Nashville & Knoxville June 17-20

On June 17-20 I conducted kicking lessons in Nashville and Knoxville. My One on One Kicking and Punting Lessons are different than kicking camps in Tennessee because they contain much more individual instruction than a typical one or two day camp.

I worked with another very talented group of kickers and punters in Nashville and Knoxville.

My kicking lessons in Nashville were done at my alma mater, Hendersonville High School,and the kicking lessons in Knoxville were done at Oak Ridge High School.

Jody Gorham (Montgomery Bell Academy) is vying to be the starting kicker this year after backing up one of the top kickers in the state of Tennessee in Andrew Fletcher.

It was pouring down rain when we started the lesson so Jody and I went in Hendersonville's indoor facility and worked on his leg swing.

After about 30 minutes of technique and drills, the rain died down and we went out on the field and began to kick. He did a really nice job of carrying over some of the drills we worked on and I could see that he had a nice kicking stroke.

It was great working with Jody and I look forward to working with him again real soon to help him be prepared for the starting field goal job.

Next up was Matthew Steele. Matthew (pictured above) was looking to learn the basics of kicking so his father, John, searched "kicking coach in Middle Tennessee" on the Internet and my name popped up. He checked out my site and a short time later he booked lessons.

He is entering his senior year at Henry County High School and is looking to carve a role out on the team as a punter and field goal kicker.

His father said that he was a blank canvas and he was exactly right on his evaluation. Once I was able to give him some consistent steps and taught him how to strike the ball correctly he was in business.

I saw quite a few good kicks and I expect him to improve over the next few weeks before I see him at my kicking clinic at Bethel University.

The kicking clinic will be on July 20th and will be $150. It will be small groups of five with kickers in the morning and punters in the afternoon.

This is a good option for someone who is looking to learn in more of a group setting but still wants access to individual instruction.

I will focus solely on the kickers in the morning and the punters in the afternoon. Coaches are also welcome to attend both sessions for $50.

Contact me if you are interested as I am limiting the clinic to the first 5 punters and kickers that sign up.

Clayton Ream was the starting kicker on the state champion Beech Buccaneers. He worked with me last year and was looking to sharpen up his technique as he searches for his next move in kicking.

As you can see in the picture (above) my first suggestion to Clayton was to get some new shoes but I had to settle for letting him borrow some of my tape!

Clayton was very raw last year when I worked with him and this year he was much improved. We were able to work on some more advanced techniques and I saw some great improvement in him.

After finishing lessons in Hendersonville I took the 3 hour drive to do kicking lessons in Knoxville.

The first lesson was a follow up with Robby Strachan.

Robby will be entering his freshman year at Webb School of Knoxville and is an exciting talent. I worked with him a few weeks ago and he was coming back to sharpen up a few things with his field goals.

We worked from the different hashes to make sure he could find the proper angles on his kicks and he showed a nice leg when he hit some field goals over 40 yards.

I look forward to working with him again soon in a few weeks.

Oak Ridge has two very talented kicking specialists in punter Drew Stokes and kicker Brett Beeler.

Drew (pictured above) will be vying for the punting job this year as he was the punter for the junior varsity last year.

Like most young punters he had some issues with his steps and his drop. I worked with him on the Drop Progression Drill and he really seemed to take to the drills.

By the end of the two days I could tell he knew what he was doing wrong and how he needed to correct it.

Last but not least is Brett Beeler.

Brett was the starting kicker at Oak Ridge last year and is quite a talent. Sometimes one of my biggest jobs as a coach is to work on someone's mindset rather than just their technique and that was the case here with Brett.

Harder is not always better and most young kickers have the tendency to try to kick the ball out of the stadium rather than be under control.

I worked with Brett on being under control and smooth with his approach and by the end of the second day he was kicking much better.

He made the transition from the 2 inch tee to the 1 inch and was kicking much more on balance after just two days of lessons.

I expect big things from the kicking game over at Oak Ridge this season!

Overall it was a great few days working with kickers and punters in Tennessee. I am always excited to see guys improve and look forward to seeing the success my students during the season.

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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