Tips with Nick: The Basics - Body Lean

Not sure whether to bend at the waist or how much lean you should put into the ball? Coach Nick Fleming's all new Tips with Nick addresses body lean and what you need to know when making a proper kick. Watch now!

Tips with Nick: The Basics - Angle of Contact

Coach Nick Fleming outlines the basics of angle of attack and what it takes to achieve a successful kick. Watch him explain angle of attack and his other basic tips to help you improve. Click here for more Tips with Nick.

Tips with Nick - The Basics - Approaching the Ball

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The Basics: Steps Back

              

By Coach Nick Fleming

Kicking is all about inches and angles.  As a beginning kicker, understanding the importance of proper steps can be difficult because the kicker’s mechanics are not developed enough to be able to figure out what caused the bad kick.  Being off by a few inches or a couple degrees can make a huge impact on how you contact the ball, the trajectory of the kick, or the power of the swing.  Here are seven tips to remember to maintain the consistency of the steps and create the best contact.

1. Starting Point

·         The starting point for our steps will be our plant spot, with your left foot on the plant spot and your right foot next to it heels together.

2. Find your Target

·         Pick out a target beyond the uprights to aim for.  I use the expression “aim small, miss small.” If you aim for the wide uprights, you can miss the wide uprights.  If you aim for the top of the light pole behind the uprights and miss the top of the light pole, you still have a chance to make it through the uprights.

3. Take Your Steps Back

·         While keeping your eyes on your spot behind the uprights, take 3 easy steps back.  Keeping your eyes on your target will help you stay straight as you walk.  When taking your steps, think about your spacing.  You want your spacing to be as natural as possible.  I like to think “how would I walk 100 yards backwards?” and try to replicate that form while I take my three steps back.  Don't over stride, don't start and stop 3 times, just take easy and consistent steps.

4. Stop and Regroup

·         Make sure what you have done so far is exactly what your want.  Try to draw an imaginary straight line from your left toe, through your plant spot, ending at your target behind the uprights.  If you can draw a perfectly straight line, you know you walked straight back.  If you cannot, start the process over.

5. Get Into Focus Mode

·         Now it’s time to turn into a robot.  It’s time to forget about what the kick means in the game, what the other team may be doing, or what the fans are screaming from the seats.  You only have a handful of opportunities during a game to do your job well, so you do not want lack of focus to be a reason for a missed kick. 

·         After I have regrouped and am comfortable with my steps back, I focus on the block or spot if off the ground, and my eyes won’t leave that spot until after the kick.  This helps block out unnecessary distractions.  A lot of kickers will look up two or three more times later in the progression, but then you may see something you were not expecting to, like defensive overload, player substitution, insufficient gap coverage on the line, and you could lose focus.  You know where you are trying to kick it, so you don't need to pick you head up again.  Focus and get ready to do your job

6. Side Steps

·         With the same mental approach as your backwards steps, take two easy side steps over, 90 degrees from your plant spot.  Again, if you had to walk 100 yards sideways, how would you walk?  If you feel your shoulder dipping to get more ground, or if your steps are drastically short of shoulder width apart, you might need to make a change.  Remember, what comes consistently is what comes naturally, and what comes naturally is what you can do without thinking about it.  Take easy, natural steps.

7. Get Ready to Attack the Football

·         When you’re getting set-up there are only a few things to keep in mind.

·         First, keep your weight on your lead foot, which hopefully is your plant foot.  This will cut down on your reaction time as you approach the ball and create better consistency in your steps. This will also prevent you from taking a third step or a “jab” which can easily get out of control.  “Jab” steps are not a bad thing, but you have to control the distance of them which can be hard to do as situations get more exciting and your blood gets pumping.

·         Secondly, make sure your hip and lead toe are pointing at the plant to keep the hips from unnecessarily rotating and remain as accurate as possible. 

·         Finally, do what comes naturally.  Think about how you would start a race on the playground when you were young as you will usually find a lot of similarities in your stance for the race and your stance for the beginning the kick.


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The Basics: Choosing a Kicking Tee

By Coach Nick Fleming

At the very beginning of kicking, even before you actually swing your leg, there are a few things you need to think about before lacing up your cleats to give kicking a try for the first time.  When you choosing your equipment, a few things are obvious; you need a ball, you need some cleats, but what about those kicking tees that are different sizes? Here are some important things to consider when choosing the correct tee for you.

When thinking about kicking tees, it’s important to remember one really solid piece of advice, and that is “higher tees and blocks do not automatically mean more distance.” In fact, distance is more directly related to a kicker’s mechanics and natural power of their swing.  The main thing a kicker should consider when choosing a tee is “how easily can I get the ball up over the line of scrimmage so the defense cannot block the kick?”

Kicking tees and blocks are made to give the kicker an easier time to get underneath the ball and get it up in the air.  Beyond the high school level, if all kickers were forced to kick off the ground, you would see a lot of blocked kicks because getting the ball up 10 feet in the air in 7 yards or less is quite difficult to achieve with pure mechanics.  Using a tee leaves a little room for error when trying to hit the sweet spot.  The mechanics related to kicking with a tee or block are relatively simple, the higher the ball is off the ground, the more your foot should make contact with the ball when your leg is on the upswing.  When a kicker makes contact with the ball when their leg is on the upswing, it is much easier to get the ball up in the air because the leg is at a better angle when contact occurs and popping it up in the air is easier to do.  For those who are already deep into the mechanics of kicking, remember that your plant spot should move back (away from the uprights) as the tee gets higher so that it is easier to achieve contact on the upward portion of the swing.

So, how does a first time kicker know if they want to use a 1/2”, 1”, or 2” tee or block?  The best way to find an answer is through trial and error.  Each beginner has different form, so they should find the tee or block that gives them the most success right away and then work from there.  My general rule of thumb is if you haven't played soccer or are one of your team’s better athletes, start with the 2” tee as that is usually easier for the “non-soccer” athletes to be successful (esp. toe kickers).  However, if you have played soccer your whole life and the soccer swing is already refined, try the 1/2” or 1” as that might be an easier transition with the swing you already have.

One question I always seem to get is regarding when to kick field goals off the ground.  I tell all of my students that if you are dead set on kicking in college, you should be practicing off the ground during the offseason from freshman year on.  For some students, the transition from a block to the ground is a long and hard road, so get a head start on making sure you’re ready when it’s time to impress a college coach. However, I would recommend for high school kickers to use a block during the season. Even if you’re more comfortable kicking off the ground, chances are good that your high school holder is not skilled enough to place the ball perfectly every time, so give yourself the extra breathing room that comes with using a block whenever you have the option.

For kickoff tees, use the same height tee that you are comfortably with using for field goals. By using the same tee, you don’t need to become comfortable having two different swings (an inch higher or lower than the other).  Kicking is all about making your swings as consistent as possible and each inch and degree of angle matters, so don’t make it harder on yourself by needing to create a kickoff swing an inch higher than your field goal swing.

Make sure to subscribe to us on YouTube, like us on Facebook at All AmericanKicking, follow us on Twitter @allamericankick and Instagram at allamericankicking.  Also feel free to reach out to me directly with your questions on kicking at nick@AllAmericanKicking.comnick@allamericankicking.com.