“It’s really interesting and I know I’ve got a lot out of it. I believe I’ve improved my goal kicking significantly, since I first arrived to where I am now there’s a lot of changes in the way I kick,” Hawkins told Cats TV.
Given that accurate kicking is a forward’s main objective, Hawkins said working through the biomechanics of an individual’s kick helps identify what works and what doesn’t and leads to more efficient kicking.
“We’ve got a pretty strong focus on it down at Geelong. We like to spend two or three hours a week kicking, getting vision of us kicking, sitting down with the coaches… and just talking through what works for us,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins revealed his kicking action has undergone significant changes over the last four years.
“Originally when I arrived at the club, I used to swing my right foot across my body a lot, so I’d be coming and I’d kick and I’d stop, but now I tend to try and keep everything in a straight line and follow my kick,” Hawkins said.
Cats’ Assistant coach Blake Caracella has worked closely with Hawkins to improve his shot on goal and admitted he’s worked hard to break old habits.
“It’s been a long time coming, it’s been a long pathway as well, we started probably four or five years ago,” Caracella told Cats TV.
“Back then he had a lot of parts of his body going in different directions and he was inconsistent with his contact with the ball onto his foot, so we’ve tried to streamline that and we’ve managed to do that over the last three or four years.
“He’s spent a lot of time out on the ground practicing which has helped, he’s built confidence, and with that comes the results on the weekend,” Caracella said.
Hawkins admitted he focuses on streamlining every kick and believes it increases his efficiency.
“When I kick at goal I plan to kick every ball as straight as I possibly can. That’s something that I try and work on, I feel that I kick my best when I kick the ball straight,” Hawkins said.
The new technique spoke for itself in 2012 as Hawkins kicked 62.38, winning Geelong’s Best and Fairest and subsequently earning himself All Australian selection.
With another strong performance this year, kicking 46.26 to date, Hawkins looks down the barrel of All Australian selection once again and credits his confidence.
“All in all my biggest thing is a fluent jog going into goal and keeping everything in a straight line and just feeling relaxed and comfortable.
“If I’m relaxed and comfortable I know I’ll kick well,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins’ most memorable goal is indisputably his kick after the siren against Hawthorn in 2012 that saw the Cats steal victory from the Hawks.
“I think one of the great things is when I kicked that goal after the siren, I did everything right and kicked well, and I took a lot of confidence out of that,” Hawkins said.
Despite the strong focus on a streamlined action, Hawkins admitted that old habits can creep back into long distance kicks.
“I try not to go left to right (but) I think sometimes when you go a little bit further out from goal, and you try to put a bit more effort into it, I think that sort of sneaks into your game.
“But I think that’s natural for anyone, to go out on a little arc and swing harder across your body,” Hawkins said.
Despite a string of stellar performances of late, Hawkins said he’s prepared to handle poor form and focuses on maintaining confidence.
“I know throughout the year I’m going to have bad days where I might have five shots on goal and kick 1.4 and that’s happened to all the great goal kickers.
“Matty Lloyd had bad days in front of the sticks, Tony Lockett had bad days, so it’s just a matter of kicking consistently well throughout the whole year and trying not to have too many of those bad days,” Hawkins said.
As a key forward, Hawkins revealed that he aims to improve his efficiency and looks to slot plenty more through the middle before the season’s end.
“When I started, percentage wise, I was somewhere around 50%, I think it’s now somewhere around 65%, maybe pushing 70%, and that’s kind of where I want to get to, 75% maybe, 80% would be fantastic (too).
“When you get different shots from all parts of the ground its really hard to be able to get to 80% but you know, I think it can be achieved as long as I stay confident and kick well,” Hawkins said.
