Football IQ

“In football, that means having the ability to make good decisions in a split second: to pass or not to pass, to tackle or to intercept, to shoot or assist? In other words, you need a high football IQ”

Long time reader, first time poster.
As I scan through the World Wide Web, there are a plethora of fans across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and here who have various reasons/excuses as to why we are currently in the position we are in but one topic that rarely gets raised is the football IQ and/or general smarts of this group.

Yes, there is a lot of commentary mainly stemming from the media in regards to our awful decision making but I think it’s deeper and goes beyond just that. No doubt our skills have been horrendous, confidence down, game plan cracked etc… but what I see worries me more. Something that’s unfixable. Something that can only be fixed when new talent is inserted into this group. Our groups Football IQ.

The nous to process the below at most times is lost in this group:

- The tap to advantage instead of trying to pick the ball up or grab in a contest.
- The body work around a contest to allow an easy mark for your teammate instead of having 2-3 jumping at the same ball.
- Split second decision making in field positioning.
- The ability to process in your brain where your your kick needs to land in order for your teammate to have the best possible advantage to mark that pass on the wing.
- The smart shepherd to allow your teammate to grab the ball.

The list can go on…. It’s the one percenters in smartness that our group lacks. The football knowledge. The cognitive skills. The Lance Whitnall type player who understands footy.

It’s beyond athleticism for us and we need to start looking at players who are naturally gifted at reading the game, that’s a valuable attribute to have because its almost impossible to teach and it can make all the difference in a fast-paced, close game. It’s about considering all the variables in a split second, to outsmart the opponents in which this group fails.

We can’t win a flag with this group that’s for sure. Size and physicality wise we have a decent list. Football IQ wise we are bottom of the barrel and it’s not highlighted enough.

Yeah , hesitation is rife in our players . We continually lose opportunities because of it .

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All my dangerous friends

And I put all that on poor coaching across the board.
Has led to diminishing confidence.
The same players that have shown outstanding footy nouse in the past now have suddenly lost that?
Get support for Voss until at least the end of this year.
Whether we can attract quality line coaches, is doubtful unless we end up with a coach that they want to learn from. It's a very tough situation.
But we have to learn and change our appalling record with player development.

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

Matthew Lloyd referenced Harry’s kicking for goal. I’m sure no one will ask anyone outside the club to help Harry because they have the experience within. FMD this club and it’s BS belief in their own shit.

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I am watching the Sunday footy show too.
He made perfect sense and showed what Harry is doing wrong.
Is it the club or Harry who do not want help?
I know clubs had to part with assistant and specialist coaches due to covid, but I wonder how important Sav would be right now.

Football IQ is a great point. And we have some really really dumb footballers.

But the way you bridge that gap between dumb footballers and serviceable ones is with a clear gameplan that takes as much of the 'thinking' out of it. A plan that just through constant pre season repetition drills into even the stupidest footballer that there will be a player running by, there will be someone at 45 forward and 45 back. You don't need to make a decision because you know.

Does anyone think Collingwood players get the ball at half back and just go 'oh wow, didn't expect him to be there... I'll handball'?

They just know. Because their plan is clear, their system is entrenched, they have trust and if they make a mistake they go again. Turn the ball over and start again.

We have dumb footballers, but we have gameplan and system that doesn't cater to their stupidity.

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Congratulations CK95

I think Football IQ can be teached and is an intrinsic part of player development

When an 18 year is drafted by the club, that football IQ within a system needs to become embedded in the players thinking and behaviours. Almost robotic.

We are not very good at developing players and it shows.

A good example is Harry McKay. He has been in the system for 8 years. Why have we allowed him to continue kicking snaps in front of goal. Someone should have got a hold of him in the early days and drilled into him the importance of a consistent set shot for goal. Now we have a basket case who is literally avoiding shots on goal. Not a good situation.

Yep.

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

Great post danvictory

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#DonTheStash

We are dumb but also have very little in the "clutch" play department and plenty in the bonehead department. I guess that is the point of this thread.. You look at players like hodge, dustbin, sellwood etc. They very regularly nail it when required. At the moment id probably only back a player like cotterall to not make a complete hash of it

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We definitely have poor footy IQ.
But I agree with some posters that we can overcome this.
We do need a critics mass of players with good footy IQ and I think we have that.
We also have a heap of players with poor footy IQ.
We should be able to bridge the gap with a clear game plan (that works) and clear instructions drilled in so the lower IQ players don’t have to think too much.
Collingwood has been able to do this.
I feel like the layers Voss keeps talking about are a bit beyond this group at the moment. That’s why the boys look like they’re thinking too much and caught in the headlights or rushing when they shouldn’t.
It appears like Voss’s plans are just not up to it.
However, there is still a flicker of hope in my mind that Voss actually has a good plan and is building a more effective game plan that will stand up in all conditions but that is a harder route that will take a bit longer rather than just deliver us a few wins but fail when it matters in finals.
The two thoughts are based on the following two interpretations:
1) We won well last year when playing brutal fast-forward footy. We dropped a few games we should have won through the second half of the year when injuries and hubris hit us; and then we screwed up the last two games which we should have won against 2 or the top teams whilst undermanned. And so we should stick to that and not get too distracted by our limited weaknesses from last season (esp the last minutes of the last 2 games)
2) Once other teams worked out how to nullify our brutal game plan from early last season, we didn’t have another leg to stand on which is why we fell apart in the second half of the season. We won’t be able to progress until we build greater depth/layers to our game plan… which may take us back a few steps before we can go forward.
I don’t buy the argument that we just don’t have the cattle. I believe our cattle is certainly capable of finals. But something is wrong as per (1) or (2) above. And yes, we do have a footy IQ problem. But I think this can be addressed.


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I think the footy IQ on TC is very high.
Our footy Club should take more advice from here.

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Our tradition demands success!

:lol:

We're only marginally above talk back I suppose...

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Congratulations CK95

I agree. Its the IQ Soup.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Don't they ?

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All my dangerous friends

i don’t think there’s a single radio station or tv station that broadcast the games who haven’t had a special comments person, usually a former player who breaks down what is all wrong with Harry’s kicking action. for his dropped pints (haha) missing 20-30m out straight in front, hips facing away from goal, bad run-up, too short. etc etc. i know kicking straight consistently isn’t easy. it’s a difficult skill to master so that you’re a 19 goals from 20 kicks the commentators suggest Hawkins et al are straight in front 30m out.

it’s like he’s stopped snapping 4 in every 5 shots b a year of negative feedback. maybe a specialist goal kicking coach can shoulder some of the load for the big guy. i think he’s too proud tbh. he’s carrying the world on his shoulders atm. i’d definitely consider dropping him until he’s kick 2 out of 3 reasonably expectable shots in the VFL to get his confidence back up. i get the “have him taking marks on the wing to help our defenders out when they are under siege (most of the time these days)” but forget it. learn to play another way like collingwood did.


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i think low-confidence and/or deflated egos definitely lowers the footy IQ or any other IQ in life.


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yep.

Essendon* had a system of witches hats with lights on top that they used to sped up player’s decision making quite a few years back. not sure how effective it was but they risked something, they recognised the importance of that in having a fluid game style that can pick holes through “team defence” and midfield and forward zone defenders.

i remember saying a couple of years ago i thought decision speed was the main flaw i saw in Setter’s game, (along with too many rushed and ill-directed kicks which seems to be a Blues trademark last 2 seasons). he was a good inside mid when MC let him play there.

now he’s Dons (currently injured), but was the most improved player in the AFL according to AF points in the AFL after the first four weeks or something like that. and they’ll help him speed up his decision making i’ll bet!


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Mmmmmm… speed….

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Apparently the witches hat lights up if it's been more than 10 minutes since your last injection...


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