OUR TEAM HAS had solid special teams in all areas of the kicking game. One of the biggest reasons for this success has been our drill work and practice regimen for all kickers, punters, holders and long snappers.

Kicking Drills
Selecting the proper kicker is the most important part of establishing a solid kicking game. If you coach freshmen, junior high or at the Pop Warner level, you might want to look at your linemen as prospective kickers. Their legs are already strong, and if they understand the concept of planting their plant foot correctly, they might already be able to get good distance on their kicks.

Of course, a strong leg is always desired. But it’s more important for kickers to understand the need to plant close to the tee and not overextend their legs through the kick. You should also look for a kicker who can duplicate his motion on a consistent basis, keep his eyes focused on the ball and fight the desire to watch the kick.

The following kicking drills will help your kicker improve and can help develop consistent kicking habits.

-    Boot Ball. This drill has your kicker take five kicks in a row and “boot” the ball as far as he can kick it, without regard for location, similar to an amateur golfer who’s on a driving range and hitting for distance.

-    Hash Drill. The kicker places the ball on the right hash and takes five kicks, attempting to kick the ball 20 to 30 yards downfield and toward the left or right hash mark without going out of bounds. Repeat the drill from the left side.

-    Accuracy Drill. This drill helps the kicker develop kicking control and accuracy from close range. The kicker places the ball on the 20-yard line in the middle of the field and takes five kicks, aiming to get the ball through the goal posts. The kicker then attempts five from the right hash mark and five from the left hash mark.

-    Ground Balls. The kicker takes five kicks from the center of the field and tries to keep the ball on the ground.

The kicker’s focus should be on getting good distance on the kicked balls as well as getting the ball to the right, left and middle of the field without allowing the ball to go out of bounds.

-    Pooch Kicks. The kicker takes five kicks from the 5-yard line. These should be 3-step pooch kicks with a goal of dropping the ball somewhere between the 30- and 20-yard line. After doing this drill for a while, you can make the drill harder and challenge your kicker to try to have the ball land between the 20- and 25-yard line.

-    Onside Kicks. The kicker places the ball on a hash mark (the kicker will have to figure out which hash mark works best) and attempts five onside kicks, aiming to get the ball to go no less than 10 yards and no further than 15 yards downfield while staying inbounds.

-    Free Kicks. Place the ball on the 25-yard line and have your kicker attempt five free kicks, trying to get the ball to go as high as possible, while aiming for distance.

Punter, Punting Drills
When selecting a good punter, it’s important that you pick someone who can catch a long snap and make a good drop while under pressure. Distance may not be as important as accuracy when it comes to punting.

The following drills assume that your punter already knows the basic fundamentals of holding the ball and drop technique as he takes his steps.

-    Partner Toss Drill. Have your punter and back-up punter stand 10 yards apart in a good punter’s stance and toss the ball back and forth to one another, simulating a long snap. The person catching the ball must catch the ball with two hands and keep his head down. After he catches the ball, have him simulate a drop and leg swing. Do not have them actually punt the ball. Repeat five to 10 times. This drill should be run daily.

-    Ball Drop. Have the punter hold a ball straight out and drop it as if he’s going to punt. If the ball bounces straight up, then the drop was done correctly. The ball must not land on its end.

You can combine this drill with the Partner Toss Drill, but make sure that this phase of the drill isn’t rushed and that your punter really concentrates on the ball drop.

-    Partner Catch Drill. Have a punter and a partner stand 20 to 40 yards apart and across the field going east to west, depending on your punter’s leg strength. The punter takes a 1-step approach and punts the ball toward his partner. Increase the difficulty by having the partners move to the left or right.

This is an especially effective pre-game drill with the punter punting to the kicker and the kicker putting the ball up on a tee and kicking it back to the punter.

-    Hang-Time Drill. This is a great drill for developing a punter’s hang time and distance. Establish a target that the punter must punt the ball over such as the scoreboard, the bleachers, press box, etc. The punter stands directly next to the obstacle and tries to punt the ball over it. Repeat five times. As this becomes easier for the punter, have him back away from the obstacle a few steps and repeat the procedure.

-    Accuracy Drill. Have the punter stand a predetermined distance away from the goal post and punt the ball through the uprights. The optimal distance you want to shoot for in high school or college is 50 yards with consistent accuracy. Or you can set a goal based on age or skill level.

-    Backed-Up Punt. Have your punter stand a half
yard in front of the back of the end zone. He will call for
the snap, catch the ball, take one step and punt the ball
away quickly.

As your punter becomes better at catching the snap quickly and punting the ball correctly, it will help him with his regular punting.

Place-Kicking Drills
The following drills are good to run before the entire team takes to the practice field. If possible, get the kicker, holder, snapper and each position’s back-up on the field early to do this work.

These drills should be done more than once a week, but shouldn’t be run so often that they’ll tire out your placekicker’s leg.

-    Cross-Bar Drill. This is a good drill to solidify your PAT team. Have the holder kneel on the goal line, directly in line with the center of the goal posts and hold a ball. The place kicker then attempts to kick the ball over the cross bar. Do five repetitions and have the kicker do them quickly to develop consistency in the kicking motion.

-    Narrow-Post Drill. Not all schools can afford those fancy goal posts that are more narrow than a regulation set, but a good way to “narrow” out your current posts is to have your holder set up near the sideline about a half yard outside the hash mark toward the sideline. The place kicker will try to kick field goals from there. This side angle narrows the goal post and forces the kicker to hit a smaller target. You do not need to move the kicker that far back, as the added distance sideways also adds distance to the kick. Have the kicker attempt field goals from both the left and right side of the field.

-    Upright Drill. Have your holder put the ball on the 10-yard line and in the middle of the field just as in an extra-point attempt. The place kicker must aim his kick and try to hit the right (for a right-legged kicker) or left (for a left-legged kicker) upright. The kicker may not always hit the post with consistency, but this drill will help him develop his aim. Once the kicker gets better at this, move him back.

-    Move-The-Kicker-Around Drill. Have your kicker attempt a few kicks from the 10-yard line (PAT distance) in the middle of the field. Then, back him up and move him from hash mark to hash mark, attempting kicks from the left and right sides. Do not let him move back to the middle of the field. Start with a total of 12 to 15 kicks early in the week and then cut the number down to 5 to 8 kicks the day before a game.

This drill also requires the holder and long snapper so that you get them repetitions for field-goal attempts and PATs.