Wasted Time

I recently had an opportunity to work with a punter who has been out of college and trying to make it to the NFL for the last 5 years. It only took about 2 kicks for me to see why he hasn't made it yet. I thought to myself, "I can see why you haven't made it yet?" His mechanics were so unnatural that:

1) NFL coach would never give him a chance &
2) There is no way that his consistency will ever be in the 80%+ range that NFL teams require

We changed few simple things - relaxing the steps, softening the grip, adjusting the grip, moving the drop more outside, etc. Few hours later, he was punting the ball consistently and looked like an NFL punter. It is rare that someone is able to make major changes and improve right away. But it was easy for him because he made changes that immediately made his movements more natural and comfortable.

He has been working hard on his punting skills his whole life. He has a strong leg, tough mind and good work ethic. He's been to number of kicking camps. Why hasn't he made it? Unfortunately, he has been coached by people who are better salesman than coaches.

Conclusion:

1. Be careful of who you are learning from.
2. Do some research on your kicking coach. Contact people who have worked with them in the past. It is amazing how many kicking coaches have bad reputations and still run successful(profitable) kicking businesses.
3. Stay away from coaches who claimed to have developed some revolutionary way of kicking that will increase your power by million percent. They usually have some clever catchy name for their style. These guys are ripoff artists. They are successful kicking industry businessman because there is a turnover in athletes every year.

You do not have much time to develop your skills and make it to college or pros. Don't waste time by working with guys who have a fancy website and promise you the world.

Filip Filipovic
THEKICKINGCOACH.COM