PORT ADELAIDE legend Mark Williams understands kicking is the most important skill in AFL football, and has partnered with Sherrin to produce an innovative new teaching tool.
Williams and Sherrin have invented a football called the ‘Sherrin Precision’, which is designed to help players of all ages learn to kick correctly.
The Sherrin Precision has a sweet spot at either end and a strip of colour down the middle, which allows the kicker to receive immediate feedback by the spin of the ball.
“What I’m about is teaching people how to teach their kids how to kick,” Williams told portadelaidefc.com.au
“The ball has this sweet spot that is bigger than normal - similar to a big-headed tennis racquet or a bigger head on a golf club.
“You get a spot to look at when you go to kick, and on the other side, that’s where your foot should make contact.
“After that, the spin line tells you how successful you’ve been. It gives you immediate feedback. If the ball is spinning perfectly straight, you know it’s been a successful kick.”
Port Adelaide has introduced the ball into its program, using it for concentrated one-on-one sessions with players in its academy programs, and rookies on the Power contract list.
Port Adelaide’s Skill Acquisition Specialist Carl Woods says the ball is a really handy tool for helping players understand the mechanics of their kicking action.
“Fundamentally we use the ball with a lot of our rookies and within our academy programs,” Woods said.
“We use it in the indoor area for targeted one-on-one sessions. Particularly for players on our list and academy who need support with the mechanics of kicking.
“This ball is a handy tool for us, among other things that we use.”
Woods says the design of the ball allows players to get acute feedback, and it also helps when reviewing footage from individual sessions with players.
“We can actually use is to determine the spin of the ball, which helps us understand the type of contact the player has made with the ball,” he said.
“They can get that acute feedback as to how well the ball has been struck off their boot.”
Port Adelaide’s 2004 premiership coach has also set up a website with a number of short videos to aid any person who wants to better understand how to coach players, or players who want to better understand how to kick the football.
For any further information on the Sherrin Precision visit https://www.sherrin.com.au/precision.
