiosyncracies...

[Patler]

I would really like to see his long misses played one right after another. From my recollection, the misses from 50+ were virtually indistinguishable, one from another. It seems each followed relatively the same trajectory and flight path. That seems unusual, encouraging and disappointing.
Unusual in its consistency.
Encouraging in that there isn't a lot wrong, making it correctable.
Disappointing in that Slocum obviously couldn't put his finger on it and the Packers didn't seem to find an answer to the problem.

[pbmax]

unless the rest of the article says he's aiming towards the opposite goal post

if he's on the right hash mark, aim towards the left upright

if that isn't the case then we just have all the more reason to fire slocum

It really depends on if Crosby hook or fades his kicks. If the ball moves left to right on his kicks then you would aim at the left upright. If the ball moves right to left you would aim at the right upright.

I assume he is playing for a hook on his long kicks and not getting it.

Which would just mean he should kick it down the middle right?

I would surmise that's part of the learning process here. It's just speculation, but I think Crosby has an unnaturally straight kick. When he kicks the ball, it doesn't hook or slice very much at all. Pretty sure that's not what you see with other kickers across the league. But I imagine all this will help him more than hurt him because he'll have a much better feel on what his kicked balls look like after they've been in the air for 50 yards. I also imagine that much of kicking in the NFL is getting used to the stadiums he's kicking in. Neil Rackers told the announcers that in their stadium, the ball travels an extra two or three yards when it's full of people. That's something that wouldn't happen at Lambeau or Soldier Field or many other places. So part of Crosby being a young kicker in the NFL is getting used to the stadiums idiosyncracies...

Like most soccer style kickers he has a natural draw. But from the right hash, it became a fade and he started to miss. Most of those were longer misses, though I think there was at least one under 40 he missed the same, exact way as the longer ones.