Site design by Judith Meyers

All contents Copyright © 1999, George Jakowenko.
 

Distance 
Distance is a function of both how hard and how high you punt the ball.  The optimum height at which you meet the ball and the forward movement of your leg will produce the longest punt.  Practice holding the ball at various heights and then measure the distance after each punt.  Punt the ball at least 10 times from each position to get a good indication of the distance of each punt.

Common Injuries
See the trainer or team physician at the onset of any of the following:

• Pulled thigh (quadriceps) muscles.
• Pulled groin muscle.
• Shin splints.
• Hyperextension of the punting knee.

Weight training
The earlier you start the regiment of physical and mental training, the faster you will learn and the farther you will be able to punt.

Practice techniques

How many balls to punt?
Punt until your leg gets tired - normally 40-50 punts. 

Ball rotation from simulated snap
Practice getting snaps and rotating the ball as fast as you can to the proper angle and tilt. 

Drop ball drill. 
Simulate the punt and drop the ball.  The ball should bounce up and forward slightly, since you are moving forward.  If the ball bounces backwards, tilt the front end point up.
If the ball bounces forward, tilt the front end point down.
If you practice the drop ball standing still, then the ball will bounce straight up. 

Practice coffin-corner punts
Punt 10 to 20 times a day, unless you placekick also.  

Stride length. 
Mark a distance of about 3 yards.  Make your approach as if to punt the ball.  If you step on the three yard mark, then your stride is too long, and you'll be too close to the line of scrimmage.

Landing drill
Measure how far you land after punting the ball.  The distance should be 1 to 2-1/2 feet. 

Bad snap drills
Practice handling bad and weak snaps.

Out of end-zone 
Practice quick punts by taking two steps and punting the ball.
Practice running to the right and punting the ball while running.

Straight line drill
Punt across the field, using the line markers as a guide.   Stand on the line marker with your right foot on the line.  Take the first step and look down to see that your left foot is 4” to the left of the line just as it would be if you were walking.  Step with your right foot and make sure it is touching the line. If there are no yard-markers, use a rope or tape to make a line. 

ASK THE COACH
The best indicator as to what you may have done wrong in the punt is the ball itself. 

The ball spirals but goes left
One of the most common errors is to swing the leg in a sweeping circular motion from right to left, rather than swinging it in an upward motion.  Do not punt the ball using the soccer-style motion. 

The ball spirals but wobbles
Angle the ball more to the left.

Ball spirals, turns over but does not get height
Hold the ball higher when contact is made.

Ball goes off the toe and not the instep.
Do not throw the ball forward on to your foot; instead, drop it down to meet your foot.

Turns end-over-end
End-over-end turnover of the ball means that the ankle of the punting foot came into contact with the back end point of the ball.  This can be caused by one of two form errors:

• The ball is pointing downfield and not angled to the left; or 
• The ball held too close to the body and cannot clear the leg and reach the foot.

Turns reverse end-over-end and is high
A reverse end-over-end, the kind a placekicker achieves is caused by the toe of the punt foot not being pointed, so that the tip of the shoe makes contact with the front point of the ball.

How to know if the coach does not know how to improve the form
He will tell you what you already know.  He tells you to punt it deeper, punt it higher, punt it faster, take fewer steps or stand closer to line of scrimmage, or punt a spiral.

Most coaches cannot help you in determining how to improve the punts. 

What to do when the coach changes the form to something you know is not right
Go out for soccer.  Get help from an instructor who can show you what to do, not just tell you what to do.
 

COACHES' NOTES

The following notes are for coaches.

If the punter is taking lessons, be patient; the punter will not learn how to punt overnight.  Unless you know more than the instructor, don’t send mixed messages to the punter.  Tell the punter to work on some specific areas, such as hang time or directional punting, and he will pass the message to the instructor. 

Meet with the instructor and tell him what you want the punter to concentrate on.

Don’t expect punts to be within 1.9 seconds from snap to punt.  1.9 seconds is a number used by the pros and colleges who have outstanding centers. 

If you ask the punter to stand closer to the center because the center can’t get the ball back, don’t ask the punter to go to a two-step approach.  You are basically punishing the punter for a weakness you have in the center position.  Have the punter speed up his approach

Don’t expect good directional punts from the punter. 

Don’t expect spirals.

Don’t ask him to start moving into the punt before he catches the ball.  This approach does not allow enough time for the punter to arrange the ball, stretch his arms to place the ball in the proper position and then punt it.

Give the punter a center to workout with.

Get a kicking/punting net.

Have at least 3 balls for the punter to use.

Make sure you have warned the punter far enough in advance that he will be punting.

Let the punter lift weights during the season if there is no room for him to work out on the field.