KICKING AT THE NEXT LEVEL

I had the opportunity to work with Bill Ruehlmann last week. He is a high school junior K/P from Chicago. He has the leg strength to punt in college. He is also pretty consistent for a high school punter. But he takes 3 steps to punt the ball. College coaches will look at that and quickly eliminate him as a recruit. 3 step punters are slow and they cover too much ground with their steps. The kicker is that the 3rd step does not add power and it will not make a punter more consistent. It is simply something guys get used to and that can be easily eliminated.

I asked Billy if he wants to kick/punt in college. He said, " That is the goal". In that case we need to eliminate the 3rd step and make few more adjustments. If Billy would have said that his goal was to be the best high school punter he can be, I would not have asked him to make many changes because he is pretty good already.

If you are an athlete who aspires to play at the next level, you have to know what coaches at the next level are looking for. Call someone and find out right away.