Stocking Stuffers for Kickers

1. Nerf N-Sports Turbo Jr. Practice Football

For kickers learning proper kicking rotation or beginners learning to kick a football end over end, I keep a couple of these footballs in my kicking bag during private lesson sessions.  In fact, I found this Nerf N-Sports Turbo Jr. Football which is bright orange.

While the 8.74 inch tall foam football would be tough to squeeze in even the largest stockings, their squishi-ness might make it possible to poke out of the top. This football is about 2 inches shorter than the official size footballs for high school and college.  The Nerf N-Sports Turbo Jr. Football is perfect for kicking practice around the yard or even in the basement or garage.  Because the Turbo Jr. football is slightly less tall than a real football

I often recommend that beginning kicker students work with a super light weight football around the house, in the yard, etc, to practice and develop rotation on kicks.  Take a football out to the field and you can even kick up to a 25ish yard field goal but we have more fun around the house!  Plus, outside of kicking practice, these Footballs are just fun.

2. Kickoff Tee

When I started learning to kick in the 7th grade, I had one football, one kickoff tee, and time to learn.  Kickoff tees have come a long way to be sure since then.

There are a few new designs that pop on the market every year. Some are more expensive than others and they come in all shapes, colors and sizes.

For most High School kickers starting out, we recommend the Ground Zero Kicking Tee (1 Inch) for most kickers. This tee is great because of the weight (very durable and heavy) as well as the way it holds the ball.  You will still see the majority of college level kickers using this tee for kickoffs on the TV these days.  This model is tried and true (there is one in my kicking bag for sure.)

With a deep ‘holding pit’ the point of the ball fits down nicely for a slight lean if you prefer. Younger kickers might prefer a 2 inch kickoff tee like the Ground Zero 2 Inch Kicking Tee, however, this taller tee doesn’t have the onside kicking notch cut out which is another positive about the one inch version shown here.

3. Cleats

What kicker wouldn’t want a brand new pair of the craziest color cleats available? For the truly outrageous – try the Nike Mercurial Superfly FG Soccer Cleats.

This cleat was the most searched soccer cleat on Google for good reason.  As Nike points out, this is the cleat worn by Cristiano Ronaldo with the dynamic fit collar that some kickers have grown to like.

However, if your kicker wants the Mercedes of kicking shoes this year, this ‘Superfly’ may be it.

Of course, not every Santa has $200+ for kicking cleats.  Nike does have the Mercurial Victory which is under $100, still shoes the same basic look (without the collar) and Mercurial name.  My son has a pair of these in GOLD that I bought him last year…he loves them.

What I like about the Mercurial is the clean, light, thin feel of the shoe, especially on top near the sweet spot of the foot.  Of course, Nike is the most popular kicking shoe today, period.  We base this on students we see, Twitter surveys we have conducted, and watching college kickers throughout the season, etc.

For the anti-Nike fans out there, Adidas is the second most popular soccer and kicking cleat.

I personally kick with the Adidas Copa Mundial soccer cleat when kicking because I had purchased years ago to use in an adult soccer league I was playing in.  At the time, it was the most comfortable cleat I had ever worn.

The cleats on the bottom of this shoe are small (but big enough for plenty of traction during the plant) and soft rubber rather than hard plastic.

On top of that, the leather is truly some of the softest, stretchiest stuff I’ve found to conform to your kicking foot over time.

Since I’m big on ‘feel’ while kicking, this Copa is one of my personal all time favorites.

Just make sure you cut that huge tongue off the top (as I did) to keep that thing out of the way….still not sure the point of that tongue in the design!

Basically, you are looking for a cleat that is lightweight, flat on the top of the foot (where the foot meets the ball) and enough cleat to keep on your feet. The shoe should fit snug without cramping the toe.

The above models are three of our favorites!

4. Field Goal Kicking Holder

We can’t talk about stocking stuffer kicking gifts without recommending our Colossus Football Kicking Holder.

It is lightweight, strong, no moving parts to break, and the perfect size for throwing in a football bag (or a stocking!).

We offer free USPS shipping within the United States.

If you get in a bind and it is getting close to Christmas, you can opt for the 2-3 day priority shipping for the priority cost USPS charges to your location.

We’ve had people ordering up until the 21st of December the past two years with plenty of time for Christmas.  Just don’t wait too long if a kicking holder is on the list!!

5. Hand Warmers

What is the excuse for not kicking in the cold this off season?

Well, I’ve probably heard or experienced a slew of excuses over the years, but cold hands is generally one of those things we can cross off the list with a little planning and some Grabber hand warmers!

I’ve used these for early morning tennis matches, soccer games and yes, football kicking practice (and even games.)

Just open one of these little bags and drop in a pocket for hours of 135 degree heat….you’ll have a nice warm area of heat to keep those fingers warm in between every kick or punt.

6. Online Kicking Lessons

It’s the gift that keeps giving! If you are just starting out and need the basics, start out learning the correct way instead of guessing.

Since most young kickers are not close enough to meet with us for private kicking lessons in person, we created a video based instructional outline to teach the fundamentals of kicking over 60 videos or so.

For less than $40 (less than the cost of a 1 1/2 hour kicking lesson in person), kickers have 3 MONTHS of access and the videos take them through a series of fundamentals.

For FGK Members, the website turns into a giant app one logged in complete with a dashboard and tons of video to work through over time.  With a mobile device and internet access, kickers can even take videos to the field with them to review while kicking.

We cover equipment, how to warm up for kicking, field goal basics, kick off basics, kicking drills and even downloadable charts.

Whether you are just getting started or have been kicking for a year or more, these videos, content, charts and graphs will help you develop the fundamentals you need to grow as a kicker (yes, we have extra videos made just for punters as well!)

7. Private Kicking Lessons (In Person)

If you are located in the Southeast (we are in North Georgia but have worked with kids from Alabama, Tennessee, North and South Carolina over the years), schedule a private kicking lesson or sign up for a group peer clinic to hone your skills.

Fox Sports South posted lessons from fieldgoalkicker.com as the number two ‘cool gift’ out of 15 Christmas gift ideas (check out the original article) in 2013….we agree!

8. Swing Analysis

How about a personalized training video that your kicker can watch for seasons to come?

With levels ranging from one view for $39.99 to a 360-degree review for $99.99, your kicker just needs to send in a video clip and they will receive personalized feedback, breakdown, and side-by-side kicks to college and pro kickers.

It’s been shown both on the field and off, that this ‘side by side’ video technique is one of the most visual and effective ways to learn not only what you are doing now, but what you should be working toward with your kicking sessions over time.

How do I know?  It’s a technique I use with an iPad and a video camera during live, in person kicking lessons and students LOVE the process.  I generally hear something like an ‘ooohhhh, now I see what I’m doing’ or some similar reaction.

The only difference with our online kicking students is that they send us their video clip rather than shooting the clip in person!

9. Fun T-shirts, Notebooks and Coffee Mugs

I was number 9 when kicking for Georgia Tech so maybe our number 9 Christmas gift idea for kickers is a good place to wind down.

The ninth idea on our list is probably the most fun of all.  We had some fun creating a few custom products on Zazzle this year, everything from shirts to coffee mugs, event tree ornament designs!

Here are some fun t-shirts and kicking related gifts designed by one of our very own FGK employees. You can purchase the design on anything from t-shirts to notebooks or anything in between at Zazzle.

Maybe you’d have fun with a field goal kicker coffee mug?  How about a Christmas tree ornament featuring a field goal kick for three points?

We have a few fun gift idea designs just for kickers listed here, what can you come up with on Zazzle?