This is Declan Dies, a freshman from North Cedar High School in Iowa at one of our camps this summer. Declan, like so many other young kickers, was struggling a bit with his kickoffs. Mishits, bad steps, no control... and yet, within 10 minutes of our KO drills, Declan is hitting 50 yard kick offs with accuracy. How? 1. Declan found his steps. 2. Walk-run-attack 3. Get energy down field 4. Create great contact. How can he continue to improve? 1. Strength, speed, flexibility. 2. Better follow through. 3. More confidence through repetition to attack! 4. Grow - you're a kid, be patient. 😁 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snvjsyum2is&t=146s QUICK TIP FOR DISTANCE: Tee up a soccer ball and kick it as far as you can. There's no bad spot on the ball (unlike a football). You'll gain confidence in attacking without easing up at all. Try to keep the soccer ball heading directly ahead. Many of you have a soccer goal under your post. Score a 60 yard goal! ⚽ BONUS: Now do the same thing with a football, except kick the hardest squib kick you can do. The ball shouldn't be in the air for more than 20 yards. Once it's on the ground, can you get it to roll into the end zone? You are building power and thinking less about the specific ball contact. Once you find the sweetspot, you'll know how to attack it for an end zone kick. Guess what? If your squib kick goes into the end zone, it's a touchback, too! 🏈 🤣

My full schedule of kicking and punting camps for this Spring & Summer is now finalized. We have camps in Wisconsin, Minnesota & Iowa! 12 camps, combines and competitions in total! For more info, go to the Mike Farley's Kickers Camp Summer-Camps page! NOTE: My camps are designed for middle & high school kickers/punters to get great personalized instruction : • to actually perform better • to earn your coach's trust to get more chances to kick • to better handle in-game pressure I employ college counselors to help out and I won't let you kick your leg out! 🤣 And if you're looking for exposure, I have three opportunities for you: 1) ) WLC Ignite Combine on 4/30 (I head up the specialist staff) 25+ NCAA coaches in attendance. 2) Minnesconsin MEGA CAMP on 6/17 (I head up the specialist staff) 60+ NCAA coaches in attendance! 3) Midwest Kicking & Punting Championship on 7/17 (I run the show, — 1000's of views on YT)! Check it out! _ _ _ If you can't make it to my camps, I highly recommend that you find a kicking camp in your area to go to. Mostly, we teach the same kinds of things, the difference often is how many reps you get and how personalized the instruction is for you. Even at showcase-type camps, just having the opportunity to compete with others who are both worse and better than you is great practice prior to your Fall football season. I don't endorse others kicking camps, because I don't go them (I'm busy enough with my own, thank you 😇), but you can certainly Google "Football kicking camps in my area" and you're bound to see a few pop up!

Have you seen this? Along with Issac Punts, I think this kid (Tanner Brown), has just followed in the footsteps of Brandon Aubrey to go from the UFL to the NFL. Still, there are only 32 highly paid kicking jobs in the world — he'll have to compete, but this sure is a great way to get ALL 32 TEAMS to take notice. Wow. _ _ _ _ Guess what? By the time I wrote this, he's already been picked up by the SAINTS. 😵‍💫

On Friday, we had our ALL-DAY camp in Sparta, WI where we had drills and instruction in the morning, then broke for lunch and a film evaluation session. After lunch, we headed back out to the stadium to get charted in kick offs, punting and field goals... along with some additional pressure practice to better handle game anxiety (hint: your brain can be told whether to have anxiety or simply be excited for the chance — choose the latter)! Then, on Saturday, it was back to a half-day kicking and punting camp in DeForest, Wisconsin. We had a smaller group of specialists on a sunny (but windy) day. Just know that our camps are always ON... if you play in it, we practice in it. And windy days are a great training tool. Instead of kicking exclusively WITH THE WIND, go DIRECTLY INTO IT. Yes, you'll kick or punt with less distance, but the wind magnifies your mistakes. If you don't make mistakes, guess what? The ball flies straight ahead. If it hooks or fades, you get instant feedback about foot or shoulder position at impact. NEXT CAMP: UW-River Falls "Minnesconsin MEGA CAMP" on Wednesday, June 17th. It's a combine with about 50+ college coaches in attendance. Some players get signed on the spot. Everyone gets a fair shake. Good experience with a lot of bodies (1,000 kids last year with about 50 specialists). NEXT MFKC CAMP: Woodbury, Minnesota on Saturday, June 20th. Still spots available. Sign up at: kickerscamp.com

My older brother just sent this clipping to me - for no other reason than to share a kicking competition in Indianapolis (where he lives) that's going on between Colts 2025 starter Spencer Shrader (got hurt during the season) and Colts 2025 starter Blake Grupe (his replacement). They both are proven. They both are really good. They both will likely be starters "somewhere" in the NFL, but your team will only use one. Which do you choose? I got in that battle many years ago... and lost. Either decision would change my life. Learn to compete. Embrace the competition. Win or lose, be grateful for the opportunity and know that you gave your best shot. You might be one of the 32 best kickers in the world. Or you might be Mr. 39. 😬