Knoxville Lessons June 8-9

One on One kicking lessons in Knoxville on June 8-9 were a success as I got to work with a few older clients in Austin Rice (Oliver Springs) and George Bullock (West High School) and some new clients like Benjamin Ogle (Greeneville), Conar Roberts (McMinn Co.), and Brad Smith.

Benjamin Ogle (pictured above) is the starting kicker at Greeneville High School. He had a very successful season last year and was named 1st Team All State for Division 4A.

I contacted Benjamin about a month ago about doing lessons as I had heard that he was one of the top junior kickers in the state of Tennessee. After leaving a message for the high school coach I actually got a call from Ben's father, Craig, inquiring about lessons.

Craig mentioned that former University of Tennessee kicker Alan Duncan was related to the family and that he had a vested interest in anyone doing lessons with Benjamin. He asked if I would mind if Alan came to the lessons to see my kicking philosophy. I told him I thought it was a great idea.

Alan was a former kicker at Tennessee and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles. I had never met him but former Tennessee kicker Jeff Hall had told me many stories about him. I was certainly excited to finally meet him as I take great pride in the history of great kicking specialists at the University of Tennessee.

Before the lessons with Benjamin I got to talk some Tennessee football with Alan and then it was time to start the lesson. I worked with Benjamin on quite a few things on his mechanics but I could see that he had a lot of talent.

Benjamin worked hard during the two days of lessons and I really saw some great improvements in his kicking. I also enjoyed talking shop with Alan on our kicking philosophies and on the second day he brought his son Curt to Ben's lesson.

Alan and Craig seemed pleased with the lessons and now I am doing lessons with Curt and Ben again at the end of the month in Chattanooga!

It has been very special meeting Ben and his family and I believe we will have a long term working relationship.

Conar Roberts is a junior punter and kicker at McMinn Country High School. He was the starting punter last year and will take over the kicking duties this year.

I worked with Conar on his placekicking the first day and on the second day we went over punting.

Conar really took to the Drop Progression Drill for his punting and started to really boom some punts. I believe he has a chance to be a top punting prospect next year if he continues to improve.

Next up is Austin Rice from Oliver Springs. Last year when I worked with Austin we were basically starting from scratch. He took that basic coaching I gave him last year and hit almost every extra point during the season.

Austin was much more advanced this year. As I watched him kick I saw that he was kicking with too much height on his kick so I moved him from a two inch tee to a one inch tee.

I was very impressed with Austin and I think Oliver Springs High School has quite a weapon for next year!

I worked with George Bullock (West High School) for the second time this year and he has made some dramatic improvements. I told him that he had a problem with kicking the ball too hard so I recommended that he read a Sport Psychology book that I really enjoyed when I got my Master's at the University of Tennessee.

George read the book and I could see immediate improvement. I am really proud of his progress and believe he should have a great season this year.

The final lesson was Brad Smith. Brad was the kicker at William Blount a few years ago and was looking to walk on at Tennessee this year.

We worked on his ability to kick off the ground and as you can see in the picture (above) he was showing much improvement.

I wish him the best of luck in his quest of being on the Tennessee Football Team.

It was great working with guys in Knoxville. I will be back there to do a few lessons June 19-20 and then I will be also be there July 7-11th. Spots are filling up fast so please contact me early if you are interested.

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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