Carlton forward Harry McKay says he’s gone to work on his goalkicking this off-season.
The 2021 Coleman Medallist kicked a career-high 58 majors that campaign but saw his returns dip to 45 in 2022 and just 29 in 2023.
One reason behind that decline is his accuracy, with the key forward having 77 shots at goal in 2023 for a return of just 29 majors, an accuracy rating of 37.7 per cent.
In comparison, his key forward partner and winner of the last two Coleman Medals Charlie Curnow went at an accuracy rating of 60.4 per cent.
One tool McKay has used in hopes of improving in front of the big sticks is what he described as working on his ‘spots’, which is in effect knowing exactly what type of kick to use from each spot inside 50.
“Yeah, it’s definitely something over the summer I wanted to go to work on,” McKay told SEN Afternoons.
“I think being really clear on where your spots are (where to kick a drop punt or snap from) is something I've tried to solidify a bit more over the off-season.
“I think that (knowing what to kick from each spot) alleviates any decision on the ground with the emotion of the game if you're pretty clear.
“That’s something we've been working on, not just me, but all the forwards at the club - knowing being and really clear where you're kicking from.
“It's been really good.”
McKay hopes knowing his spots off by heart will give him more confidence on game day with no half-hearted decisions made to use a snap or drop punt from a tough spot.
“I think as I said before, there's so many things that can happen on game day like the emotion, fatigue, crowd energy or whatever it is,” McKay said.
“I think it's like anything if you're really set and you know what you're doing you can kind of go into a routine without having to make that decision under a state of emotion or fatigue or whatever it is.”
While he hopes to significantly improve his accuracy, McKay knows he’ll never be a master of goalkicking and simply wants to see improvement come from his off-season hard work.
“I think it's like any skill or anything in life, there's always room for improvement and no matter where you start, there's always opportunity to get better,” McKay said.
“That's the duty of our job, especially an off-season block for six months when you can fix up your game.
“That’s not just goal kicking … it’s a benefit of our job and it's applicable to anything in life. You can put in some work and hopefully see some results.
“Goal kicking is something you're always chasing, and I don't think you're ever a master of it.”
McKay and the Blues kick off their 2024 season with an Opening Round clash against Brisbane at the Gabba on Friday, March 8.
