I am not a fan of kicking lanework drills – in fact I think they may be the greatest misuse of training time imaginable. Some of the reasons for my dislike of lanework is that it practices a kicking scenario that is hardly ever seen in a game (how often does a player lead out and mark the ball then keep going in that direction and kick to another lead? Maybe once a game), promotes leading players to lead without any timing or technique, and promotes only leading up at the kicker which inhibits players learning about how to present into the space behind (it is rare to see a young player come into the AFL system that has a good feel for using space behind).
The good news is that, with a little bit of creative thinking, you as the coach can make some modifications to lanework that will dramatically increase the value of the drill.
In the video below I do a bit of a “whiteboard” session to give some examples of what is possible with little increase in effort or resources. As I mention at the end I am sure there is a lot of other good stuff that you guys have done that would make it even better. I, and I’m sure other coaches, would love for you to share them in the comments area below…..
Do you think footballers are robots, when I do lanework drills I don’t expect my players to take up lanework formation during a game! The value of lanework is marking and kicking repetition, practicing ball drop, hand position while marking,etc.If we were to follow your argument we would never practice shots at goal from the boundary for fear they would head there every time they head towards goal. With lanework they can practice 100 marks in 15 minutes, great practice I think.