Arrick Blevins (Sullivan North)

On Wednesday and Thursday Arrick Blevins (Sullivan North) got some One on One Instruction for his kicking. Arrick contacted me about a week ago about getting some lessons and I happened to be going to Kingsport, TN for a wedding and was staying 5 minutes from his high school. Sometimes timing is everything and this was one of those times. I have to give an assist to Coach Zauner as he helped direct Arrick to me for lessons.

Arrick is a rising senior and wanted to work with me to improve his fundamentals and be ready for a big senior year. He was the starting kicker this past year and handled both the field goals and kickoffs.

I could see right away that Arrick had a strong leg but he wasn't using it to his full capabilities. Arrick told me that he grew up watching me kick while I was at Tennessee and I believe he was a little nervous the first day. He had a tendency to really come at the ball hard on his kicks and it seemed like he was trying to kick 60 yard field goals on every kick. I worked on his tempo to the ball and also his follow through. Also, as you can see in the picture (above) Arrick was having trouble with his foot position. I tried to get him to open his foot up a bit more to get better contact on the ball.

Next, I started working on kickoffs with Arrick. Just like his field goals, Arrick needed to work on his tempo to the ball. I got him to slow down and he was able to kick the ball much farther. It is not always about hitting the ball harder, it is about hitting the ball more efficiently. Arrick really started to improve once he started to buy into that concept.

It was great working with Arrick. I was impressed with his hard work and it was great to see him really improve by the end of the second day. If he continues to work on the drills and techniques that I showed him I am sure he will improve dramatically!

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Trey Blakley (Webb School)

On Monday and Tuesday Trey Blakley (Webb School of Knoxville) got some One on One Instruction for his field goal kicking. Trey is a rising senior, who I have worked with for the past year. I helped out at Trey's school last year for the football season and I have built a great friendship with Trey and his entire family.

Trey has had a remarkable improvement from when I started working with him last May. He has worked very hard on technique and weight training to improve his strength and consistency.

As you can see in the picture (above) Trey is doing a great job of kicking up and through the ball. I was very impressed with his technique, but I eventually noticed that something was off on his ball contact. I just recently purchased a digital camera that takes 40 frames per second and it is extremely valuable in making corrections on the field. I was able to use the camera to see Trey's foot position and was able to see that he needed to open his foot more on contact. After making the correction Trey was hitting the ball farther and higher than ever!

It was a pleasure working with Trey and I look forward to working with him many more times this summer. Trey's hard work is paying huge dividends and I expect big things from him this season.

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Andrew Fletcher (MBA)

On Saturday and Monday Andrew Fletcher (Montgomery Bell Academy) got some One on One Instruction for his field goals and kickoffs. Andrew is a very accomplished kicker and is known for being the MVP of the State Championship his sophomore season as he hit 5 field goals in the game.

Andrew wanted to work with me to improve his kicking and also to get a better understanding of the recruiting process. Andrew is getting numerous inquiries from programs across the country and sometimes that process can be very confusing. I was in a similar situation coming out of high school so I was able to give him some insight into the whole process.

The first thing that Andrew and I worked on was moving to a one inch block for field goals rather than the two inch block. Andrew has been using the two inch block for quite some time but after watching him kick a few times I knew that he would not have any problem making the transition. Andrew has great technique, which comes from having a great kicking coach in former Vanderbilt kicker John Markham.

I was able to refine a few things on Andrew's field goals and he seemed to really like the results and by the end of the day we started kicking some field goals off the ground. Andrew was very impressive for a guy that had very little experience kicking off the ground before our session. I felt that it was important for him to practice kicking off the ground because he will be attending quite a few college camps this summer and I am sure they will ask him to kick off the ground!

On the second session I worked with Andrew on his kickoffs. Andrew has a very explosive leg but I could see right away that the explosiveness that he has on field goals was not translating on his kickoffs. We worked on adjusting his approach to the ball and his tempo and by the end of the day he had been kicking quite a few kickoffs inside the 5 yard line from the 30 yard line with solid hang time. Andrew was learning a new technique and still showed great potential with his kickoffs and I see his distance continuing to improve with continued practice.

I pushed Andrew pretty hard during the two days and he responded very well. He is a very impressive kicker and I expect him to be contributing to a major Division I college here in the next few years. It was a pleasure working with Andrew and I wish him the best in continuing his kicking career.

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Thomas Doochin (Ensworth)

On Saturday and Monday Thomas Doochin (Ensworth High School) got some One on One Instruction for his field goal kicking. Thomas is a freshman kicker and is looking to improve his fundamentals to have a chance to be the starting kicker this year.

As I watched Thomas kick I noticed that he had a pretty good leg for his size, but that he needed to refine a few things in his technique. First, I introduced him to the 'One Step Drill' and eventually he started to understand the correct technique. We worked a lot on foot position on the ball and kicking down the field. Thomas had never been to a kicking coach before and so all of the information I was giving him was brand new but he was a quick study.

Thomas is quick to understand new concepts, but the next step is taking the concepts to the practice field and perfecting them. I know that he really enjoyed having the copy of the DVD to take home and use as a reference and he mentioned scheduling a follow up lesson for later in the summer. It was a pleasure working with Thomas and I look forward to helping him in the future.

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Dillon Traurig (Bradley Central)

On Saturday and Sunday Dillon Traurig (Bradley Central) came to Hendersonville High School to get some One on One Instruction for his kicking and punting. Dillon will be entering his sophomore season of high school next year and his father wanted to give him a jumpstart on his summer training by coming to me to learn the correct technique for kicking and punting.

As you can see in the picture (above) Dillon was having trouble opening his foot when he made contact with the ball and was hitting the ball more with his toe. We worked on doing the 'One Step Drill' to remedy the problem. By the end of the first day Dillon was really kicking better and hit some 40 yard field goals.

Next, I helped Dillon with his kickoffs. In the picture (above) Dillon is getting ready to kickoff as his father is holding the ball for him. I worked on his technique and got him to be more under control on his approach. After getting his steps he felt much more comfortable.

Finally we worked on some punting. We worked on the 'Drop Progression Drill' and after about 20 minutes Dillon was starting to get the "hang" of it (no pun intended).

Dillon's entire family made the trip to Hendersonville from Chattanooga. I enjoyed meeting them and I believe they learned more about kicking over the two days also! Dillon did a great job learning the correct way to kick and punt and I believe it will pay huge dividends in the future.

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