Competing To Be The Starting Kicker

David Scully Kicking At GTThis is the time of year so many people love.  It’s fall, time to pull out the parking lot grills and get ready for some football!

However, for some, mainly those kickers trying to secure the starting job for their team, it can be stressful.  For some, it can send them packing whether they are competing in middle school, high school, college or the NFL.

On this site, we mostly address the technical aspects of kicking.  Many of the visitors to this site are complete beginners who want to learn the specifics of how to kick a football, or how to punt a football, for instance.

So, what happens when we are past that ‘beginner’ stage and we are comfortable kicking or punting?  What happens when we are ready to sign up for the team, get in the summer camp and take the starting spot?  Unless you are the only kicker or punter on your team, competition happens.

Competing to be the starting kicker or punter can be somewhat of an art form at most any level.  In the best case scenario, you are competing against one other kicker or punter.  Other times, you are kicking or punting against a group of two or more!

In college, we had over five or six kickers as well as five or six punters competing at all times.  In fact, your job was never safe…ever.  A couple of bad games in college could mean you are on the bench right before the big game that your family flew in to see.  In the NFL, one or two games is enough to put you on a plane back home most of the time.

Football Kicking Holder: ColossusYes, it’s stressful, but it doesn’t have to be.  Lot’s of kickers go into camp this time of year so worried about ‘the other kicker’ or ‘the other punter’ that they lose focus.

“Jeez, so-and-so just hit a big kick in the scrimmage.” 

“Wow, so-and-so just had 7 bombs in the punting drills.”

The list of worries is endless, so let me tell you one thing right now…worry about yourself.  Embrace your competition, it will make you stronger…may the best kicker or punter win!  Use it as an excuse to focus even more.

Worry about your game, your kicks and punts when you are in these situations.  The rest will take care of itself.

There are WAY too many factors that you can not control when competing with another kicker or punter.

  • Who does the coach like personally?
  • Did the special teams coach just whisper something in the head coach’s ear?
  • Was it about me or the other guy?

It doesn’t matter!  The more you focus on these things…what you ‘think’ the coach is thinking, something you read in the paper, something somebody just ‘tweeted’, it takes the focus off of your game and your kicking.

If I focus on MY kicking or punting and I’m as sharp as I can possibly be, why should I be concerned with what anyone else is doing in camp?  If I truly feel like I’ve delivered my best because I’ve focused on my technique, my accountability, and have had the best camp I could have, then it really doesn’t matter what my competition does.

If I’ve delivered my BEST and the coach goes with my competition, then it just wasn’t meant to be.  I may be a little frustrated and upset, but there’s nothing I can do….the other guy was just ‘better’ (which I can deal with personally) or there was some ‘off-field’ factor that probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway, so why stress about it?  Odds are, when we don’t put the focus on our own kicking, we won’t perform our best and we’ll lose the job anyway so really…what have you got to lose?

There was a great article recently on the current battle for starting place-kicker going on at Georgia Tech.  The battle is between two guys with big legs…a senior (who started last year for most of the year) and a true freshman (who was a top high school recruit and a scholarship recipient this summer).

Now, I’d always heard about the mind games between kickers, the nasty ‘do what it takes to run the other guy into the ground’ type of stuff.  This however, was a nice article and it displays just the type of focus I’m talking about in this blog post.

The senior, David Scully, is talking about how he’s actually helping the freshman out with veteran tips throughout camp, etc.  He’s quite comfortable knowing that the freshman has a big leg and that the coach could take the freshman as the starter.   However, David’s focus appears to be on HIS own kicking rather than his surroundings.  This shows class as well as maturity so I’d suggest you read this if you are in a similar battle with your own competition.

Who wins the job at Georgia Tech this year?  Only the head coach could tell us at this point, but odds are that it will be a good clean fight and the best, most focused one will win.

Kicking With FocusSo, if you are competing with another kicker/punter for a starting job, keep your mind’s spotlight on YOU.  Don’t fall into the trap of your surroundings!

Play your game…kick the way YOU kick.  If the other guy has a bigger leg, simply recognize that because there is nothing you can do to change that.  Out kick him from 40 yards and in for instance….pick something to excel at and be the best you can be.

Don’t give up too early either.  Even if the starting job goes to your competition, congratulate him and move into the backup role.  Starting kickers get hurt, they lose confidence just one or two games into the season, you never know what can happen.

The point is, if you love kicking or punting, love the art and do it because you love it.  The other stuff will take care of itself in time.

Best of luck and happy kicking!