11 Feb 11 Arena Football League Kicker Trains With Coach Brent
Just as most professional golfers have a dedicated swing coach, many professional kickers have a kicking coach. Even professional kickers need an evaluation of their kicking technique from a professional kicking coach from time to time. This past week I had the opportunity to train Marco Capozzoli who is the kicker for the Arena Football League’s Jacksonville Sharks. Marco flew out to San Diego, California for 4 days of private kicking lessons with me. We were able to work on everything from basic kicking fundamentals to advanced kicking drills that helped him hit longer kickoffs with greater hang-times by the end of the week. Also, Marco’s field goals noticeably got straighter as the week went on and his field goal kicking process became automatic without any thought or second-guessing of himself. Perhaps the most important result of this week’s kicking lessons was the fact that Marco improved his confidence and this tune-up kicking lesson got him ready to go for his 2011 season.
Marco enters his 2nd season in the Arena Football League and hopes to build on his successful rookie campaign where he went 100% on field goal attempts for the AFL’s Tulsa Talons. Be sure to follow the Kicking World blog, visit our website and view our YouTube videos for additional kicking footage of Marco. You can gain insight into his progress and follow his professional kicking career.
I’m excited for Marco’s future and feel privileged to have had the opportunity to coach him. Watch this instructional kicking video of Marco and I during our 4 days of kicking lessons in San Diego. The kicking video includes Marco kicking field goals up to 55 yards long and 75 yard kickoffs with 4.0+ seconds hang-time into the wind!
Tags: Arena League Kicker, Kicking Coach, Kicking Lessons, Professional Kicker
24 Aug 10 Kicking World Flies to Hawaii for Private Kicking Lessons!
I received a phone call from an interested parent- Jerome Kaiahua who wanted to get private kicking lessons for his son Keoki. Unfortunately Jerome is located in Hawaii and Kicking World is located in Southern California. Coach Brent jokingly said to Jerome ‘hey why don’t you just fly me out to Hawaii for the lesson?’ Jerome actually accepted and the rest is history! Three days after receiving the call Coach Brent flew out to Hawaii to give private kicking lessons to Keoki Kaiahua of Kaimuki High School in Honolulu Hawaii!
Keoki improved substantially over the two days of kicking lessons. He had a nice foundation already but we made a few tweaks in his steps and tempo which helped him be more efficient in his ball striking which in turn produced more consistent kicks with better lift and distance. Take a look at the video of him blasting some long 40+ yard field goals! Jerome and his son are both great guys and it was a lot of fun getting to meet their family, coaching Keoki, playing golf with Jerome, and snorkeling the beautiful tropical waters!
Ironically, just weeks before Mr. Kaiahua called me to arrange for private lessons, I had an e-mail from another parent- Mrs. Arakawa who was seeking private kicking instruction for her son Lee, who happens to live on the same island- Oahu like Keoki! Their respective high schools (Kaimuki High School- Keoki) and (Moanalua High School- Lee) played each other in a scrimmage just a week before I flew out to Hawaii! Fortunately, I was able to fit in a lesson with Lee while I was out there in Honolulu with Jerome and Keoki. Lee is a great young kicker with an awesome field goal form. I asked him where he learned all his great technique. To my surprise he said he read the ‘The Complete Guide to Kicking & Punting’ a couple times and that combined with some guidance from the older varsity kicker last year he was able to put together a very nice form!
It was a great time being out in Hawaii as it was my first time and hopefully not my last! Being a football kicking coach is very rewarding when I get to work with young men and parents like this. It was a true pleasure being out there last weekend and I look forward to the future of more phone calls of interested parents from different states and countries wanting to get top notch kicking instruction! If you live in a different state or even different country please don’t let that stop you from getting quality kicking instruction from Coach Brent! Just contact us and we can make arrangements to come visit you or you can come visit us in San Diego or Orange County, CA.
Tags: Hawaii Kicking Lessons, Kicking Coach, Kicking Instruction, Kicking Lessons, San Diego Kicking Lessons
20 Jul 10 Orange County Kicking Competition at Irvine High School
On Sunday, July 18th we had a special mini kicking competition at Irvine High School for some of the Kicking World students. It was a hot day out on the field turf but we all had fun. I’ve been coaching some awesome kickers this year who work hard each week and I wanted to do something different besides the regular kicking instruction we normally do. To spice things up we had a field goal competition with 4 of my students- Zachary Christensen of Mission Viejo High School, Christian Rodriguez of Fountain Valley High School, Nicholas Mares of Servite High School and Bailey Lipschultz of Alta Loma High School. Bret Miller of San Clemente High School was unable to attend. We had a double-elimination field goal competition and the winner got a Kicking World Under Armour heat-gear training shirt. It was a close kicking competition with a lot of laughs and good times. Ultimately Zach Christensen was able to pull ahead as the winner with a beautiful 53 yard field goal. All 4 guys exhibited great poise, confidence and excellent ability under the kicking competition pressure. I’m really looking forward to this 2010 football season and seeing how our Kicking World students do. I’m expecting big things from everyone! Check out Kicking World TV for the best football kicking videos!
Tags: Field Goal Competition, High School Kicker, Kicking Coach, Kicking Competition, Kicking Instruction, Orange County Kicking Competition
15 Jul 10 High School Freshman Kicks 55 Yard Field Goals!
I had the opportunity to work with Christopher Gulla from Toms River North High School again this summer while I was in New Jersey for our annual jersey shore kicking camp. Last year Christopher had private kicking lessons with me at Toms River North HS and attended the 2009 kicking camp. This year we met up again for a couple private lessons a few days before the camp. Toward the end of last season I received a nice e-mail from Chris’ dad Dennis saying:
“As we enter into State Playoffs, Chris has been pulled up from the Freshman team to Varsity and yesterday won the starting kicker job. With your help and dedication to practice, he is now consistently down to the 5 yard line and regularly in the end zone on kickoffs. In practice he also kicked several 50+ yard field goals. We look forward to seeing you again this summer.” – Dennis Gulla
It was awesome news to get and was very rewarding for me to know that the few kicking lessons we did and him attending the camp last year helped him so much. Christopher has improved even more since last year and this week during our 1 on 1 kicking lessons he was booting 50+ yard field goals with ease and even hit some 55 yarders. We tried a couple at 60 yards but it was just a little out of range.
Chris was the star of the kicking camp on Sunday as he was perfect from start to finish in the field goal competition hitting 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 yard field goals consecutively with no misses! Coach Brent’s comments on Chris:
“Christopher exhibits excellent concentration under pressure and has a great attitude and hard work ethic. Christopher is the real deal because of his smooth tempo and height on field goals, accuracy inside 55 yards and his ability to knock the ball deep into the end zone on kickoffs. I expect him to land at a top college football program when he graduates in 2013!” – Coach Brent Grablachoff
Be sure to watch the Christopher Gulla Highlight Video with kicks from his private training sessions with Coach Brent and highlights from the 2010 New Jersey Kicking Camp. Chris is going to be a force to be reckoned with this 2010 season as he starts his sophomore campaign. Be sure to keep an eye out for him in the newspapers and blogs online!
Tags: High School Kicker, Kicking Lessons, Kicking Training, New Jersey Kicking Camp
18 Jun 10 How to Kick a Football Farther!
Every week I hear “What can my son do to strengthen his leg and kick a football farther?” Today I’m going to give you a few tips to help improve your kicking and punting distance. Contrary to popular belief, kicking a football far is not necessarily due to a ‘strong leg’ but more commonly it is due to a ‘fast leg’ and precise ball striking. One of the easiest ways to immediately improve your distance is to work on striking the ball’s sweet spot with the correct part of your foot. You want to hit the ball with the upper instep of your foot (right at the second shoelace loop from the top of most soccer cleats). If you strike the ball down by your toe or on the middle/side of your foot you’re going to lose a ton of power! You also want to make sure your ankle and knee are ‘locked’ at impact. If you keep your leg or foot loose at impact you will severely cut down your power. In field goal kicking, punting, and kickoffs you want the ball to explode off your foot. See below for two excellent videos that will help you understand the above points.
To improve your leg speed there’s several things you can do and here’s a couple quick tips that will help you:
- Isometric Resistance Band Training (builds the fast-twitch muscle fibers)
- Sprinting short distance (20 to 30 yard wind sprints)
- Improving Flexibility/Stretching (allows your leg to snap through quicker)
- Leg swing motion in shallow end of pool (water resistance improves balance and speed)
Here’s 2 free instructional videos on our YouTube page that will help you with precision and power and kick the football farther. For detailed training tips, practice routines, kicking and punting fundamentals, techniques, mental training tips and more check out the Complete Guide to Kicking & Punting Book!
Tags: Football Kicker Workout, Kicking Instruction, Kicking Training, Kicking Video
25 Aug 09 High School Kicker Boots 60 Yard Field Goal
Jesse Sandoval, standout kicker from Valencia H.S. in Placentia, CA kicks 40-60 yard Field Goals in a private kicking lesson on 8-24-09 with Coach Brent from www.kickingworld.com Jesse is a talented young man with a good head on his shoulders and should be playing college football next year. Kicks in this video are 43, 45, 50, 55, 60 yard field goals.
He bombs the ball deep in the endzone (minus 8 to out of the end zone) on kickoffs and can consistently nail 50 yard field goals or better with the leg to make even 60 yarders! Coaches, Scouts, Recruiters: Please call Brent at 619-564-1333 for more kicking footage or for a personal reference of Jesse Sandoval.
Tags: College Kicker, Field Goal, High School Kicker, Kicking Video, Kickoff
01 Feb 09 Richie Hogan 2008 (Kicking/Punting) Football Highlight Video Games 7-13, Laguna Hills HS
Here’s a highlight video of Richie Hogan, Senior (K/P) from Laguna Hills HS which is where I am the Kicking Coach on the Varsity Football Team.
15 Aug 08 KickingWorld Camp Testimonial
A student at a KickingWorld.com kicking camp in Tempe, Arizona talks about his experience at the kicking camp. Kicking World conducts national kicking camps and private kicking lessons.
Tags: Arizona Kicking Camp, Football Kicking Camps, Kicking Coach, Kicking Video
15 Aug 08 Onsides Pop Up Kickoff demonstrated by Kicking World student
Watch the high pop up onsides kick demonstration by KickingWorld.com student Jesse Sandoval at a recent kicking camp in Irvine, California.
Tags: High School Kicker, Kicking Video, Kickoff, Onsides Kick
29 Jul 08 New Kicking Camp Instructional Kicking Videos Posted!
Check out all our new kicking and punting videos at www.youtube.com/kickingworld Also, be sure to sign up to the new Kicking World message board which will allow you to ask and answer questions relating to kicking, punting, training, exercises, equipment, etc. www.kickingworld.com/forum
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