AFL Skills
AFL skill development progresses with age and focuses on coordination, technique and game awareness. At 4 - 7 years old, children can be introduced to basic skills like kicking, handballing, marking and running through fun, non-contact games. From ages 8–10, children can build accuracy and distance in kicking and handballing, practice overhead marking and experiment with bouncing the ball.
Teaching cues
Handball
- Pancake Hand: Lay your non-dominant hand flat like a pancake to rest the ball on.
- Make a Fist: Make a fist with your other hand to hit the ball with. Remember to keep thumb on the outside of the fist, not the inside! Y
- Staggered Stance: Stand with their feet staggered, keeping the same foot forward as the pancake hand.
- Catch Your Fist: Catch your first with your pancake hand as you handball and follow through.
Drop Punt
- Keep the Ball Vertical: Hold the ball vertically over the preferred kicking leg.
- Point Laces Forward: Hold the ball loosely using both hands, with laces facing outward.
- Relax Arms: Relax your arms and guide the ball down with one hand over the preferred kicking leg.
- Drop and Kick: Bring your kicking foot towards the ball and point your toes. Aim to kick the ball with your shoelaces.
- Follow Through: Swing your leg straight toward your target and keep your head down.
Chest Mark
- Track the Ball: Keep your eyes on the ball at all times!
- Arms Out: Stretch your arms out straight in front and keep your elbows in.
- Palms to the Sky: Keep your palms flat (like a pancake), facing the sky.
- Catch and Hug: Catch the ball then hug it against your chest (like you're hugging a teddy bear).
Overhead Mark
- Track the Ball: Keep your eyes on the ball at all times!
- Make a ‘W’: Point your fingers to the sky and spread your hands to make a ‘W’ shape.
- Arms to the Sky: Extend your arms as high as you can and catch the ball just in front of your head, with elbows slightly bent.
Bounce
- Grip the Ball: Hold the ball slightly on the laces with your dominant hand.
- Step-forward: Step forward with opposite foot to dominant hand.
- Aim in Front: Aim the ball in the front of the body to make it easier to catch when moving forward.
- Push the Ball Down: Push the ball down with your preferred hand as you step forward.
Groundball
- Get Low: Approach the ball with a low sideways stance, body behind the ball. Bend your knees and get low towards the ball.
- Grab: Pick up the ball with both hands. Fingers should almost be touching the ground, palms facing towards the ball.
Adapted from NAB AFL Auskick Skills and Drills.
Teaching strategies
Individual Practice
- Have children practice handballing the ball into the air and marking it on their chest.
- Practice hitting the ball on the point, bending your arm before impact (do not hit with a straight arm).
- Ensure your thumb is on the outside of your clenched fist.
Fun Games
- Introduce punting with games like Discovering Punting.
Practice in Pairs
- Practice rolling the ball and picking it up (groundball), handballing and kicking with a partner.
- Use a hula hoop - one partner rolls the hula hoop while the other partner attempts to handball the ball through the hoop, to practice handballing to a moving target.
Kick for Distance
- Introduce kicking for distance with games like Super Boot.
Play Games
- Play games like Corner Spry or Footy Racetrack to practice handballing skills.
- Practice a combination of skills in Catch Me If You Can (Punting).
- Practice AFL skills while under pressure and on the move with games like Electric Piggy or
- Introduce kicking for accuracy with games like Kick the Stick.
Common errors
Handballing
- Throwing ball into air before hitting it.
- Dropping ball holding hand away before the hit.
- Swinging arm across body before hit rather than coming straight and scooping through the ball.
Marking
- Looking away and taking eyes off the ball as it approaches.
- Not forming the "W" shape or using fingers too wide or too close together.
- Hard hands - failing to soften the catch, causing the ball to bounce out.
Drop Punt
- Dropping the ball from too high or off-centre, causing poor contact.
- Leaning too far backward, leading to a lack of power or accuracy.
- Not swinging the leg fully toward the target, reducing control.
