‘I’m probably at my best’ – Marcus Smith reveals how he overcame All Blacks yips to star in the Premiership
Marcus Smith has revealed the changes he has made to improve his game.
Harlequins and England fly-half Marcus Smith has revealed that he is using a breathing technique to enhance his goalkicking.
The 25-year-old has responded to the yips that struck him in the first Test against the All Blacks in July to become the most accurate placekicker in the Premiership this season.
Smith was off-target with two penalties and a conversion in Dunedin which ultimately proved costly as England fell to a 16-15 defeat to Scott Robertson’s side.
Two of those efforts were rather routine for an international goal-kicker but Smith was far more accurate a week later in the second defeat to the All Blacks as he nailed all of his kicks and engineered tries for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tommy Freeman.
Bouncing back from disappointment
The exciting playmaker has revealed that he quickly responded to those shortcomings in the first Test by changing his boots and kicking tee.
However, he says that learning to control his breathing has been the most beneficial change as he looks to steer England to victory in the third clash against the All Blacks this year – on November 2 at Twickenham Stadium.
“Going into the first Test, I was probably overthinking it,” Smith said.
“I don’t think I kicked that well towards the back end of last season. I felt I was a bit rushed, a bit tight on the ball.
“Sometimes you can look at it and it feels like it’s going to be all good, then you get to a game and it’s suddenly all different.
“I have done a fair bit of breath work at the back of my run-up, especially if I’m in a longer passage of play, trying to regulate my emotions and breathing so I can stay calm in that moment.
“I just take a deep breath in, suck it up at the end, and then breathe out as slow as I can. It’s like an army technique to regulate.
“I do it as well if there’s big decisions or a long passage of play. I try and regulate myself so that I’m not as aggressive and as angry as I can be, especially in decision making and the closed skill stuff.”
“I’m probably at my best”
The results are clear to see as Smith has converted 15 of his 16 attempts at goal in his five Premiership appearances this season boasting a 93.7% success rate – the highest success rate among any player with more
than five goal kick attempts.
“I’m probably at my best in terms of kicking when I’m calm and relaxed and aiming down the middle and knocking it over,” Smith added.
“But in that specific moment, when the lads needed me most, I wasn’t there. That game in Dunedin was quite a tough game for me personally and it was also a difficult week.”
With George Ford in doubt for the clash against All Blacks, Smith is the frontrunner to start the Test having so in both matches in New Zealand in July.
He does face stiff competition in the form of Northampton Saints playmaker Fin Smith, who has been quite accurate from the tee although not to the same degree.
Saints’ Smith has converted 19 of his 23 attempts for a success rate of 82.61%.
