Kicking drill
Box Kick with Stopwatch
Build a box kick with the hang time to actually be contested, not just distance.
- Time
- 30 minutes
- Players
- 1 to 3 players
- Intensity
- Medium
- Equipment
- Ball
- Space
- 5-15m channel, 22-25m deep
- Positions
- Halfbacks
Setup
Stand 2-15m from the touchline. Your landing channel is the painted 5m and 15m lines, so no cones are needed. Target 22-25m downfield. Five to eight balls and a stopwatch or a phone filming at 60fps.
How to run it
- Place a ball on the ground as if at the base of a ruck, then step across, pick and kick in one single motion, keeping your shoulders parallel to the near touchline and looking down through the kick.
- After you release, pivot on your non-kicking foot and walk several steps towards the flight path - that is what produces the right rotation and stops you falling away.
- Time every kick from contact to landing, and score only the ones that land in the 5-15m channel AND beat your hang-time target.
- Aim for 4.0 seconds as a serious senior standard and 3.5 as solid club level.
- Do 5 sets of 6 timed kicks.
Coaching cues
- Shoulders parallel to the near touchline
- Look down through the kick
- Pivot and walk towards the flight path
Common mistakes
- Kicking for distance instead of height - past 20-30m the kicking side's success rate drops sharply
- Opening the shoulders to the field, which slices it infield to the fullback
Related drills
- Grubber Through the GateMaster the low end-over-end grubber that travels through a defensive line.
- Chip and RegatherExecute a chip at full pace and win the ball back yourself.
- Self Up-and-UnderBuild hang time on the bomb and practise the high-ball catch in the same rep.
- Drop Kick with TargetBuild a reliable drop kick for both drop goals and restarts.
- Under the CrossbarForce a compressed, driven strike that exposes any weakness in leg speed through contact.
- Goal Kicking Quiet Eye RoutineBuild a repeatable place-kick routine around a quiet eye on the ball.