For every team and every player, the preseason is all about improvement.

After some wayward times in front of goal during the 2011 season, the Swans have ramped up the focus on goal kicking this preseason.

On Thursday, the Swans coaches tried something new in a bid to assist the team’s accuracy in front of goal and capitalise on their opportunities. 

Not unlike the Coke Zero ‘Zero In’ challenge, the session involved having a target - this time a giant football - placed between the two goal posts.

New Swans forward coach Henry Playfair spoke to SwansTV about what he hoped players could get out of the session. 

“It’s just something we tried today to help the players narrow their focus. To take the focus off the space between the goals and give them a point of reference to aim at,” he said. 

“A lot of people raised the point, if players are kicking to a single player, they can do that a lot more effectively than when they are lining up for goal.

“That has a bit to do with the pressure of goal kicking, but also the fact that it is a three-dimensional target as opposed to a two-dimensional target. If we give them a specific, smaller target to aim at between the goals, hopefully that can improve accuracy over time,“ Playfair explained.

Among those to impress during the session were Ben McGlynn and new recruit Jordan Lockyer.

Competition for spots in the forward line is set to build in the coming weeks as more competitive work is introduced at training and the club’s first intra-club practise match is played in just over two weeks time.

Jesse White, Trent Dennis-Lane, Jarred Moore, Mitch Morton, Matt Spangher, Tommy Walsh, Mike Pyke and Jed Lamb are among a host of players that will be looking to break into the senior team in 2012.

Playfair said he was enjoying the challenge of his new assistant coaching role and was looking forward to the coming weeks on the training track. 

“We’ve got some exciting young players (in the forward line) and we’re still waiting to see how players perform over the next few weeks before we start working out how the forward line will look for the season,”  he said.