What makes a good punter

Nobody in the stands is getting out of their seat to cheer. How was your week? True story: I actually wanted to be a quarterback. I mean, I was a quarterback … in high school. I had every intention of playing quarterback in college, too. Growing up in Bothell, Washington, I always dreamed of playing in what was then the Pac Oregon State was one of the schools I was considering.

They said they would be in touch. A few weeks later, I got a call from their special teams coach. I remember thinking, This is kinda weird … why would the special teams coach be calling me? In college recruiting, coaches are typically responsible for a specific region. So I figured the special teams coach was calling me because I was in his region. So they had another idea.

My highlight tape was about seven minutes long — six minutes of me slinging the rock, one minute of me punting. He had watched the final minute. He almost made it sound like one of those halftime gimmicks, like sinking a half-court shot to win free tuition, or seeing who can throw the most footballs into giant Dr.

Pepper cans to win an oversized check. Whoever wins it will get a scholarship. I had gotten a couple of offers to play quarterback at smaller schools, but playing in the Pac was a goal of mine. Oregon State had the prepharmacy major I wanted and I really liked the coaches … all I had to do was win the starting punting job. I knew that if you kicked a spiral, that was good. But after that, I knew about as much about punting as my future neighbor.

But I decided to take a leap of faith. Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article methods. Tips and Warnings. Things You'll Need. Related Articles. Author Info Last Updated: October 8, Method 1. Always work on leg strength. You can do this by running or other leg related exercises. Kick the underside of the ball. That way, you will get more air under it and it will go farther.

Try not to always boot it out of the end zone. It will make it seem you like you don't know your own strength. Instead, try to kick it inside the ten, that way you have made a good kick and it forces the opponent to run out of their deep territory. Try to kick the center of the ball for field goal. If you kick to the right or left it will slice that way.

Also, be aware of the wind direction and aim accordingly. Method 2. You need have leg strength like a kicker. However, you also need to have control of that strength. When you're waiting for the snap, have your hands ready. When the center hikes it back to you, you need to be able to get a good grip, otherwise, you might fumble.

Once you've caught it, toss it just outside of your shoe making sure it stays above your shoe. Also, make sure it is facing vertically like in a kickoff. Koch had begun expanding his arsenal at that point, which included a solid drop punt, and today he can execute perhaps as many different kicks as any player in the NFL.

But what makes him particularly good is his ability to torque his hips so that he can punt to the right or left side of the field while facing straight forward, even while punting a spiral. The Ravens got Brown to chase the ball all over the field. None were returned, giving Koch a Which was phenomenal, because nobody really did any of that until maybe two years later.

I ask Hekker if he sees something like the Steph Curry Effect happening — that phenomenon when a player so radically succeeds that it reshapes how a generation of athletes trains. His message is part inspirational, part reminder that punters are people, too , and part appreciation for what is too often considered an ugly facet of football. A lot of them, like Koch, come from soccer backgrounds. Others picked up the position because it was the only way they could stay in football. Hekker would have been a quarterback if he had had his way.

Punters do care about the health of the profession, however. And when you have all the variables, and the wind blowing right to left, and the steps, and the field Where that art form goes is difficult to predict — physics and the human leg have only so much dexterity.

What other letters of the alphabet could punters spell with a football? Another thing to consider as punters improve: The more accurate and dangerous a punter is, the more effective trickery becomes.

That means there is one fewer player near the line of scrimmage to defend a fake run or pass play. None of these tricks can ever fully make up for the fact that, most of the time, punting is a sign that your team sucks.

Being a punter means that everyone — your coaches, your teammates, even you, yourself — wants to see as little of you as possible. Hackett now coaches punting as a stateside extension of Prokick Australia , and says he keeps a stopwatch by his couch so that he can clock hang time as he watches football on TV.

Specialists are making themselves visible by being weapons. Their secret, which should be more obvious than it seems, is that progress feels good. Punting will keep evolving regardless of whether it is ever properly appreciated in its time. Its mechanisms are self-sufficient, powered by football players who, more than football players at any other position, work much like artists do.

Watch a punter hit a ball into the stands, and you feel like you know a bit more about his psyche. And this will keep you healthy! Potential will only get you so far. Great technique will earn you the starting position. Chris Sailer Kicking will help you get there. This is often the separating factor.

If you believe in your preparation, you will succeed on the field.