Beauden Barrett may be as perplexed as anyone as to why he's so inconsistent with his goalkicking.

Beauden Barrett's goalkicking struggles in the All Blacks' loss to the Springboks last Saturday were yet another chapter in his book of inconsistency off the tee.

World Rugby Player of the Year two years running, it's still the one aspect of the first five-eighth's game which requires the most attention, operating at around 70 per cent over his international career - a figure below-par by most standards.

The 27-year-old's two from six on Saturday night then summed up his troubles - showing he has the ability to slot a goal from the sideline, but the tendency to miss ones from easier spots, in the same match.

PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES Beauden Barrett kicks at around 70 per cent in his All Blacks career, which is below par by most standards.

What's up with that? Stuff gauged the opinion of former All Black and goalkicking supremo Matthew Cooper, as well as sports psychologist Gary Hermansson (himself a former goalkicker), who had opposite views, as to whether the issues were physical or mental.

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IT'S PHYSICAL

"Kick through, don't guide."

A simple four-word message Matthew Cooper would give to Barrett, or any aspiring kicker for that matter.

PHOTOSPORT Matthew Cooper was a brilliant goalkicker for Waikato and has identified a possible flaw in Beauden Barrett's technique.

Now a TV commentator, Cooper - who played 18 games (eight tests) for the All Blacks between 1987 and 1996, and whose prodigious goalkicking has him as Waikato's all-time record points scorer - can see a technique flaw that crops up when Barrett seems to be having those off nights.

Such as the two clangers from close-range at Westpac Stadium.

"To me, it's a slight adjustment," Cooper said. "He got it slightly wrong.

"There is a tendency sometimes the closer you get to the posts, the more you try to guide, rather than kick through.

"When you are on the sideline, you do have to kick through the ball, because you've got a distance requirement. So there is not one element of trying to slightly pull back on power. And this was an issue through my career, early on.

"From outside looking in, sometimes Beauden may be pulling back a little bit."

'Kicking through', Cooper said, involves a smooth run-up, the head position is steady and over the ball pre, during and post-kick, and there's a good follow through.

STEPHEN BARKER/PHOTOSPORT Despite his struggles, Beauden Barrett is still Matthew Cooper's preferred All Blacks goalkicker.

'Guiding', meanwhile, came about, he said, when not as much power is required, with the kicker only needing to be slightly hesitant for a curl to develop on their shot.

It's from those spots, around 30 metres from goal and not far off the centre of the field, which get a little tricky.

"They're pretty lonely places to be as a goalkicker, because everyone's expectation is 'that's really easy'," said Cooper, who himself had to be trained not to guide and pull back on power.

"I learnt 'no, the key Matthew, is to forget about the posts, it's just between you and the ball now. Because you've got the technique. How you're going to kick this ball close to the posts is exactly how you'll kick that ball when you're on the sideline.'

"I think they got a bit sick of me, actually, because at Rugby Park I made sure when I was close to the posts that I kicked through the ball. So every time the ball boys had to go outside and collect the balls because they were going out of the stadium."

Cooper noted Barrett was quite a 'front-on' kicker, too, different to 'side-on' versions, such as Dan Carter, whose hips would be almost facing the sideline upon impact (for a kick in front), rather than the corner flag, in Barrett's case. It's what makes Barrett look a 'stabber' of the ball, as he doesn't have a leg swing around.

GETTY IMAGES After two from six against the Springboks, the pressure will be on Beauden Barrett in his next test against Argentina.

Whether that affects his accuracy or not is questionable, Cooper said, but he doesn't feel Barrett ever has a real shocker when boot actually meets ball.

"I know it doesn't sound right, but when Beauden misses he doesn't do a bad miss. What I mean is there's nothing wrong with Beauden's connection, because the ball always flies off the boot well and it's heading in the right direction. It's why I think that it's purely a slight adjustment [needed] around his kicking process."

To that end, Cooper is backing Barrett to remedy his issues swiftly, and he is still his preferred goalkicker in the All Blacks.

"When I look at how composed and such a quality person and leader Beauden Barrett is, he can fix it.

"I think he will evaluate, he will be doing a lot of work around this, and my take is the next couple of tests he'll kick well. So I've absolutely got no issues."

IT'S MENTAL

"There's something about the occasions, occasionally, which kind of just seem to get in the way and interrupt."

That's what sports psychologist Gary Hermansson has noticed about Barrett - who has proven he could be a world-class goalkicker, but just hasn't been anywhere near consistent enough.

SUPPLIED Sports psychologist Gary Hermansson can see the vulnerabilities Beauden Barrett has with his goalkicking.

"What's showing up at various stages over time is there's a little bit of vulnerability. And then when you compare with someone like Richie Mo'unga and other guys, they seem to be very consistent in what they do."

Hermansson has worked with a plethora of top New Zealand sportspeople. The Professor Emeritus at Massey University has been to five Olympics and five Commonwealth Games with the New Zealand teams, was formerly with the Black Caps, and still works with current athletes.

Additionally, with 100 games of first-class rugby for Manawatu, Wellington and New Zealand Universities (including wins over the Springboks in 1965 and the British and Irish Lions in 1966), and having been a goalkicker himself, Hermansson is well-versed in the specific mindset required to perform the art.

"Goalkicking, a lot of people just view it from what they see at the end of the event, like when it bounces off the post. But it's what happens at the point of impact and the lead-up to it, which is the critical thing," he said.

"The mind and body are required to be together so they both operate in harmony in the present moment."

MARK TAYLOR/STUFF Gary Hermansson has a long history working with some of the country's top athletes, such as former Silver Fern Irene van Dyk.

Hermansson said that in any case where accuracy is required - be it a throw-in to a lineout, a golfer lining up a shot, whatever - the tendency is to start projecting ahead in your mind the consequences of not executing well. But the best goalkickers are those who can let all that go.

"Once your head goes away from the moment into the future and you try and control the outcome, then you've got trouble coming up," he said. "And often trying to control the outcome is borne out by perhaps a little bit of uncertainty, or a lack of confidence, or pressures about the outcome.

Hermansson said those who know Barrett really well, and who have a close-up view, may be able to predict a bad kick coming if they saw his preparation hurry up a bit, see his eyes look up and down more than normal and get a chance to be distracted, or the tightening of his facial or body muscles.

"What seems to be happening, for whatever reason, there are circumstances where his mind and body aren't working with that degree of harmony, and you've got to assume that that means there's something about the occasion which does draw his attention away from task at hand.

"Once you get slight tension in the body, that gets relayed to the point of impact.

"It's not like he bombs it in a big way, he doesn't go terribly wide. It's just his accuracy is affected, and that relationship between the mind and the body brings about an impact moment which is not how it should be."

In slotting the tough ones and missing the easy ones, Barrett was probably succumbing to natural pressures, Hermansson felt.

"When you're kicking closer to the posts, then the tension becomes greater, because if you miss it then everyone's saying 'what the hell, that was a terrible kick'. Whereas you miss one from the sideline, people can accept that.

"New Zealanders in particular, you make us underdogs, and we'll deliver. You make us favourites and we struggle. And we just have that little bit of self conscious uncertainty that comes into that space."

Ahead of the All Blacks' next test - against Argentina in Buenos Aires next Sunday - Hermansson is sure the team's mental skills coach, Gilbert Enoka, will be applying the likes of breathing, focusing and relaxation techniques for Barrett to be able to improve, as well as cope with increased scrutiny.

"As a nation, our identity is so very much tied up in being high-profile in sport. We all grew up with that notion that we've got to deliver for the country. And we're quite harsh on athletes as well.

"My presumption is that people in the All Black camp, like Gilbert, will be working around helping him be able to stay in the moment much more and practising that delivery under pressure."