Do you always make field goals? You do? Well then, stop reading because you don’t need my assistance, but if there are times you’ve missed field goals, I can help you to make it a thing of the past. Some explanations for the missed field goals may be taking lengthy strides, an incorrect position of your plant foot, kicking too high or too low on the ball, or the location of your plant foot in relation to the tee. Sometimes we don’t know what we’re doing wrong because we cannot see ourselves perform. I’ll help you correct your mistakes so you can consistently make those field goals. One thing that will help you is to have a consistent starting position.

When preparing for a field goal it is common to take three (3) steps back and two (2) steps over, but you want to make sure that you’re going back to the original starting spot. If you start from a different starting position, it can lead a kicker to miss hitting the ball to the left or right due to a difference in location of their plant foot. One suggestion is buy a tape measure. Mark your starting spot with a piece of athletic tape. Measure the distance from the piece of tape to your tee. Write down the measurement and work on getting your steps to hit your starting spot every time. You should have that same measurement for a 25-yard field goal or a 50-yard field goal.  If your strides are consistent and you can get to the ball in time, but are still having difficulty, it may be due to where you are placing your non-kicking foot. The placement of the plant foot is crucial as it accounts for where the ball goes and how far.

You want your plant to be positioned properly in order for the kicking foot to point towards the field goal and to swing in a natural arc which will ensure proper contact with the football. If the plant foot is improperly placed, then the kicker will not be able to hit the right spot, also know as the sweet spot, on the ball. This sweet spot is located 2 inches from the bottom of the ball in the center, and you’ll know when you’ve hit the sweet spot since it travels further and has a good rotation on it. If you tend to kick line drives that are wobbly, it just means you’ve hit too high on the football. 

How far the tee is from the ground will also have an impact on where your non-kicking foot is placed. For soccer-style kickers, the placement of your plant foot is determined if you are kicking off a once inch tee, a two inch tee or of the ground. The foot should be placed consistently in the same spot, front-to-back and side-to-side.  Your plant foot should be anywhere from 7 inches to 12 inches away from the spot of contact (see figure 1.0) and pointed directly downfield of the target (see figure 1.3). As a general rule, the placement of the plant foot will change depending on how far off the tee is from the ground. For example, you should have a deeper plant foot for a shorter tee and moved back away from a taller tee (see figure 1.2).            

 Copyright 2007 The Kicking System All Rights Reserved.

Any information in this article may not be reproduced without expressed written consent of The Kicking System 

 About the Author John Matich, MA,  Owner, The Kicking System, LLC

*  Current Kicker for The San Diego Shockwave (NIFL Arena Football) *  Free Agent Signee of the Minnesota Viking (2001) Pre-Season
*  MA in Sports Management from the University of San Francisco
*  Four Year Starter at Boston College (1995-1999)
*  2nd place All-Time Scoring at Boston College
*  Camp Director for the SDSU Kicking Camp
*  Kicking Coach at Mesa Community College, San Diego, CA, Oceanside HS, La Jolla Country Day School
*  Native San Diegan and former kicking standout from Mira Mesa High School (1995)
*  AFCA Member since 2006
*  Coach for the NFL Youth Program JPD, Junior Player Development
*  Speaker for the Frank Glazer Clinics
*  Speaker for Irvine Sports Clinic - National Football Foundation (2008)
*  Coach for the Champion Sports Academy (San Diego Hall of Champions) & USA Football Coach School