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 Nolan, a soon to be senior kicker from Rockton, IL. He was a varisty kicker last year and like so many high schoolers, he got about 3-4 changes to kick FGs last season. He's a good kicker. He wants more distance, but I am trying to get him to hone in on all of his K-zone kicks (for him, 32 yards and in). He can KO 60 yards, but not consistently. The Post Drill warm-ups are simply intended to go from about 70% power, all the way up to 100% effort. Most kickers will find that their sweet spot arrives at about 90%. The chuckle on the sideline drill stemmed from him trying to make the FG with a right-to-left crosswind was nearly impossible to do. That is, until the wind calmed right when he kicked the ball (right between the posts). 🤣 Here's a cheat code for you: if you wish to get full power because you are truly at the end of your range, do your steps, get set, then move back another 6-8 inches. Your 100% effort will produce more adrenaline and distance in your movement. Trust that your brain will get you to the ball.

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! 🏈 🤣

With contact days starting today, and official practice in 2 weeks, I thought id give this time to make one more “end of summer” post on my progress. Last night I went to the field to take some kicks, and I’ll tell you now I was more than thrilled. I’ve seen so much progress this year words cannot describe how thankful I am for some of you guys helping me out and giving me advice, and most importantly I wanna give a special thanks to Mike Farley for helping me both online and at the west bend camp. Below I will attach one kick from February, march(failed PR 45 yds) beginning of summer, and end of summer including an extra point, 20 yd field goal, and a new PR!!! thank you all!

but where is it for kickers and punters? THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION... (I'm working on the answer — see below) 🏈 _ _ _ KNOW THIS — from On3.com: Five years into the NIL era, June's sprint to host official visits and lock down commitments turned into a rather expensive month of the recruiting trail for Power Four programs. With the dawn of revenue sharing a year ago, more programs than ever before have dollars to funnel to top recruits. General managers across the Power Four told On3 the price to land talent has never been greater. "It feels like $350,000 was the starting price for a low four-star this year," an SEC general manager said. "We've reached the period where everyone has an agent. "There are no layups anymore in high school recruiting. Nothing is even reasonably priced." While the overall price for a five-star recruit has held fairly steady, the price for four-star recruits has climbed significantly. As one source told On3, "the kid we might value at $400,000 is now getting offers to be the $750,000 recruit in another school's recruiting class." _ _ _ THE ANSWER IS... it's a moving target. Here's what's generally known (I am working on specifics and would love to hear anything from our tribe in K-Skool if you have info you can share with us)... For a starting kicker at a Power 4 (P4) Division I school, typical monetary deals range from $10,000 to $75,000 per year in NIL compensation. The specific value of a deal for a kicker varies based on several core factors: - The Market Rate: Industry specialists and media outlets estimate the standard specialist (Kicker/Punter) market value is roughly $60,000. - Exceptional Value: Exceptional kickers can break the baseline range. For example, when All-American kicker Dominic Zvada transferred, he netted a deal worth at least $500,000. - At a P4 school, you're liklier to get a full scholarship now. The newly enacted NCAA revenue-sharing rules and the shift from scholarship limits to strict roster caps are eliminating the traditional walk-on specialist. College football rosters were limited to 85 scholarships, but teams could carry up to 120+ players total. This allowed coaches to hoard "walk-on" kickers, punters, and long snappers who paid their own tuition. Under the new model born from the House v. NCAA settlement, everything has changed.