When you bring out your driver in golf, do you just put the ball on the ground? Or do you put it on a tee? A low stubby tee? NO. YOU TEE IT UP NICE AND HIGH. Why? Because you can hit the ball further and higher. Hmm. So why it is that almost all of you high school (and middle school) kickers use a 1" tee? You can use a 2" tee. "BUT COACH, I just kick spinners when I do that!" 🏈 Here's the fix. Wherever you start you kickoff approach, move back a half step. Problem solved. You need to be a little further back to hit the sweetspot with a 2" tee. Your brain will make the right calculations (still under it? Move back a little further). Most kickers get an extra 5 yards an a half second or more of hangtime — both very positive outcomes for you, your coach and your team. _ _ _ _ _ "SO WHERE'S MY OTHER 5 YARDS?" 1) Practice getting your steps right by using the GHOST KICKOFF DRILL. When you finally are able to approach the ball without worry about misstepping, you're ready for step no.2. 2) Practice the soccer ball KO. Take a soccer ball and put it on the football tee. Take your steps and kick the "snot" out of the ball. You'll find a ton of power, regardless of where it goes, because a soccer ball is round. There is NO BAD SIDE to the ball so you feel empowered to "swing away." That same feeling and thinking is what you need to do on your football kickoff. Attack the football like you do the soccer ball. When you first start out, don't worry about a "pretty kick". Just put power into it. Over time, your steps will measure out and you will find that you just picked up the 5 yards you wanted. Oh, one more thing... you can do that same drill by hitting squib kicks. WITH POWER! Can you squibb the ball (line drive low and hopping) and have the ball roll into the end zone? Guess what, if the return many doesn't pick it up, it's a touchback. If you can power a squib to the end zone, you have enough power to kickoff into the end zone. For younger guys, just chart your progress. I can squib the ball 40 yards. Now 50 yards... NOW 60 yards!!!

This is Declan Dies, a freshman from North Cedar High School in Iowa at one of our camps this summer. Declan, like so many other young kickers, was struggling a bit with his kickoffs. Mishits, bad steps, no control... and yet, within 10 minutes of our KO drills, Declan is hitting 50 yard kick offs with accuracy. How? 1. Declan found his steps. 2. Walk-run-attack 3. Get energy down field 4. Create great contact. How can he continue to improve? 1. Strength, speed, flexibility. 2. Better follow through. 3. More confidence through repetition to attack! 4. Grow - you're a kid, be patient. 😁 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snvjsyum2is&t=146s QUICK TIP FOR DISTANCE: Tee up a soccer ball and kick it as far as you can. There's no bad spot on the ball (unlike a football). You'll gain confidence in attacking without easing up at all. Try to keep the soccer ball heading directly ahead. Many of you have a soccer goal under your post. Score a 60 yard goal! ⚽ BONUS: Now do the same thing with a football, except kick the hardest squib kick you can do. The ball shouldn't be in the air for more than 20 yards. Once it's on the ground, can you get it to roll into the end zone? You are building power and thinking less about the specific ball contact. Once you find the sweetspot, you'll know how to attack it for an end zone kick. Guess what? If your squib kick goes into the end zone, it's a touchback, too! 🏈 🤣

My full schedule of kicking and punting camps for this Spring & Summer is now finalized. We have camps in Wisconsin, Minnesota & Iowa! 12 camps, combines and competitions in total! For more info, go to the Mike Farley's Kickers Camp Summer-Camps page! NOTE: My camps are designed for middle & high school kickers/punters to get great personalized instruction : • to actually perform better • to earn your coach's trust to get more chances to kick • to better handle in-game pressure I employ college counselors to help out and I won't let you kick your leg out! 🤣 And if you're looking for exposure, I have three opportunities for you: 1) ) WLC Ignite Combine on 4/30 (I head up the specialist staff) 25+ NCAA coaches in attendance. 2) Minnesconsin MEGA CAMP on 6/17 (I head up the specialist staff) 60+ NCAA coaches in attendance! 3) Midwest Kicking & Punting Championship on 7/17 (I run the show, — 1000's of views on YT)! Check it out! _ _ _ If you can't make it to my camps, I highly recommend that you find a kicking camp in your area to go to. Mostly, we teach the same kinds of things, the difference often is how many reps you get and how personalized the instruction is for you. Even at showcase-type camps, just having the opportunity to compete with others who are both worse and better than you is great practice prior to your Fall football season. I don't endorse others kicking camps, because I don't go them (I'm busy enough with my own, thank you 😇), but you can certainly Google "Football kicking camps in my area" and you're bound to see a few pop up!

Have you seen this? Along with Issac Punts, I think this kid (Tanner Brown), has just followed in the footsteps of Brandon Aubrey to go from the UFL to the NFL. Still, there are only 32 highly paid kicking jobs in the world — he'll have to compete, but this sure is a great way to get ALL 32 TEAMS to take notice. Wow. _ _ _ _ Guess what? By the time I wrote this, he's already been picked up by the SAINTS. 😵‍💫

On Friday, we had our ALL-DAY camp in Sparta, WI where we had drills and instruction in the morning, then broke for lunch and a film evaluation session. After lunch, we headed back out to the stadium to get charted in kick offs, punting and field goals... along with some additional pressure practice to better handle game anxiety (hint: your brain can be told whether to have anxiety or simply be excited for the chance — choose the latter)! Then, on Saturday, it was back to a half-day kicking and punting camp in DeForest, Wisconsin. We had a smaller group of specialists on a sunny (but windy) day. Just know that our camps are always ON... if you play in it, we practice in it. And windy days are a great training tool. Instead of kicking exclusively WITH THE WIND, go DIRECTLY INTO IT. Yes, you'll kick or punt with less distance, but the wind magnifies your mistakes. If you don't make mistakes, guess what? The ball flies straight ahead. If it hooks or fades, you get instant feedback about foot or shoulder position at impact. NEXT CAMP: UW-River Falls "Minnesconsin MEGA CAMP" on Wednesday, June 17th. It's a combine with about 50+ college coaches in attendance. Some players get signed on the spot. Everyone gets a fair shake. Good experience with a lot of bodies (1,000 kids last year with about 50 specialists). NEXT MFKC CAMP: Woodbury, Minnesota on Saturday, June 20th. Still spots available. Sign up at: kickerscamp.com