Mike Sweatman, Retired NFL Special Teams Coach
Everything that I know about kicking a football has been taught to me by the professional kickers that I have been fortunate enough to have been around and coach. I am the first to admit that I can’t kick a football and probably possess no special knowledge of the skill. That being said, Jan Stenerud, Raul Allegre, Matt Barr, Adam Vinatieri , John Hall, Jay Feely and numerous other professional kickers have attempted to teach me about their profession. The first lesson was that making a field goal is not easy and there are no easy field goals. There is no such thing as a “chip shot” field goal.
I am not going to attempt an essay on kicker techniques but rather just list a few random observations.
1. Always kick with a purpose. This is especially true for a young kicker. Make each kick count.
2. It’s better to work with a holder, but if you have to use a mechanical holder, still go through the mental steps as if you had a holder.
3. Use visualization to reinforce your mechanics.
4. Always warm up, don’t over kick, count your kicks, develop a routine.
5. At times, break your routine and practice kicks from random spots on the field dictated by someone else.
6. Have a balanced stance but with a sense of urgency. You don’t want to fall out of your stance but rather have a smooth transition into the kicking motion.
7. Minimize steps (jab 2-step or 2-step)
8. Develop a consistent rhythm to the ball.
9. Before the snap, eyes should be on the spot, not the ball.
10. Initiate movement when the holder raises hand off the spot.
11. Try to have the ball break the plane of the goal posts in the middle – “kick it down the middle”.
12. Even with a cross wind, don’t aim outside the posts. If you have to aim outside the posts, you are too far away.
13. Follow through toward the posts. This assists in the ball traveling straight. Don’t play the hook.
14. Have a consistent swing. Don’t over-swing on longer FG’s
15. Use the single pole drill when you don’t have goal posts or the tighter version “accuracy posts”. Go to the park and kick at a flag pole using various angles around the pole to have differing wind solutions.
16. Train for strength development in the off-season. Maintain strength during the season.
17. When beginning to kick during the pre-season, use a soccer ball to develop strength.
18. Cool down after workouts. Ice after kicking.
19. Kickers that had a long and productive career could self-correct. All kickers will miss kicks.
In this series of articles about making the “chip shot”, I’ve tried to de-bunk the notion that the short field goal is an easy, can’t miss proposition. There is no such thing as a “chip shot field goal.”