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It has come to my attention that the wigan warriors kicking coach has worked wonders with pat richards. He is now a prolific kicker and is often floating them over from the touchlines.

Last night at my u15s rugby presentation i was told that i am going to be taking kicks next year. I have never really been the kicker in the team and have only taken a handful of kicks. Therefore i have never adapted a technique.

The other week in my rugby training, we had a kicking competition. You had to take a kick from infront of the sticks and after each successful kick you move slightly outwide, eventually being on touchline. I did make it all the way across and got the kick from touchline after a few attempts which was difficult as i had a limited amount of space to take a run up.

I am just seeking advice on kicking etc. My technique i use is to curl the ball using the inside of my boot. This my well be an ok technique when kicking on the left side of the posts but can prove difficult when kicking on the right side.

Any advice etc to help me will be much appreciated.

nathan.
moved to off topic

Practice makes perfect. I dont think curling the ball is the best idea. Id kick through the laces straight (ashton style) just line it up

Thanks for the replies guys.
I have until september really to perfect my technique ao i guess a lot of practice is going to be needed.

Nobbys Girl - Are you being serious ?

Nobby`s Girl posted:
Could always ask that gurl who loves Richards if she could put in a good word for you! Get some tips of him!

that girl hehe AKA jade

well heres my take on it- i was a reserve kicking prop for a union team for awhile (how odd i know)

this is a list of tips i got told by a decent fly-half and adapted it to my own strengths.

1) line tip of the ball so its in line with the right hand post (if your right footed)- it shud naturally curl in if ur on left hand side of posts and will slide away from right side (hence why line it up with right post).

2) obv u have to finish ur run up so that ur standing foot is in line with the tee- imo its balls when they say ur standing foot is meant to be next right next to tee as this depends on how u get the power in ur kick (which again is personal choice)

3) its common to use a 3 or 5 step back and 2 to right method- this means stand in line with the ball tip and posts- walk back 3 or 5 so that when u walk in to kick your landing with ur non-kicking foot near to ball and then obv kicking thru- the step across gives u the angle when kicking thru the ball which gives u the curl/slide

4) calm ur breathing before kicking- i find it easier to breath out slowly when kicking and contiue to do so until you've kicked.

5) the positioning on the tee of the ball in terms of where the seams are is again personal technique- generally tho ur meant to lower the tip of the ball for longer kicks (i think)

6) if you havent got the distance u have to take on the angle more- can be done as shown by kev sinfield who seems to kick on a really narrow angle.

7) PRACTICE- spend 20 mins or so say after every training session just on ur own- its easier if you've got a few balls- dont move off spot until u have success.

johnny wilko used to practice about 2 hours everyday ive been told when he was a kid.

alot of it is personal technique though- try things and if they work well for you do carry on doing it.

Thankyou very much for that.

one big tip i can give you is always plant your none kicking foot on line with your targetgives you more accuracy and keeps your body online you will probably see the more you practice if you get this right you will be a more sucessful kicker,also find one basic technique that feels comfortable and practise because if things start going wrong it is easy to correct good luck

I will send you my joey johns DVD. He has a tips section which includes kicking. One tip I can remember. He said never practice really difficult kicks, just the easy ones. Build your confidence up rather than destroy it.

this my advice mate. take a decent run up and just wallop the ball towards the sticks. if you just aim down the middle you shouldn't have to many problems, judge the wind when the wind is there to be judged. that is when curling comes into it.

And don't forget a good Faz chunter just before you look up