I am happy to announce that Championship Productions will soon be releasing my newest teaching videos for coaches. This time I’m speaking on the Kicking Game. The title of the dvd’s is: Making Your Special Teams Special… by Being Unconventional.
If you are not “gaining the edge” in the kicking game, you are missing out on an opportunity to “steal” a victory here and there during your season. Most coaches, unfortunately, do not spend the time that is necessary to actually win the kicking game each week. I recall one of my college coaches saying: “In a close game between two evenly-matched teams, it usually comes down to a play in the kicking game that determines the outcome!” Think of Alabama/Auburn a couple of years ago… FG return of 109 yards for a TD! Michigan/Michigan State: bothced punt by Michigan in closing minutes led to MSU TD! How many “wide lefts” does Bobby Bowden still wake up from in a cold sweat??!!! The kicking game IS 1/3 of the game. Are you spending the practice time necessary to be successful? And when you do spend time, are you utilizing “unconventional” means to achieve that success? We did for over 20 years and it paid dividends! I’m not going to go into detail here about these unconventional things we did— I want you to buy the dvd’s!!!! I will say that they afford you 2 things: 1) you can use back-up’s as most of your kicking team personnel… which allows you to rest your starters. and 2) if your opponent doesn’t prepare properly for your “unconventional” approach to your kicking teams, you’re going to create “game-changers” from the opening kickoff to that last second field goal attempt.
OK… I’ll give you a teaser. Yes, I’m a nice guy!!! 🙂 But, my wife says: “Tell them to buy the dvd’s!!!”
How would you like to have a 50/50 chance of recovering your kickoffs? and… NOT necessarily on-side kicking every time! My mantra is: NEVER, NEVER kick deep down the middle!!! (unless you know your kicker will put it in the end zone every kick!!) Why? Kicking it to the 5- 10 yard line is a recipe for disaster! Most high school kids are not going to sell out for 50 yards to storm down the field to “bust the wedge” and make an open field tackle on a strong, speedy back! That’s just one more example of “don’t use college-level concepts for high school kids.” It just doesn’t work very often. We have 7 different “short to medium pop ups and worm burners kicks” to confuse and confound the return team. We rarely have a return of over 7 yards run back against us. Plus, as I said earlier, we are likely to get at least 1 turn over each game because of our uncoventional method of kicking off!
Check out the dvd’s. I think that you will find them to be of interest and value. And… even if you don’t buy my dvd’s, look into some “unconventional” ways to approach your special teams. Truly make them special!
