Here is a scenario every kicker knows: you show up to an away field expecting a full pregame, and you get three kicks. Maybe two, if the offense needs the time or the warmup clock got shortened. Meanwhile the other team’s specialist takes his full session. This is not bad luck — it is the actual job, and the kickers who handle it well plan for it on purpose. Here is how to get truly ready on three kicks.
Disclosure: The coaching link in this post supports Kickers of Earth directly, and across this site some links are affiliate links — if you buy through one I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend what I would tell a teammate to use.
Why Your Warmup Time Shrinks
Before you fix this, understand why it happens, because it will keep happening:
- Away fields. Some stadiums give the visiting specialist a stingy window, and you often share time with the returner.
- Weather delays and short warmup windows. A lightning delay or a fast turnaround game compresses everything.
- Shared sideline space. If your warmup area is 20 yards wide, your plan has to fit in 20 yards.
- Coach’s clock. When the team schedule runs tight, specialists are last in line for time.
Nobody is coming to save your warmup. The solution is a plan with layers: one full warmup you hope for, one short version you get, and one minimal version for the disaster scenario. If you have never built the full version, start with the kicker’s warm-up routine post, because the compressed plan is just a compressed version of a good one.
What Your Three Kicks Are Actually For
This is the mindset shift. Your pregame kicks are not a tryout and they are not a range check. They have exactly three jobs:
- Confirm tempo. The steps and rhythm you have practiced ten thousand times — feel them at game speed once.
- Confirm contact. One clean strike tells your brain the swing is loaded.
- Confirm the environment. Wind direction, field surface, hold spot, where the sun sits.
Notice what is missing: proving you can hit from 50. Pregame is the wrong time to test range, and a kicker who spends his three kicks backing up is spending his calmness, not building it. Distance was settled in practice on Tuesday. Today is a rehearsal, not an audition.
The Three-Kick Plan
With real field time for three swings, this is the sequence I would run:
- Kick one: short, easy, dead center. 15–20 yards. Contact only. You are greasing the groove, not sending a message.
- Kick two: mid-range, full operation. Real snap, real hold, game tempo, 70–80% of your range. This is the rep your brain takes into the game.
- Kick three: from your game-day distance. A typical field goal, not a max attempt. Walk off with a make in your eyes and a clean swing in your legs.
If you only get two kicks, cut to kicks one and two. If you get one, make it the full operation mid-range. The routine stays identical every week so the first kick never feels like a surprise — that is the whole power of a pre-kick routine, and Eric breaks down exactly how your routine carries your kicks here:
The Secret Weapon: Warm Up Before You Get Warmup Kicks
Here is what separates the prepared from the hopeful. Your field work is a small part of being ready. Before you ever step on the field, you should already be warm: dynamic stretching done in the locker room or on the sideline grass, band work done, heart rate up, swing activated with dry swings. The kickers who panic when warmup time shrinks are the ones who arrive relying on kicks to get warm.
Think of the field kicks as the final check, not the warmup itself. Your body gets ready before the pads go on, and the three kicks just confirm what your body already knows.
Mental Reps Count When Physical Reps Don’t Exist
When you cannot swing, rehearse. Between series, in the locker room, on the bus — run your kick in your head at full speed: the steps, the plant, the contact, the flight. Mental rehearsal primes the same motor pattern you are short on physical reps for. The trick is specificity: same field, same hash, same wind you are actually looking at, not a generic highlight. Done right, five minutes of sharp mental reps is worth more than five frustrated swings you squeeze into a crowd.
This is also where your between-series thinking matters. If your mind wanders to the last miss or the wind at your back, you are spending attention on noise. The what to think about when kicking field goals guide gives you a clean focus target instead.
Stay Ready on the Sideline
Between your warmup and your first real kick, you might sit for 20 minutes or an hour. Legs cool, focus drifts, and suddenly the game’s first kick happens on cold legs because your warmup was at 6:15 and it is now 7:40. Build a sideline reset: keep moving at quarter breaks, a band in your bag, a couple of dry swings behind the bench when the situation allows, and keep the layers on so the muscles stay warm. The three ways to stay warm on the sidelines post is written for exactly this.
Build Your Own Version, Then Keep It Boring
Your final step is writing the plan down: full warmup version, three-kick version, one-kick version, sideline reset. Practice each version during the season, deliberately — pick a practice day where you only get three kicks and run the short plan so it is familiar when a game forces it. Preparation removes the panic, and the panic is what actually costs kicks.
If you want someone to pressure-test your game-day plan — warmup structure, routine, and how it holds together under a real schedule — that is exactly what remote coaching is for. Bring me your plan and your film and we will tighten it: book a session here.
