How To Kick A Football Far

Once a beginner kicking student understands the mechanics of the basic field goal, his priorities change from ‘how do I kick a football?’ to how to kick a football far or further than I can today, which is a reasonable and common request.

After all, it’s the long field goal the gets the attention in the media, not the steady Eddie. Can you tell me who any of the top 10 kickers in the country are by percentage?

Probably not, yet if I Google any number of search phrases related to field goal kicking the resulting pages are littered with videos and articles about the latest kicker to hit an extremely long kick.

So, hearing all this, you still just want the question answered about how to kick a football far or further than when you are starting out.

Kicking further comes down to two basic technical components; contact and leg speed.

Like golf, where on any given day you might find the smaller man or woman in the foursome driving the ball further than the other three, learning how to kick a football far is certainly not about size!

So, the two elements of leg speed and contact work together, one without the other will not produce optimal results.

That is, leg speed will do little to contribute to a long field goal if you make contact too low or too high.

The low contact will simply make the ball spin even faster. The higher contact kick (too high) will result in a faster moving knuckle ball.

Likewise, the perfect contact point or ‘sweet spot’ to optimize distance will under perform without maximum leg speed.

So, we have to put the two together to solve the ‘how do I kick a football far?’ riddle.

How To Kick A Football Far: Contact

Any kicking instructor you work with will talk about the sweet spot.

The sweet spot is the spot on the ball between the middle and one end that makes the ball rotate at an ideal rotation on your ‘normal’ kick.

If we take that sweet spot and adjust slightly upward (but NOT up into the middle area of the ball), you’ll find instant results in that the ball travels further and the rotation is slower.  That’s what we are looking for!

So, contact is key, it’s vital.  Once you master this sweet spot for the longer kick you’ll be on your way.  If you can do this and couple it with increased leg speed, you’ll take yet another step toward answering the question of ‘how to kick a football far’.

Don’t forget that contact can be affected by the lean of the football.  Invest in a solid football holder to make sure you get the lean you need!

How To Kick A Football Far: Leg Speed & Leg Lock (Timing)

Now, building leg speed is something that simply doesn’t happen overnight, but as it happens you will see increased distance on your field goals.

Leg speed is just that, the speed you can generate as you swing your leg into the ball.  Included in leg speed is the ability to lock the leg at the point of impact, also called ‘leg lock’.

Building leg speed doesn’t mean that we get in the weight room and perform rep after rep of squats or leg curls (though leg curls were my personal favorites during the season).

It doesn’t mean that our legs are 500 pounds each of solid muscle.  What it does mean however, is that we focus on the muscles that contribute to our kicking motion and train those over time using the various resistance methods we discuss in our FGK Membership.

Think about it, the shoulders, the biceps, the chest, the abdominal core, the quads….yes, they are all part of the complete kicking motion so start to think more in terms of resistance rather than weight.

Get all these muscles used to firing against resistance to adapt and grow faster whether it involves using body weight, cables, free weights or even water in the pool!

Don’t forget though, one of the best things you can do to build your leg speed over time is to get those kicking reps in on a consistent basis!

If you have more questions or are tired of the lonely life of the field goal kicker, join our team at FGK Online!

Join, learn, kick with FGK Online…..Happy Kicking!