15 Jun 11 2011 Austin Kicking Camp Re-Cap
We made our 4′th Annual stop in Austin Texas for the big summer kicking camp. Everything was bigger like Texas is known for. The kicking/punting distances were not big, they were insanely HUGE! Temperatures were soaring up to 101 degrees throughout the 2-Day Instructional Kicking Camp and kicking competitions and the kicking action was just as hot.
This weekend’s camp was the most impressive display of kicking I’ve seen at any of our camps in the last 4 years. Never have so many students hit as many 50+ yard field goals as this weekend! The field goal competition was won on a 58 yarder! The most astonishing thing is that the majority of campers were under-classmen and they still hung back to 50 yards plus! – Coach Brent Grablachoff
The 2-Day Instructional Kicking Camp again proved to be a success because of focus on quality kicking instruction, technique heavy teaching and drills and fundamental demonstrations. The overall process of the camp ensured each student was ready for the big competition on Day 2.
Results
We saw improvement from EVERY kicker but notably a few extremes that are not typical results. Grant Carlson (13), an 8th grader hit a few 45 yarders at camp, gaining 10 yards on his previous long Field Goal. Brannen Carraway (14) drilled a few 45 yarders and several 40 yarders throughout the day thus improving 10 yards on his previous ‘comfortable’ range of 30 yards! Jared Haynes (13) who won the ‘younger group’ FG Competition with a 56 yarder improved nineteen yards on his previous long of 37 yards! If you don’t believe it, watch the testimonial video below!
Texas Builds Champions
Football is so big in Texas and there are so many great teams and athletes who come out of the state. Winning state championships is what it’s all about at the HS Football level in Texas. So for a little motivation before the Day 2 competition, Coach Brent invited his friend Ralph Moccio out to help out with the camp. Ralph is a former standout tight-end and safety from Toms River North HS in NJ which is the area Brent is originally from. Ralph’s football team in his senior year won the NJ State Championship! Ralph proudly showed off his big ring to all the campers and they were pumped for the competition!
Competition Preview
I’m going to provide some commentary about our 2011 Austin Texas kicking competition, but keep it relatively short and sweet because you can view the full camp stats and see the incredible results for yourself! We had 11 under-classmen and 4 upper-classmen at this event. Two in 8th grade, Eight Freshmen, One Sophomore, Two Juniors and Two Seniors (All grades are based on Fall 2011 Class). With this said, most of the time I would expect the competitions to go rather quickly since the majority of the students were frosh! Well this was not the case as even though there were a lot of young students, they all had cannons for legs!
Younger Group Kicking Competition
Grant Carlson, Wesley Sparr and Evan Crocket were all within tenths of a point of winning the younger group kickoff competition. However in the end Evan was able to pull it out by a small margin. Congrats! In the Punting competition Jared Haynes, a Hutto Hippo (school & mascot) was able to squeeze out Andrew Tucker by a very small margin. The field goal competition was ridiculous. Three students advanced all the way to 53 yards! Evan was the first to drop out at 53 yards. Then there was Connor and Jared going back and forth where they both made their 53 yarder and then Connor missed his 56 but Jared nailed it! Jared won the younger group field goal competition with an extremely impressive 56 yard field goal. Jared (13) will be a freshman in high school this coming season! Jared even went on to dual it out with the older group winner all the way back to 58 yards! Congrats Jared on winning the Golden Boot Award for the younger group!
Older Group Kicking Competition
In the Older Group we had one guy with a bazooka for a leg. He would just fire off 60+ yard kicks left and right during the warm-ups. We saw a few of his kickoffs go through the goal posts! Andrew Procell wowed campers with his big leg by winning both the kickoff and punting competition. Check out the camp stats page for his impressive numbers. The grand finale of them all is the field goal competition. You already got a little preview by reading about Jared’s feat in the younger group. Well let me introduce you to a field goal kicking machine: Kevin Marcotte from Lake Travis HS, home of the 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 etc. State Champs! Winning at Lake Travis HS is a tradition and Kevin certainly represented his school to the fullest in our field goal competition.
Kevin Marcotte was a perfect 8 for 8 through 50 yards folks! That is consecutive kicks from 30L, 30R, 35L, 45R, 40M, 45M, 50M, 53M! Because him and Jared kept drilling their kicks we had to move the boys back or else we’d be there all day! Chris Nichols and Andrew Procell were still ‘alive’ through 53 yards but they both had their second miss on the first 56 yard field goal so they were eliminated. Kevin missed his 56 yard field goal too, but that was only his first miss of the whole event! Kevin had now won the older group competition but surprisingly Jared Haynes, the 13 year old with a cannon was still in the race. We let the two face off until one was left standing. We had to go back to 58 yards until finally Jared came up just short while Kevin nailed his and won the 2011 Kicking World Austin Kicking Camp ‘Golden Boot Award’ which signifies he is the BEST kicker at camp. Congratulations to both Jared and Kevin! Check out all the great photos from our 2-Day Texas Kicking Camp!
The Next Level
Do you want to showcase your talent at a Kicking World camp? How about learn from awesome coaches who put their hearts into what they do? Our main focus is helping you grow, improve and get results. Check out the video testimonials below to learn why people come to our camps. This is a video of several students from the Austin camp who share their experience about the weekend. We encourage you to check out our website, videos, social media pages and connect with Coach Brent and staff. Be sure to sign up for our next camp or schedule private lessons with us. Till next time, keep kicking and ya’ll have a great summer!
Tags: Austin Kicking Camp, Field Goal Competition, Kicking Competition, Texas Kicking Camp
05 May 11 2011 Dallas Kicking Camp Re-Cap
This was our 4th consecutive year back to the Lone Star State and the caliber of kickers and punters did not disappoint as usual. What a fun experience we all had from kicking at the ‘mini Jerry Jones’ like indoor stadium to getting tons of instruction and fun competitions outside in the famed Gopher-Warrior Bowl in Grand Prairie, TX. Kickers and Punters traveled from all over the state of Texas as far as 6+ hour drives and even one student came out from NJ!
The format was a 2-Day Kicking Camp with focus on instruction on Day 1. We teach the fundamentals and technique of field goal kicking, punting and kickoffs. Half-way through the first day’s session we break for lunch which is a nice opportunity for students to make new friends. After lunch is over we get back to work quickly and break down video from the morning kicking. This provides each student the ability to actually see their form on the big screen as coaches diagnose and repair form ailments.
Texas is known for changing conditions and weather that surprises you from one day to the next. When I arrived in Dallas the weather was 98 degrees, hot and sunny! At the start of our camp it was cloudy, cool and thunderstorms and tornados in the forecast! None of us were hoping to experience a Texas twister so we prayed the weather would hold out at least until our 2 day Kicking Camp was over! Fortunately, we were blessed with weather that circled all around the town of Grand Prairie and held out just long enough to provide us a wet free camp. Five minutes after camp was over it started lightning and raining!
For the Day 2 competition we had very strong swirling winds in the 20 MPH range. I asked the students if they wanted to eliminate variables and kick in the indoor football complex or if they wanted to do it outside. The response was unanimous that they wanted to try the competition in real life conditions even though it was windy and FRIGID (45 degrees). I applaud them on being brave and wanting to take on a challenge!
The competitions were fierce and some of the students really set themselves apart quickly. You can reference the full camp stats here. We’ll start the play by play with the ‘Older Group’ which was 10th and 11th graders (class of 2013 and 2014). Matthew McCrane of Brownwood HS and Sean Pollock of Royse City HS went the distance in what felt like a heavyweight boxing bout! The two were head to head the entire field goal competion. It went to the tune of make, make, make, make, make with hardly a miss mentioned anywhere! Nearing the end of the competition from 50 yards away Matt missed and Sean had the chance to close out the camp if he made it. Unfortunately Sean pushed his (or should I say the wind pushed it) but had PLENTY of leg and it gave Matt another chance to stay in the game. So after the first 50 yard field goal attempt, both Matt and Sean had 2 misses. But since they were tied we had to go to a bonus round. We kicked again from 50 yards and this time Matt nailed his and Sean’s got pushed again in the wind and Matt McCrane was crowned the Golden Boot Award winner of our 2011 Dallas Kicking Camp! Both boys did exceptionally well and are already very good kickers and will only continue to grow into even better kickers over the coming years.
In the Older group kickoff competition consistency won. Chris Gulla from Toms River North HS in Toms River, NJ was able to come away with the win. He didn’t even hit his best balls but because of his consistency with a respectable hang-time and deep ball he was able to knock off everyone else. The whole key to our kickoff and punting competition is consistency. Since students only get 2 attempts at each, it really trains you to perform under pressure and doesn’t allow you anytime to ‘get in a groove.’ It’s very much so like a game scenario where you may come in cold off the bench and are expected to put a perfect punt of kickoff down the field with little prior warm-up time. So that is why we do it this way.
In the Older group punting competition we had a very quiet young man who let his kicking and punting ability speak for himself. Again, consistency won here. Ronny Vega who traveled from Eastern Hills HS in the DFW area of Texas was able to come away with the win in our punting competition because of his consistent punts. None were rockets, but they were consistently good enough to beat out the other boys. See all the photos from the Texas Kicking Camp!
In the Younger group- Reagan Bates cleaned up shop in the field goal competition with a perfect 100% field goal accuracy rating as he nailed his 30, 30, 35 and 35 kicks to knock off everyone. We even gave him a 40 yard kick just to try after he had already won and he drained that too! Great job Reagan! Reagan also won the kickoff competition for the ‘younger age group.’ In the punting competition, there was one clear winner and Andrew Tucker wowed everyone with some high, tight spirals that looked like missiles. His hang-time average was 3.91 seconds and he is only in 8th grade! His punt distances were a very respectable net 35 and net 40 (50 and 55 yards in air from where he kicked it). I really look forward to seeing Reagan and Andrew’s improvement over the coming years. These guys should make for excellent kickers and punters in high school and beyond!
I want to thank everyone who made it out to the Dallas Kicking Camp in Grand Prairie, Texas this year. Us coaches has a blast teaching you everything we know and watching your improvement over the 2 days. A lot of friendships were forged and memories made. We may be coming back to the Gopher-Warrior Bowl again this winter so make sure you watch our website and Facebook page for updates. We also have a camp in Austin next month on June 11-12. Till then, keep kickin’ and ya’ll have a successful 2011 football season in Texas! -Coach Brent
Tags: Dallas Kicking Camp, Field Goal Competition, Kicking Competition, Texas Kicking Camp
27 Apr 11 2011 Spring Break Kicking Camp Re-Cap
On Saturday and Sunday, April 16-17, 2011 Kicking World held our annual Spring Break Kicking Camp! Students, parents and family traveled from all over California as well Nevada, Utah, Alabama, Hawaii and Canada to attend the marquee event that was held at beautiful Laguna Hills High School in Orange County, California. This year we introduced new elements to camp including:
- 2-Day Event
- Competition Stats Posted Online
- Slow-Mo Video Review/Analysis
- Lunch by Jersey Mike’s Subs
- 2 New Camp Awards
Adding something new to camp each year is important as it keeps our students coming back excited to learn and experience new things. -Coach Brent Grablachoff
The big rave of the 2011 Spring Break Kicking Camp this year was the video review session. We broke for lunch mid-day on Saturday (Day 1) and it was a perfect opportunity for students to relax out of the sun, down some lunch and make new friends. After lunch we embarked on a review, critique and analysis session as Coach Brent broke down the intricacies of every student’s field goal form & technique. Rest assured, not all of them were pretty! But by the end of the video review session all students knew exactly what they needed to work on throughout the remainder of camp.
Click Here to view tons of photos from our 2-Day 2011 Spring Break Kicking Camp!
Day 1 was a scorching 98 degrees, but all in attendance knows it was certainly hotter on the football field! Estimations were in the 110-112 degree range. Although the temperature was hot, I think the kicking and punting was even hotter! Students learned the basics, fundamentals, techniques and even more advanced drills and strategy for all 3 facets of the kicking game- field goals, kickoffs and punts. By the end of Day 1 everyone was prepared for the big competition on Day 2.
Sunday came and fortunately the heat cooled down a bit and it was a modest 85 degrees for most of the day. We did a review of all areas of the prior day’s instruction and then we held competitions for most of the day. Our punting and field goal competitions are quite simple. They’re designed to make you be accurate under pressure with minimal warm-ups. Students don’t get 5, 6, 7+ kicks to try to get a good ball. You only get 2 chances for punts and 2 chances for kickoffs. You are scored by adding the average of your 2 distances and your 2 punts. That number is your score or points for that particular event. We saw some amazing kickoffs and punts on Day 2. We were all very pleased with the improvement everyone made, especially on punts this particular camp!
The main event is the field goal competition which is run a little different than most camps. We do a double-elimination event which simply means each student has ’1 life’ during the field goal competition. So they can miss once, but if they miss twice they are out. We keep going back in distance until there is only one student left in each age group. The last person ‘alive’ is declared the Golden Boot Winner (the most accurate kicker of the camp). This year we had an awesome field goal battle going all the way back to 53 yards before a winner was determined!
This year we organized competitions into 2 groups based on age: 7/8/9 grade and 10/11 grade. We declared a winner for each of the 3 events- FG, Kickoff, Punt for both age groups. We also gave out 2 special awards this year that we haven’t in the past. The ‘Hussle Award’ is awarded to the player who exhibits leadership and pep during the camp. This is the person who is the first to each drill and has a great attitude throughout camp. We also gave out the Most Improved Award. Most Improved in our book is a very special award. It means to us this student is one who is able to quickly implement what they learn at camp and improve their skills with noticeable results the fastest. It does not mean they were not good at first and then got better. In fact this year’s winner(s) all were good kickers that became even better by the end of the camp. We coaches had such a tough time picking just 1 Most Improved so we named 4 winners!
To see complete camp results, award winners and detailed and sortable stats for each student at camp you can view the kicking camp statistics page.
Our Spring Break camp was another success and we thank all who made the commitment to be a part of it with us. We look forward to seeing you again soon at another camp in the near future!
Tags: California Kicking Camp, Field Goal Competition, Kicking Competition, Orange County Kicking Camp, Spring Break Kicking Camp
04 Apr 11 Kicking World 1′st Annual Golf Classic!
We are holding our 1′st Annual Kicking World Golf Classic on Monday, July 11th at beautiful Tijeras Creek Country Club in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA! The event was created by Coach Brent Grablachoff after thinking of a way to get coaches, parents, students, friends and family together for a day of fun, laughs and good competition! The event is open to anyone whether you are an excellent golfer, beginner or just learning. We’re here to have fun and enjoy a day of golf with good people! There’s going to be several contests and prizes including:
* Putting Contest
* Longest Drive
* Most Accurate Drive
* Closest to the Pin
* Lowest Team Score
** Hole in One on any Par 3: $1,000 Tijeras Creek Gift Card!
***HOLE IN ONE on Select Par 3: $10,000 CASH Prize!!!
Details:
8:00am Shotgun Start
Scramble Format (play the ‘best ball’ on each shot!)
Teams of 4
Register 1 or more.
Range Balls included!
Premium Rental Clubs available.
1:00pm Buffet Lunch & Awards
2:30pm End
Address:
Tijeras Creek Country Club
29082 Tijeras Creek
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688
We’ll have different prizes for the contests like brand new putters, wedges, golf balls, kicking lesson & kicking camp gift certificates, restaurant gift certificates, Angels & Padres games tickets & more! We’ll also have a 50/50 raffle!
Sponsors/Donations: We are currently seeking vendors to donate prizes for the Golf Classic! If you have any great golf merchandise (like drivers, wedges, putters, golf balls, gift certificates), athletic event tickets, restaurant certificates or anything else please contact Coach Brent to be a donor and/or potential sponsor of our event!
View the Golf Classic Flyer and print or e-mail and share with all your friends!
COST: Only $85 per person!
SIGNUP: Contact Coach Brent at 619-564-1333 or brent@kickingworld.com to register today!
30 Nov 10 Kicking World is the Real Deal!
Not sure if Kicking World is the right choice for your football kicking and punting development? Take a look at some of our recent REAL testimonials and reviews from happy students, parents and coaches! See what makes us unique, why people enjoy training with us, and why our students excel. Subscribe to our Youtube Videos and watch high school kickers hitting 60 yard field goals and keep up to date with the latest news and enter free contests by joining our Facebook Page.
“I had the privilege to work with Coach Brent in the late summer of 2010 and I owe my success to him. Prior to this I had wanted to meet with Coach Brent because I needed help and from what I saw from his website he knew everything there is to know about kicking and punting. I contacted Coach about doing 1 on 1 kicking lessons but this was a problem because he lives in California, and I am in Hawaii. To compensate for this, I purchased his online book “The Complete Guide to Kicking & Punting”. The book is full of beneficial drills and exercises that I was able to use during the off-season and even during practice throughout the season. The book is much more than just drills however. Coach Brent also includes ways to handle the ‘mind game’ which is something all kickers and punters struggle with; beyond the actual game itself. Everything in the book is of use and helpful if you are trying to improve yourself as a kicker and even as a punter.
Shortly after purchasing the book, I actually received an email from Coach informing me that he would be in Hawaii for the weekend on a recently planned trip out to coach another student on the island of Oahu. He was able to work me into his schedule and we trained for an hour and a half on the very windy field of Kaimuki High school. In this short time together, Coach Brent was able to adjust my approach, follow-through, and add accuracy and distance to my kicks; even with the heavy swirling wind! Coach cleaned up my field goal kick, showed me the proper way to kick a kickoff and even helped me learn how to kick the pop-up onside kick.-Lee Arakawa, Junior Kicker at Moanalua HS in Oahu, Hawaii
ABOUT KICKING WORLDTags: Kicking Lessons, Kicking Training, Kicking World Reviews, San Diego Kicking Camp, San Diego Kicking Lessons
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
09 Aug 10 Father and Son travel from Kansas City Missouri for Kicking Lessons!
Being a kicking coach is rewarding in itself just being able to coach all the young kickers and punters out there. It’s even more rewarding when parents go out of their way to tell me just how much they enjoyed my kicking instruction and how it helped their son. This summer I met with a father and son from Kansas City Missouri at our home turf in San Diego, CA at beautiful Coronado High School. This was one of those weekends that was very rewarding.
Brent, Thanks for the lessons for my son, Matt. He learned a great deal from you in a short period of time. I couldn’t believe the amount of information and instruction we got in only an hour and a half. With a little practice, he hopes to help his high school team in the kicking game. I also want to thank you for letting me listen in on your instructions on the kicking game. I know a lot of what you told us will be instrumental in helping our kickers at Rockhurst for the upcoming season. The onside kick that you showed us will definitely be part of our special teams package. I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn about the kicking game that they contact you and to those more experienced to work with you on their kicking skills. We came all the way from the Midwest and it was well worth it, I only wish you were located a little closer, so we could work with you more often. Also, enjoy the bar-b-que, Kansas City bar-b-que rules!” (-Coach Paul Beirne of Rockhurst HS, Kansas City, MO)
I had the pleasure of coaching a beginner high school freshman kicker- Matt Beirne who plays football at one of the top high school powerhouses in the country (Rockhurst HS). He is trying to crack into the starting lineup this year and his father (Coach Paul Beirne) who is an assistant coach on the Varsity team reached out to me to set up a private kicking session in San Diego, CA. Mr. Beirne saw my website and was impressed with the long list of kickers and punters that I actively coach so he decided to get his son some 1 on 1 kicking time this summer before Matt goes back to school.
I worked out Matt on a Saturday for a good hour and a half and we got a lot in that day! We focused on field goals but I also laid the ground work for him with his kickoffs and punting technique. At the start of the lesson Matt was just content with making extra points but by the end of the kicking lesson he was eager to start blasting 35+ yard field goals! It was a joy coaching Matt because he’s a nice kid, follows instruction well and showed me that he learned a lot and had a fun time!
Matt’s father and I had a discussion about Barbecue during the lesson because I had recently held a kicking camp in Texas and I mentioned to him that they have some dynamite barbecue! He commented back, you think that’s good? Try some KC BBQ! I thought Mr. Beirne was just saying it, but it turns out he actually sent me a package 2 weeks later with barbecued ribs, baked beans with briscuit and a bottle of Kansas City BBQ from his favorite BBQ joint in KC called “Jack Stack Barbecue.” It was an awesome treat to get in the mail and I was able to cook it up soon after I received it. It was a great dinner and I thank you Mr. Beirne for being so generous and thinking of me! The debate continues… Who has the best barbecue? Texas or Kansas City Missouri? I’ll let you decide, because I can’t! Both are great and have their own unique flavor. When it comes from one of my students it’s a sure winner! Thanks again for your kind words Mr. Beirne and good luck to Rockhurst Football and I wish Matt the best in his kicking endeavors this season.
Tags: Kicking Coach, Kicking Lessons, San Diego Kicking Lessons
28 Jul 10 High School Kickers Travel Far for Private Kicking Lessons in San Diego
It was a crazy week at Kicking World headquarters in San Diego, California. We had 3 students travel from Utah, New Mexico and Tennessee for private kicking lessons at our home field of Coronado High School just minutes from downtown San Diego. More and more students and families have been coming out to Southern California because it allows them to get in kicking workouts and turn it into a mini family vacation. San Diego California has been consistently rated as one of the best climates in the world and top 5 tourist destinations in the country! For our July San Diego kicking camp at La Jolla High School over half of the campers were from out of state! It’s an increasing trend to see out of state kickers make the trip to come work with Kicking World during the summer school break months.
My first kicking lesson was with Austin Barker, Junior Kicker of Dixie High School in Utah. Austin is an excellent young kicker who shows college kicking potential. We made very minor tweaks in his form that resulted in drastic results! Take a look at his YouTube Video (below) which shows him blasting 50 yard field goals doing a one-step field goal approach! His timing, consistency and distance increased significantly in the 2 day kicking lesson. We also were able to improve his kickoff steps, tempo and accuracy as well as get him nailing the pop up onside kick! It was a good time working with him and I know he’ll be one of the best kickers in Utah this year. Keep an eye out for Austin Barker of Utah!
My next out of state private kicking lesson this week was with William Bane, Beginner Sophomore Kicker of Tennessee High School in Tennessee. William has played soccer for a long time and only began field goal kicking a few months ago. He basically learned all he knew from watching games on TV and with limited kicking instruction from his football coaches who don’t really know a lot about kicking. William came to me with a goal to learn the fundamentals and basic techniques needed to kick consistent extra points and even be able to make some field goals. At the start of the kicking lesson I was skeptical because he barely was reaching 20 yard field goals (PATs). By the end of the 2 day kicking lesson, with much needed adjustments on his steps, foot to ball contact, and follow-through we were able to get him consistently making 30 yard field goals. It was very rewarding for me because we only spent an hour and a half 2 days in a row so to make these strides in only 3 hours together is a big accomplishment in itself. I know he’s excited to go back to Tennessee with all the new kicking knowledge he learned. I wish him the best and hope he can be a relied upon extra point and field goal kicker for his Junior Varsity team this year!
My last out of state private kicking lesson of the week was with Nash Phillips, a Junior Kicker from Albuquerque Academy in New Mexico. Usually the problem with most kickers is that they can’t get their kicks high enough in the air. This was not the case with Nash! In fact, Nash was kicking the ball so high when I first saw him. His kicks were going straight up in the air and although he definitely had the leg strength to make 50 yard field goals, he was falling short on 40 yard field goals because of the trajectory of his kicks; the balls were getting sucked up by the wind and losing a ton of distance! Because Nash had a very strong leg already, I didn’t want to make too many tweaks to his form. We did however make minor adjustments that allowed him to do 2 important things: 1. Hit the sweet spot of the ball (a bit higher than where he was striking before) and 2. Make good foot to ball contact (he had a lot of mis-hits where his foot impact position was down by the toes sometimes or way down low like a soccer pass). By the end of the 1 day (1.5 hour lesson) we were able to get all the kinks out and get him driving the ball with a penetrating flight while still being high enough to avoid blocked kicks. He went from just missing 40 yard field goals to just making 50 yard field goals in only 1.5 hours! These are above average results and not everyone can expect to add 10 yards on their kick overnight! But fortunately for Nash, he had the leg strength and leg speed already but just needed guidance on where to strike the ball and what to do with his body at and through impact! Nash had such a good time that he also came back for the kicking camp in San Diego. He was able to master the onside pop-up kick (as witnessed by the photo in this blog) and gain considerable distance on his field goals. If he remembers to strike the ball in the right spot with the correct part of his foot every time, he will be a deadly accurate and long field goal kicker! I wish him the best out in New Mexico!
If you’re wondering ‘How do I get private kicking lessons with Coach Brent in San Diego or Orange County, California?’ Simply signup online and then call or e-mail me to schedule a time that is convenient for you and your family. I work with some of the best youth, high school and college kickers in Southern California from Los Angeles to Orange County to San Diego. More and more students are choosing Kicking World because of our commitment to success, passion for kicking and fun and challenging training sessions. If you’d like to come out for a day or two of kicking and live out of state, don’t let that hold you back! Give me a call or shoot me and e-mail and I’d be happy to schedule you in for private kicking lessons in San Diego or Orange County, California. I wish everyone a very successful training camp and upcoming football season!
Tags: High School Kicker, Kicking Lessons, Onside Kick, San Diego Kicking Camp
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
12 Jun 10 2010 USC Kicking Camp Thoughts
Coach Brent and a handful of Kicking World students attended the USC Kicking Camp. The 2010 USC Kicking Camp had several kickers and punters in attendance! The camp participation was quite impressive as kickers and punters came from all over California including Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and even out of state! The kicking camp itself was very long at over 4+ hours. I myself as a kicking coach am very concerned about the amount of balls each participant kicked and punted yesterday. It seemed like many of the kids after the camp were limping off the sidelines obviously due to over-use because of the amount of balls that were kicked. Generally I recommend my kicking students to kick between 40-55 balls a day MAX on a heavy day based on their age, size, and skill level. I believe at the 2010 USC kicking camp most of the participants each kicked and punted well over 75 balls! This could make for many sore hip flexors, groins, and other over-worked muscles. I recommend you all ice up and take it easy until your leg feels back to strength! We firmly believe there is a limit to how much you should kick in one day and it’s important to monitor your kicking volume so you don’t hurt yourself.
COMPETITION RESULTS
Kicking World students fared very well in the kicking camp! One of our students won the kickoff competition for his age group with impressive bombs at 65+ yards! Over half of the Kicking World students placed in the top 3 for field goals and kickoffs in their age group at the USC Kicking Camp! As their private kicking coach I am very proud of my young men and the hard work and great character they exhibited on the field. During and after the camp I had several parents and fans coming up to me asking “Do you coach that kid?!” They wanted to know because there’s something ‘different’ about a Kicking World student.
KICKING WORLD PHILOSOPHY
We not only teach you how to become a better kicker and punter by helping you add more height, consistency, and distance to your ball; but more importantly we teach you how to be great young men with hard work ethics and excellent character that help you stand out from the crowd. I took a lot of pride in watching my young men excel today in the USC Kicking Camp and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to coach each and every one of you! Please keep up the great work and keep representing Kicking World the way you do! Way to work today!
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