Why Do We Call it Football? - Kicking, Part 1

The Kickoff

I Googled "How Many Kicks in a Football Game?"  No one answered me.  So I'll make up my own answer:

Not Many.

There are four situations in a football game where the foot connects with the ball:  kickoffs, field goals, PATs (points-after-touchdown), and punts.  In a typical game, there are not many kicks.  

Unlike soccer. 

In soccer kicking is the game.   I Googled "How Many Kicks in a Soccer Game?" and didn't get an answer.  So I'll make up my own answer:  A lot.

We could spend this blog considering why football is football and soccer isn't.  Instead, let's talk about kicking a football.  I'm going to do this in three posts, one for kickoffs, one for punting, and one for place kicking (field goals and PATs). 

This year the NFL moved the kickoff from the 30 to 35 yard line.  The thinking was that kickoff returns invite injury.  By moving the kickoff five yards closer to the opposite end zone, more kickoffs will result in touch backs - that is, more kickoffs will reach and even go through the opposite end zone and so kickoff receivers will elect to just down the ball in the end zone and have it put in play at the twenty yard line.  This will result in fewer kickoffs will being returned, fewer times the kickoff receiver will risk running the ball up field and attempting to get it further than the twenty.  And fewer returns means fewer injuries from open field tackles.

For our discussion here the significance of this rule is how far NFL kickers kick the ball.  When the ball is placed at the kicker's 35 yard line, the opposing end zone is 65 yards away.  The end zone is 10 yards deep so a kick that goes through the end zone travels 75 yards!

If you're feeling pretty good about yourself, if you're pretty self-satisfied and you need a little humiliation, go to the football field and kick the ball.  Set it on a tee and take as much of a running start as you want.  And you'll be shocked at how feeble your effort will be.  It will feel like kicking a sandbag.  I've confessed to not being an athlete, a reality I discovered by competing in many sports.  I know from personal experience how difficult it is to kick a football for any distance at all.  65 yards?!  How about 35? 

How do you get so you can kick a football far?  Practice.  Practice.  Practice. 

At Outlaws team practices, I normally shoot the scrimmage or pass receiving drills or blocking drills.  Once in awhile, I look over at the loneliest Outlaw, the kicker, off by herself, kicking, kicking, kicking. 

There is something wrong with picture.  Do you see it?
  

Now you see it don't you!  It looks like a good kick but 
she's using the wrong foot!  Kickers aren't left footed. 
(Hope you're impressed that I got the ball in the photo.)

Kicking with the right, right foot.  I'm certain it will go farther.

Can't tell from this photo but that ball is going places.  Not
65 yards.  More like 35 yards - which is farther than I could kick it
myself.

The photos above were early in the Outlaws history.  Kickers
would have to run to retrieve the balls.  Secretly they may have
tried not to kick too far to reduce chasing time and distance.
More recently the kicker is provided a fancy net.  Kick into the net and
you don't have to chase the ball 35 yards down the field. 

I couldn't resist attempting photos through the net.  Not as cool as I had hoped but still an interesting
perspective on the kicker kicking.

Watching kickers practice inspires my respect in these remarkable women.  I've rarely seen a coach working with the kicker.  Having a separate kicking coach is a luxury not available to many women's professional teams.  There aren't may kicks in a game so the coaching is focused on where most of the action is.  So kickers don't get much coaching.

Kickers motivate themselves, coach themselves, practice by themselves.  It is hard work kicking, retrieving, teeing up, kicking again.  Time after time after time. 

When you watch the opening kickoff or kickoff after a score, cheer for the kicker.  She worked hard to master a really difficult skill.  Looks easy on television or at an NFL game.  It isn't.