Promotional Video & Lessons

Just a quick update on what I have been up to this year.This year has started off with a bang as I worked with over 20 specialists so far this year in January and March. I will be heading back to Tennessee for the majority of April to do One on One Kicking and Punting Lessons.

Also, I have been working with Coach Zauner again this year and played a vital role in Coach Zauner's College Senior Specialists Combine. The three months prior to and during the combine I did numerous things to help the combine be successful including:

-Personally messaged every kicking specialists in the senior class along with follow up messages and sometimes even personal phone calls to players that I knew around the SEC. This process along with Coach Zauner's hard work and his connections helped secure 63 specialists to the event.

-Presented a 30 minute Sport Psychology presentation titled Sport Psychology "Preparing for the NFL". During this presentation I shared my experience when I was signed by the Ravens and gave the specialists tips on how to use sport psychology when competing for an NFL job.

-Assisted with the capturing and data entry of all the video at the event

-Organized,burned, and sent the majority of the videos for all the 63 participants

-Coached all the field goal kickers on the final day of the combine

-Helped edit and organize the video for the 22 specialists that were recommended to the NFL by Coach Zauner

-Helped in the design of the DVD cover for the video that was sent to the NFL

-Offered the idea of following up the event with a personal phone call by Coach Zauner to give the specialists an evaluation of their performance at the event and their NFL potential.

This combine was for the top senior kicking specialists that were not invited to the NFL Combine. I played an integral part in the event that helped get 63 specialists to the combine. Since the conclusion of the combine there has been some serious buzz from NFL Special Teams Coaches and NFL Pro Personnel.

This coming weekend I am helping with Coach Zauner's Free Agent Combine. Over 30 NFL teams will be in attendance to watch 60 of the best free agent specialists in the world. It will be an exciting weekend catching up with quite a few specialists that I have met over the past two years while working with Coach Zauner. Last year 17 of 41 specialists in attendance at this event were signed to professional football teams.

Also, I have been working hard to generate my schedule for June. I will be doing lessons in Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis, and Chattanooga. Stay tuned to the website as my schedule should be released in the next few days.

Finally, I have just recently made a promotional video (below) about my kicking and coaching career.

Click for James Wilhoit Promotional Video

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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March Lessons in Memphis

On my final weekend home from Arizona I did One on One Lessons with Caden Holt from Savannah, TN, Logan Cooke from Kokimo, MS, and Corey Acosta (Christian Brothers High School).

Caden Holt (pictured above) came to Memphis with his father, Stan, for some One on One Lessons. Caden is finishing 8th grade and his family have been Tennessee fans for quite some time. He had never had any formal kicking training and was looking for some direction for his kicking future.

As I began to watch Caden kick I saw that he was kicking the ball straight on with his toe. I have no problem with a kicker going straight on ,but obviously there are some distinct advantages to kicking soccer style so I wanted to explore what his potential was as a soccer style kicker.

The more I watched him kick I started to see Caden's potential. He kicked a few balls that really impressed me and so over the rest of the two lessons I really worked with him on his technique.
I saw great improvement with Caden and I look forward to working him him in the future.

Next up was Logan Cooke (pictured above), who is finishing up his 8th grade year and is from Kokimo, Mississippi. I met Logan and his father, Len, about 4 years ago at a Tennessee vs. Florida game in 2004 and they just recently contacted me about doing One on One Kicking Lessons.

I first started to watch Logan warm up and I saw that he had some minor technical flaws in his kicking. I introduced him to a more efficient way to kick and at first it was very difficult for him because he had some bad habits to work through.

We worked on some drills to help correct some of the flaws in his swing and then we went to my laptop and I showed him photos of the proper foot placement and follow through.

By the end of the second day he really had a better understanding of where to go from here and after seeing his work ethic over the past few days I believe he will be seeing dramatic results over the next few weeks.

Last but not least is Corey Acosta. Corey wanted to sharpen up his technique this Spring in preparation for competing for the starting job at Southern Miss. Corey signed a full scholarship at Southern Miss after scholarship offers from Memphis, Army, and a host of preferred walk on opportunities.

There are a few qualities that make Corey such a good kicker and one of them is being coachable. I worked with Corey about this same time last year and we focused on making the transition to kicking off the ground. I ask Corey to trust me with some things on his technique and it has paid huge dividends.

Another quality that is a huge asset to Corey is his athletic ability. Kicker's can be thought of as bad athletes sometimes but it takes balance and coordination to be an elite kicker.

As I continued to watch Corey kick I worked with him on some minor things with his technique and he was back to kicking the ball high and far.

It was great being back in Memphis and I look forward to coming back a few more times before the football season begins.

Click here for John Acosta's Testimonial

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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Trip home to Tennessee in March

After taking a deep breath from working on Coach Zauner's College Senior Specialists Combine, I was able to come home to Tennessee and do my passion, which is working with kicking specialists. From talking to quite a few people at home I believe that I was very fortunate that the weather cooperated this past weekend as it was a beautiful day for lessons. This past Sunday I worked with Payne Shanafelt (Ravenwood), Hayes Foster (13 year old kicker), Eric Frieman (Vanderbilt), and finished the day by giving Brian Davis (Arkansas State signee) a sports psychology presentation in preparation for College Football this fall.

First up is Payne Shanafelt (Ravenwood). Payne will be entering his senior season of football next year and will be handling the punting duties and will be competing for the field goal job. I worked with Payne specifically on his punting this weekend. When I started the lesson with Payne I noticed some inconsistencies with his footwork and drop. We worked on the Drop Progression Drill and he saw some great results.

Payne listened very intently and worked hard on the drills I showed him and found immediate improvement. By the end of the lesson Payne hit 4 punts of 40 yards or longer with hang times all above 4.2 seconds. His best ball of the day was a towering punt that was over 50 yards with 4.54 hang time. I was very impressed with Payne's improvement and I look forward to working with him again in April.

Next up was Hayes Foster, who is a 13 year old kicker from Murfreesboro. Hayes is a very successful soccer player and his father, Tom, brought him to me for an evaluation. My mentor, Coach Zauner, says it correctly when he says that "it doesn't take long to spot kicking talent" and it didn't take long for me to see that Hayes was extremely talented.

I showed him a few tips and his natural talent just took over. I believe that with hard work Hayes has an excellent chance at a Division 1 scholarship in his future.

Finally on Sunday night Brian Davis (former Brentwood High kicker & Arkansas St commitment) and his father, Greg (testimonial below), came by my house for a sports psychology presentation. Brian has the opportunity to compete for early playing time at Arkansas State and was looking to take his game to the next level by focusing on the mental side of the game.

It was a very busy weekend but it was again great to get back to helping specialists in Tennessee. I will be conducting lessons in Memphis this weekend and will be back in April for more lessons.

Click for Greg Davis' Testimonial (Father of Brian Davis)

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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