Kicking Into The Wind

Whenever it is a windy day, me and my kicking buddies always liked to kick with the wind to see how far we could kick.

It was a lot of fun to see how far we could kick if we ever got the ‘perfect storm’ in a football game to line up for a 60+ yard kick with a huge wind at your back. BUT you know how many times that situation happened?

Once…you thought I was going to say zero. The situation came up for a 65 yard kick with a lot of wind at our back, but we didn’t kick the ball. Our coach played the odds to go for it on fourth down, and rightfully so.

You know what happened much more frequently?! Kicking into the wind on 30 to 40 yard field goals. And take it from me…it is really tough kicking into the wind when you only practice kicking with the wind.

After I learned the hard way, I wanted to be the kicker who could make field goals on not only a perfect day, but I wanted to be able to make my kicks in the wind, rain, snow, etc. From then on, anytime it was windy I would practice 80% against the wind and about 20% with the wind.

Tips For Kicking Into The Wind

The single biggest thing I learned from kicking into the wind is that it DOES NOT HELP TO KICK HARDER, but rather to hit the ball nice and easy in the sweet spot.

I know when the wind is blowing in your face, you feel that you need to kick the ball harder to make it to the uprights, but this will get you in major trouble and you will likely yank the kick left.

The best thing you can do is to not change a thing. I will reiterate…hit the ball smooth and in the sweet spot. Sounds simple, but you will be amazed how much this helps.

Do not try to kick the ball lower, through the wind. This is not your natural swing, and you put yourself in danger of shanking the ball or getting the kick blocked. Give it a chance and kick the same way you always do.

Wind Exaggerates Your Mistakes

One of the best things that ever happened to me was kicking into the wind. If you kick the ball and it starts to curve to the left…the wind is going to take it even further left.

If you don’t hit the ball end over end…the wind is going to knock your kick down even faster.

I found that kicking into the wind helped me kick the ball much more consistent, straighter, and more solid (not necessarily farther, but you have to hit the sweet spot).

This is one reason we really emphasize clean rotation on our kicks with students.  Not only can you feel the wind, but you can see the effects at certain times, which gives you a visual cue to how you just kicked the ball.

When you are kicking footballs with poor rotation, that wind is going to pummel the ball by comparison, it’s just aerodynamics in action!