Punting
- Choose Your Approach
- Warm Up
- Stretching
- Pre-punt mental routine
- Distance from the center
- Alignment to the line of scrimmage
- Foot alignment prior to the snap
- Upper body, arms and hand positions
- Leg Position
- While you wait for the ball to be snapped
- Concentrate as the ball is snapped
- When to start the take-off
- Proper stride length
- Take off towards the ball
- Weak snap
- Bad snap
- How high to hold the ball
- How to catch the ball
- Ball rotation in hands
- Grasping the ball
- Angle of ball
- Elbow extension
- Hold the ball through the strides
- Extend the ball outwards at the approach
- Ball angle and tilt of drop
- Arm and hand position at drop
- Shoulder position at drop
- Lower the ball to the foot
- Control drop speed
- Release the ball
- Bend the knee and cock the foot
- The Toe Point
- The plant foot
- Foot contact on sweet spot
- Contact point on foot during contact with the ball
- Optimum contact of the ball with the foot
- Position of arms during contact with the ball
- Position of head during contact with the ball
- Position of hips during contact with the ball
- Position of shoulders during contact with the ball
- Position of hips at point of contact with the ball
- Follow through with the punt foot
- Punting foot after follow-through
- Position of head after the follow through
- Position of planting foot after the follow-through
- Body position after follow-through
- Game situations
- How high should the follow-through be?
- Distance from the line of scrimmage after the punt
- Other factors affecting the flight and distance of the ball after the punt
- Wind direction
- Temperature
- Seam vs. panels vs. laces.
- Height
- Out of end-zone punts
- Distance
- Common Injuries
- Weight Training
- Practice techniques
- Ask the Coach
- George's Notes
- Glossary
Position of punting foot at follow-through
Your punting foot should finish high after you punt the ball. [See picture 48.] Make your foot reach your head if possible.
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| #48 |
Position of head after the follow-through
After you punt the ball, raise your head to follow the flight of the ball.
Position of planting foot after follow-through
| Your plant leg leaves the ground by making a heel-toe roll, just like walking, but you use the toe to push yourself off the ground and into the punt. The forward momentum and high off-the-ground follow-through give you maximum power. You are using weight to help you power into the ball. The more weight you transfer to your foot and into the ball, the more distance you will get. You should be about 2 feet past the spot where you planted. [See picture 49.] How far you land past the plant spot depends on how tall you are and how fast the explosion and lift are. |  |
| #49 |
Body position after the follow-through
If you maintained your balance, you will land on your plant foot first, with your punting leg coming down soon after.
Game Situations
Always know the field position of the ball when the team is on offense. On third down ,take a few practice punts into the net. If you do not have a net, take a few practice swings as if you were going to punt the ball. Go through your punting motion by swinging your leg and dropping the ball to the ground, concentrating on dropping it level. As you approach the spot on the field from which you will be punting, count the yards from the spot where you will be standing. At the same time, make sure there are 10 other team members out there with you. This distance will be around 12 ½-13 ½ yards, depending what the coach tells you.
How high should the follow-through be?
The higher your follow-through, the better the form mechanics will be. Remember, the height of the ball is not a function of the height of the follow-through.
Distance from the line of scrimmage after the punt
The distance will be approximately 10 yards from the center. Any closer and the punt will be blocked.