“Every drag flicker from around the world is different, particularly their run ups,” says Luke Doerner, who made 175 appearances and scored 112 goals for the Kookaburras.
“But there are six key points that they all do the same and it starts with what I call the starting position which is when they first make contact with the ball.”
“The stick is in their left hand well outside the right part of their ball, which is a very different position to get into compared to other aspects of playing hockey.”
Doerner likens the skill of drag flicking to that of a baseball pitcher, where the emphasis is on getting both the body and ball into the right position to execute maximum power.
“It’s about going slow, slow and then fast. The first three quarters of the movement is the hardest part to get right because the natural inclination is to go fast, and it takes lots of training and co-ordination to execute all the elements at the same time.”
“For someone like Kenny, that training might also look like flicking 100 balls per week at full speed, but another 100 at half speed or off one step to work on technique.”
When it all comes together, Kenny can reach speeds well above 90km per hour with her flicks, with Madison Fitzpatrick and Georgie Morgan others that Doerner has seen consistently in that speed bracket.
“The key with Jodie in particular is that she works incredibly hard, she’s a good listener and learner and is very persistent.”
“That’s also reflected in her ability to come back post-motherhood.”
