We have all been in a situation where we want to be on top of our game. There are many components that factor into being a successful Kicker. One of the many purposes of drills is to maximize strengths and minimizing weaknesses. Drills come in many forms; Ball Contact, accuracy, power, and of course, last-second field goal drills. Leg workouts, or just workouts in general, develop a kicker mentally, physically, and spiritually.
On top of workouts for kickers and overall kicker workouts, eating the right foods will complement your progress. That said, this calorie counter app will be a great way to keep yourself in shape and be the best you. Workouts for kickers are never simple, we love to make them complicated, but these are some fun and easy ways to make your kicking game exponentially better. Start utilizing the skills and abilities expressed throughout this article and enjoy the drills for kickers!
Of course, of these, there is a core focus of making your job as a kicker easier. Over the duration of this post, we will highlight the pros and cons of each drill. We hope to provide a better understanding of drills you can do to become more confident in your kicking journey.
Line Drill
What it works on;
- Eliminates Curve
- Promotes a Straight Follow Through
- Encourages Maintaining Good Form With Power
- Accuracy
When you start the line drill, make sure to get on the sideline, therefore, the ball is on the beginning of a straight line. You can do no steps, one step, and a full approach for field goals. If the field is big enough, you can practice kickoffs. And for punts, it’s great to put the ball on the line, making sure your kicking leg stays straight down the line.
Another thing to focus on is to make sure your steps do not cross the line. Your plant leg should definitely NOT touch the line. Therefore, you want the ball to contact your kicking leg, and you swing straight up and through and finish straight down the line. The end result should be a nice pretty kick that stays as close to the line as possible. If punting, the ball should stay between 5 yards to the left, and to the right.
Ball Contact Drill
What It Works On:
- How your foot contacts the ball
- The repeatability of hitting the ball in the same spot
- Improves your focus on the sweet spot
- Great for a warm-up, in between kicks to stay in the rhythm
There are multiple ways to do the ball contact drills. The first way is with a partner. Start by having your partner get on a knee and hold the ball tightly on the knee that is down. This way you can maintain posture and make solid contact with the ball repeatedly.
A third way to do these drills is barefoot into a net. As a result of kicking barefoot, you make sure your toes are not in the way and you are only hitting the meat of your foot on the kick. This ensures maximum power and also strengthens your kicking foot. People used to kick barefoot back in the day so it would be nice to get back in with the old days.
Air Swings
What It Works On:
- Warms you up
- Gets your form down
- Mentally prepares you for full reps
- Builds confidence for the real kicks
When doing Swings on Air, make sure it is a game ready style kick or punt. We want to simulate the real kick the best way we can. For example, when practicing a field goal, we take our normal steps back and over. After the steps, go through your normal pre-kick routine and then nod to your imaginary holder since you would do this anyway on a live kick. The reason for this is it prepares you for the real situation. Make sure your routine identical since you are going to do the same thing time and time again. Make your system automatic, and your kicks will be as well.
Accuracy Drill
What It Works On:
- Eliminates Curve
- Instills confidence
- Adds fun to kicking
- Competitive nature
- Adds height to your kicks
When you do the accuracy drill, place the ball on the goal line with the ball aiming to make it through the upright. After you make it, move the ball upfield 1 yard. Now that you are 1 yard in the endzone, attempt to make it again. Repeat until you get to the back of the endzone. After this, repeat on the other side of the sideline. This drill eliminates curve, therefore keeping the importance of the aim small miss small concept, and is really effective for improving your skills.
Since you are such a close distance, really strive to hit the ball over the upright. This extra challenge will make you really concentrate and you will become good at overachieving a drill. While the main point is to make the ball between the posts, it is important to always have a +1 mentality for getting better. Be happy with your results but always expect more.
Another beautiful thing about this drill is the competition it brings out from within you. When you become obsessed with outperforming yourself, that is a great place to be. Looking to beat someone else is great, but winning the self battle is better. Always try to be better than you were yesterday. This drill serves as a marker for that. If you made 14/20 kicks on the accuracy drill today, make 15/20 tomorrow. Your focus plays a major part in getting better little by little.
Hit The Upright Drill
What It Works On:
- Accuracy
- Hitting the ball in a straight line
- Consistency
- Height for Field Goals
This drill is performed as one would think. Start on the hash on either upright and move back to test your accuracy. It is recommended to do this drill 20 yards away to really work on your power AND lift. Likewise, being close is working on height. Being far away works on getting the ball to stay on the straight line. However, being in the middle means the ball does both at the same time.
This drill while oddly simple, it may become harder than one would expect. A recommended way to do this drill is aim for 3 sets with 3 kicks per set. We are not trying to get used to hitting the pole. 😉 When doing this drill, keep your form smooth and do not try to kick it so hard, your leg leaves your body.
Height Drills
What It Works On:
- Height (no brainer)
- Ball Contact
- Hitting the ball in a straight line
- Having consistent form
This drill is quite simply one of the better drills you can do since it does a lot of the drills altogether. Get on the back of the end zone and put the ball on the sideline. Your goal is to hit the ball over the upright. If you do this successfully a few times over, move closer to the upright. As you progress, your ball flight should get better and better until you are seeing a consistent flight in your kicks. The ball should be clearing the uprights from 20 yards away. If you are doing that, it will be difficult to block any kicks.
Pole Drills
What It Works On:
- Stability
- Contact
- Body Positioning at contact
- Good for warm-ups
- Great to get the rhythm of kicking down
One of the better drills to start doing is the pole drill. This is where you get next to a surface you can hold onto with your kicking arm (left arm for lefties, right arm for a righty) and simply use the pole as your “ball.” This way, your kicking foot gets stronger because you are kicking metal! Also, your form is maintained because you are using a 3rd party to stabilize you through the backswing and kick.
Traditionally, this drill is done best when using the foundation of a field goal pole to hold on to. This is also much stronger and stable than a door, or shower curtain rack (what I use from time to time.) The pole drill is great for many things. The best part about this drill is no matter your skill level, this will benefit you by keeping it simple. Leg back, lockout, hit the pole with the meaty part of your foot, and repeat.
Around The World Drills
What It Works On:
- Consistency
- Staying relaxed
- Improving focus
- Keeping things simple
This drill is more of an exercise since it utilizes a large portion of the field to complete. Start by placing footballs on the 10-yard line left hash, 15 left, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 left. Place one ball on the 42 middle. Then repeat the process down the right side of the field. (40 right, 35, 30, etc.) Now when it is done, you should have 15 kicks total. After 1 set, do it again. If my calculations are correct, you have completed 30 kicks (#math.)
Now the reason this drill is great is it works all sides of the field making sure you are confident no matter where you are on the field. Likewise, You will also begin to see where your weaknesses are and you can focus on those spots as the week’s progress. It is a great idea to track your kicking statistics since you should know how you performed the workout prior. This way, you can see your progression. Without knowledge of our weaknesses, how can we grow?
Hurdle Drills
What It Works On:
- Explosive follow-through
- Full range of motion
- Utilizing your full body for the kick
- Understanding momentum for kickoffs
For the hurdle drill, get a small hurdle or anything high enough to where you would have to take a generous step over. Take that item and put it one yard away from the kickoff tee. Now put your plant spot in the normal spot it would be for a kickoff. now take your kicking leg and put it back a few feet. You do not want your leg right up next to the tee.
You should aim to have your kicking leg back enough so you can generate income. Now, without jerking too much, and keeping a tall frame, swing your leg up and through the “ball.” Your objective is to land up and over the hurdle. When done correctly, your frame stays tall, your momentum goes up and through, and you continue to go downfield. Not only is this going to help you increase power and accuracy for kickoffs, your overall awareness of momentum increases.
Last Second Field Goal Drills
What It Works On:
- Staying calm under pressure
- Being able to slow down and keep it simple
- Understanding that perfection is not needed, just 3 points
When doing this drill, it is best to do with all the lineman, a snapper, and a holder. However, most of the time, you may not have these things at your disposal. In that case, it is perfectly fine to have your own sticks and a ball. The way this drill works is you give yourself 12 seconds to run from the sideline to kick the ball. It may be tough to keep a mental timer in your head but do your best.
An example could be set up a ball on the 36-yard line left hash (46-yard field goal.) Go to the sideline, then start counting down from 12. Sprint to the ball, you will not have time to do your normal 3 steps back and two over for a normal kick. For instance, you will have to take steps quickly in order to make it in time. Kick the ball through the dang yellow things. Now it might be tough to stimulate adrenaline, however, exercise might trigger it if done correctly. For example, you could do 10 Burpees before the kick.
Get it done and go home, the thing about this drill, you do not have a second chance. Consequently, if you miss the kick, you have to go home since you do not get second chances in games. That makes the situation that much more intense. Therefore, when you only have one opportunity, your focus doubles or triples. It goes without saying that there are many benefits to this drill. That being said make sure you are utilizing it to the full capacity.
Conclusion
Each drill serves its own purpose. However, you have to figure out what your weaknesses are. You should try and attempt to eliminate them to the best of your ability. By eliminating weaknesses and doubling strengths, you increase your chances of success tenfold. Therefore, it does not matter if you do the drill perfectly the first time. The important thing is you are attempting to become the best version of yourself through constant improvement. If you enjoyed reading this article, please share this so we can continue to grow! Also, if you have any suggestions for what we should write about next, let us know!
Bonus Resources
If you found this helpful and want to read more about how to improve as a field goal kicker and punter, check out my book, “The Art Of Kicking” Also, I created a kicking and punting journal to track your progress called, “The Art Of Kicking JOURNAL” both can be found at these links as well as on Amazon. Check them out, they’ve already helped hundreds of field goal kickers and punters!
Also, if you have any suggestions for what we should write about next, let us know! Thanks for reading and stay amazing!
Thanks for reading and as always, stay amazing!
- Eric
