Getting coached too much?

Most kickers practice alone. Very few high school, college, or pro teams have kicking coaches. But every once in a while, you will be a part of the program where you will have a coach whose only responsibility is to get you to kick well.

In college and the pros, I had to deal with coaches who were more concerned with proving to the management that they have value to the team, rather than helping me improve.

I definitely COULD NOT say to the coach anything along the lines off, " I kick better when I am left alone". This is a career suicide.

On game days, I recommend physically avoiding coach's presence and eye contact. If you look towards him after kicks, coach will likely try to say something to you - that is what coaches do. But if you go straight toward the kicking net (or designated area), coach will have to physically seek you before he can say something. Which will force him to decide whether he has something important to say. When it comes to your own body language, you need to look calm and under control whether you miss or make a kick. Any sign of frustration will signal your coach to intervene.

If those do not work, staring into coach's eyes, nodding your head while day dreaming always worked for me.


Filip Filipovic
THEKICKINGCOACH.COM