I am often surprised by how many really good kickers can't punt traditionally. Why? I think much of it has to do with fooling around with it and "failing" to make the kind of contact and results you get when you placekick. The mechanics aren't that much different, but you do have the added issue of hitting a moving target instead of a stationary one. Why practice punting? • You're already the kicker... you're the most likely to become the starting punter. • You already have most of the mechanics you need. • If you're not the starting punter, you are the obvious choice to be the back-up. • Why wouldn't you? Wouldn't you like to be an even bigger part of the game? • It ain't hard to do — practice kicking and punt back through the posts. • You won't blow your leg out. Just be purposeful about each skill. • Remember, job #1 is "catch the ball", then do what comes naturally. • CREATE YOUR OWN CONFIDENCE and GO FOR IT! So here are the basics to get you on the right path.

Hello, my name is Ben Burch, I'm an American who lives in Saudi Arabia. I will be playing high school football in Minnesota next year as a kicker and punter. (I kick straight on). I've only played a season in the fall and spring in Europe and I'm entirely self taught. Could you please watch my video and give any tips? If so, then thank you.

Was lucky enough to get a 40 fg attempt in some brutal weather during the second round of D3 playoffs. Some thoughts I wanted share that helped in this. 1. Changed my plant foot soccer cleat for a football cleat 2. Slowed the operation time down because they will be slower too 3. Focused on good contact getting hips through the posts

I just happened to be watching the tail end of the Penn State vs. UCLA game this weekend. Penn State was highly ranked and UCLA was 0-4. The Bruins rallied to take the lead late in the game 42-37 with just a little over a minute to go in the game. Their offense ran the ball three times for no yards and took very little time off the clock (State had all 3 time outs). So on 4th down (on their own 11, the punting unit came on for UCLA and the colorman, Gary Danielson, correctly surmised that UCLA should take a safety to burn more time off the clock. With just 25 seconds to go in the game, Will Karol (an Aussie who may not have even known about taking safeties) executed a "stall play". Typically, you can steal about 5 seconds off the clock — the punter takes 8 seconds off the clock! Apparently, Penn State didn't get the memo. 😜 1. Catch the snap. 2. Run to the corner of the end zone and wait. 3. Don't let anyone get close enough to even touch you. 4. Step out of the end zone. 5. Take the safety, give the other team 2 points 6. Free kick — kick off (or punt) from your own 20 with no chance for a blocked kick. 7. Let your defense take care of business with very little time left on the clock. 8. Win the game.* *Of course, it could go wrong, one big pass play and Penn State kicks a long FG for the tie and a chance for an OT win. Or, worse yet, a miracle TD to win the game with just 15 seconds left. But odds are what they are, and coaches are typically best to play them. You just need to do your part.

You head out to kick, by yourself, and you start missing kicks. How can you figure out what's going on without having a full time kicking coach? Stop whatever you're doing, and do this one drill about 5 times in a row... DO YOU HAVE A SELF-DIAGNOSIS TIP? (leave in comments below) DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM YOU CAN'T FIX? (DM me) _ _ _ _ POST DRILL DIAGNOSIS YT Description: Kickers often train by themselves without much guidance. When you start making mistakes, you wonder what's going wrong. THE POST DRILL is a good way to begin to figure out your swing mechanics and what helps (or hurts) your chances for success. How? Because you will see very clearly in which direction you miss most often. THE DRILL: Set up your tee 7 yards from the end of the goal post. Use a kicking tee or wizard and aim directly at the post. You WANT TO HIT IT. And you should! However, that's hard to do. You could miss left, right or low. For a right-footed kicker, missing way left of the post is a hook or duck hook. Normally, this means one of 3 things: 1) you're hitting the ball with your in-step instead of at or near the 3rd Eyelet of your shoe. 2) you're finishing with your shoulders opened up wide to the left. 3) you finish your swing with your plant foot far to the left of the tee. If you are missing to the right, that's a push or a shank. What this normally means is: 1) your foot lock out at contact is "flimsy". You may be hitting the ball with your toe or you ankle just isn't firm when making contact. 2) Your plant foot is facing exactly in the direction you just kicked it. That plant needs to be strong and facing almost directly at your target. If you are missing low,: 1) you hitting too high on the ball 2) you aren't going down through the ball well enough... think of a chip shot in golf. To get the ball to go up, you need to hit down, not try to scoop it or lift it. Let the angle of your contact foot provide the lift you want to hit the crossbar. 🏈