How To Punt A Spiral
Have you ever gone to a college or NFL game and seen the punter warming up?
Especially in the NFL, the punters seem to punt ball after ball in a perfect spiral, really high and really far. So how do you do that? The short answer is “a lot of practice…and more practice.”
The longer answer is that there are a lot of factors that go into learning how to punt a spiral.
Contact and Follow Through
The reason you want the football to drop like this makes sense when you break down the punt. I want you to visualize your foot pointed down as far as you can. Now keep your foot pointed and begin raising your leg straight up with your knee locked out.
When your foot is about knee high off of the ground, your foot should be parallel with the ground. That is the moment when the ball (dropping flat to the ground) should make contact with your foot that is parallel to the ground. Can you see it?
From there, the rest of learning how to punt a spiral is as simple as following through. It sounds simple, but you want to continue kicking through the football and swing your leg straight up in line with your right shoulder (if you are right footed). Do not over complicate kicking and punting. Keep it simple and repetitive.
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Learning How To Punt A Spiral, Drop THIS!
Like the title says, the drop is extremely important. Your drop should be the most consistent part of your kick.
The football should be pointed down field with the front nose pointed slightly in, and the ball should flat to the ground (or the front nose slightly tilted down). When the football drops it should hit the ground and bounce straight up or slightly back to your side.
If you cannot control where the ball will land after it hits the ground, you need to keep working on your drop.
How you actually hold the ball is your call. Some punters hold the ball underneath, some on the side, some on top or in the back (our personal favorites).
So, no matter how you actually hold the ball, it needs to be held in the way that results in the most consistent drop for YOU.
Scott (the other Scott) once won a punting competition at a large camp in high school with one hand (he had injured the other) because he took his time with each qualifying punt and focused that much harder on his DROP.
I’ll say it just once more and then move on. THE DROP IS CRITICAL, MASTER THE DROP.
