Specialists Path Kicking Footballs

This week's On A Specialist's Path is on the specific types of footballs that are used for NFL, College, and High School kicking specialists.

I learned at a young age that broken in footballs went much farther than brand new footballs. When would I kick a brand new ball for about a week I could see the ball started to jump off my foot. The ball would become darker and would sometimes go as much as 6-10 yards farther when it was broken in compared to a brand new ball.

What I didn't know in high school was that not only is it important to break in a football but it is also vital to choose the right type of football. As a kicking coach in the state of Tennessee I see the difference in footballs almost everyday with Tennessee kicking and punting lessons .

This is On A Specialist's Path-Choosing the Proper Football.

When it comes to a kicking ball Nike is king. The Nike football is what 9 of 12 SEC schools use on game day. Alabama, Florida, LSU and Georgia have used the Nike ball for quite some time and the Aero Elite Collegiate (pictured above) is the football of choice.

If the Nike ball is king than Wilson GST is the court jester.

Kickers and punters across the country have had to deal with this football for the past 6 to 7 years. In my opinion this is by far the worst kicking ball on the market. A brand new Wilson GST compared to a brand new Nike football is at least a 5 to 7 yards difference on a field goal or kickoff.

I experienced the difference first hand when I was entering my senior year of college and my friend Jad Dean, former kicker at Clemson and 2005 Lou Groza Finalist, came to Knoxville to kick with me in the Neyland Thompson Indoor Practice Facility.

Jad was using the the Nike balls that Clemson had provided him while I was using the Wilson GST football. As we started the workout I could see that Jad had a little more "pop" on his field goals than I did.

As the kicking workout continued we backed our way to the 40 yard line and attempted some 50 yard field goals. I was making my kicks by a few yards and Jad was making his half way up the uprights.

Finally I became curious to see if he was that much better than me or was the football making a difference? I finally decided to ask him if we could switch footballs.

I started kicking the Nike balls and he used my Wilson GST football. The moment we switched balls I could tell that the tables had turned in my favor. I moved all the way back to a 63 yard field goal and Jad was struggling to get distance from 55 yards!

The University of Tennessee is the only school in the SEC, to my knowledge, that still uses this football. Auburn and South Carolina use a different type of Wilson football rather than the GST.

I have seen some Tennessee fans on the message boards of Volquest.com ask why incoming freshman kicker Michael Palardy has had trouble kicking his kickoffs into the endzone.

In my opinion the problem is not with the kicker but with the football. When I saw Palardy's highlight tape I saw an extremely talented kicker but I saw him kicking a very old and broken in football. If I was a special teams coach in college I would always take that into account when evaluating a specialist.

I think that someone at Tennessee should take a hard look at using the Wilson GST football and make sure that other teams aren't gaining a competitive advantage.

My suggestion for college teams that are under contract with Wilson is to use the Wilson 1001 football. Wilson has tried to promote the 1005 football for some reason but the 1001 is a little fatter and has more surface area to kick.

A worn in Wilson 1001 is almost equivalent to a Nike football.

I personally don't have a dog in the hunt in regards to what football is used in high school and college but my suggestion is to have one standardized ball in high school and college similar to the NFL. This would help maintain the integrity of the game.

The NFL is very different from college and high school because they use one standardized football.

Over the past 6 to 10 years the NFL has tried to find ways to limit the distance of kickers through a few rule changes.

First, was moving the kickoff from the 35 yard line to the 30 yard line. Kickers have answered the bell and have started to increase their kickoff distance through additional technique work and weight training.

The other rule is making all the kickers use the same football called a "K" ball. The "K" ball has made a big difference in the game as kickoff distance has been decreased because of the ball, which has allowed for many more kickoff returns.

Before the standardized ball there use to be quite a few kickers and punters that were breaking in the ball by using alternative methods like putting the ball in the dryer.

I prefer the NFL's use of footballs because at least each specialist is on a level playing field.

In conclusion, I have had first hand experience with all types of footballs and what there affects are on kicking specialists. You will notice that at Tennessee football kicking camps the kickers and punters will gravitate towards the broken in Nike footballs and stay away from a brand new Wilson GST.

College and high school coaches should at least be aware that there are advantages to using one ball compared to another and should try and give their kicking specialists all the advantages they possibly can!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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Younger Kicking Standouts

Working with over 130 kicking specialists this Summer has given me access to punters and kickers from across the state of Tennessee.

Over the past few weeks I have written about the college specialists I have worked with this Summer along with the top seniors and juniors in the state of Tennessee. The talent in the state of Tennessee is phenomenal and I have been blessed to work with quite a few of them.

I love working with the top college and high school senior specialists in the state but I also enjoy working with younger kickers to help them learn the right way to kick before they develop bad habits.

There are going to be some very good kickers and punters coming up in the state of Tennessee over the next few years...

Brett Beeler (Oak Ridge High School) will be entering his second season as the starting kicker and has a lot of talent for a Sophomore.

He had a tendency to really crunch in his kicks and I worked with him to be a little more fluid on his approach and follow through.

Brett has some nice pop in his leg and the kicking coach at Oak Ridge had already done a nice job with Brett before I even worked with him. I was able to fine tune a few things to make Brett even better.

I believe that if he continues to develop his technique than he will have the chance to kick in college.

Ben Boatright (Brentwood Academy) is a sophomore who is competing with star senior punter, Nathan Renfro, to be the starting kicker.

He is a bright kid who is smaller in stature but packs some punch in his kicks. Ball contact is such an important thing for a kicker and that is something he does very well.

I am expecting big things from Ben and I look forward to seeing him develop and wish him the best of luck this Friday.

Aaron Medley (Marshall Co.) has one of the stronger legs I have ever seen for a freshman kicker.

During the kicking session we backed up to 55 yards on field goals and I was very impressed with his ability to understand concepts.

Aaron is an extremely quiet guy which took me a little time to understand as I have a tendency to talk for the entire hour and fifteen minutes I am on the field for a kicking lesson.

I firmly believe that if Aaron continues to improve than he will be on path for a Division 1 scholarship.

Gary Wunderlich is a very talented freshman over at Memphis University School. He has some big shoes to fill as he is taking over for Mr. Football Finalist Christian Kaufmann.

I started working with Gary because of a referral from Christian and Southern Miss kicker Corey Acosta.

Gary is a very talented kicker who has the capability to hit 50 yard field goals and kick kickoffs around the end zone.


If he keeps up the pace that he is on than he will have a chance to be a Mr. Football Finalist in the next few years.

Logan Cooke is from Kokimo, MS and will be the quarterback and kicker on his junior high team this year. I met Logan at the Tennessee vs Florida game in 2006 as he was a guest of one of my teammates from Mississippi, Josh McNeil.


He is a freshman this year but his team is still kicking with the middle school football. Good kickers actually lose distance with the middle school ball compared to a high school ball, because there isn't as much surface area to kick on the smaller ball.


Logan has worked with me numerous times and I am very pleased with where he is at right now and expect him to have a great season.


Hayes Foster is an 8th grader at Siegel Middle School. Hayes' father, Tom, contacted me in March and wanted me to evaluate if Hayes had some potential as a field goal kicker.


Hayes has played traveling soccer for quite some time and had a natural ability to strike the ball.


As I started the evaluation with Hayes I watched him kick 5 field goals and I was convinced he had talent.


Hayes has done some kicking lessons over the previous months and I have really seen him improve.


Just recently he kicked 4 touchbacks in a middle school game!


I am actually playing golf with Tom this morning and working with Hayes in the afternoon so it will be great to see Hayes' progress from when I worked with him earlier this Summer...

The final kicker that I want to talk about is someone I worked with when I conducted a clinic for Karns Youth Clinic. His name is Roberto and he will be an 8th grader at Karns.

Roberto is very talented for an 8th grade kicker. I worked with he and a few other specialists at this clinic and it was hard not to notice his potential.

At the beginning of the clinic he was inconsistent on his field goals and by the end he was able to kick 50 yarders with pretty good accuracy. It was amazing seeing such a transformation so quickly!

In conclusion, I am excited about the younger talent that is in the state of Tennessee and it is going to be fun seeing some of these guys become household names in college football in the next few years.

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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Specialist Path' Opening Games

For this week's On A Specialist's Path I decided that I should talk about what it is like for a kicking specialist during an opening game.

Some high school teams have started their season already but for the most part the college and high school teams will be kicking off their seasons over the coming weeks. It is extremely important to be mentally and physically prepared for the challenges of an opening game as it can set the tone for an entire season!

Kicking specialists from across the country have been working hard this Summer to prepare for their season. Many specialists have worked to improve their technique through kicking lessons and by spending countless hours on the field either kicking or punting. After all that training and preparation it comes down to execution.

The first game of the season is unlike any other because if you are a new kicker than it is your first time to ever play in front of a crowd. If you are a returning kicker than it is time to brush off the cobwebs and get back out there again.

There is nothing that can truly replicate what it is like to play in a game and that is what makes opening games such a challenge.

I took public speaking in college and one of the first things they tell you in the class is to be 'comfortable with the uncomfortable'. You will always feel some nervous energy before you kick and the biggest thing is to understand that it is perfectly normal.

One of the things I like to do with kicking specialists during kicking lessons is to walk them through what it is like to kick in a game and give them a pre performance routine.

Visualize what it is like to kick your first field goal in a game and try to be as detailed as possible.

I worked with Sport Psychologist Dr. Craig Wrisberg throughout my career at Tennessee. We went through all sorts of visualization to help prepare for what it would be like to kick in front of 100,000 people.

In one of the sessions he had me close my eyes and envision what it was like to run onto the field when the crowd was booing. At the time I thought this was silly because my first game was at home and I didn't anticipate the crowd being hostile.

Sure enough my first field goal attempt was on one of the opening drives of the game and Coach Fulmer decided to kick a field goal instead of going for it on fourth and 1 and the crowd started to boo. As I was jogging on the field it was like I had done this before.

One of my favorite quotes is "chance favors the prepared mind" and I was certainly prepared for that situation.

The next thing to be prepared for is going through warm ups.

So many kickers and punters are so anxious for that first game that they have a tendency to overkick during warm ups. Relax...the hay is already in the barn. Warm ups are there to make sure you are warmed up.

You are not going to be able to make a big technique change during this time so just trust what you have and move on.

Bottom line is that I have had some of my best games when I warmed up the worst and some of my worst games when I warmed up the best. You just have to have trust in your technique.

There is some value to warm ups though. Take your warm up kicks very seriously and make sure to put good pictures in your head. If you handle it correctly than your warm up kicks should be the equivalent of your first 10 to 12 kicks or punts in a game.

The final part of an opening game is to just have fun! You have trained long and hard for this moment so enjoy it.

The goal of working of sport psychology is to process all the outside factors in kicking so you can focus on one thing...punting and kicking the ball!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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Wilhoit's Junior Standouts

Over the past two months of working with kicking specialists in Tennessee I have worked with kickers and punters of all different ages.

I have done lessons with guys who are my age (27 years old) and kids who are as young as 10 years old. Working with specialists who vary so much in age has certainly helped me improve as a kicking coach because you figure out different ways to reach different kicking specialists. It really makes being a kicking coach such an interesting job because every punter and kicker is a new challenge.

I honestly was surprised and excited by the talent that I saw throughout the state. Over the past few weeks I have written blogs about the college and high school senior kicking specialists across the state of Tennessee.

For this blog I want to acknowledge the junior talent across the state.

Ben Ogle (pictured above) is the starting kicker at Greeneville High School and was the All State kicker for class 4A last year.

He has worked with me numerous times this Summer in Knoxville, Chattanooga, and I made a trip to Greeneville to work with his holder and long snapper.

Ben has great size and is a very talented kicker. He has range of 60 to 65 yards with a one inch tee and gets incredible height on his kicks. His kickoffs are very impressive and when he has the ability to hit them out of the endzone with hang times as high as 4.3 seconds.

I expect Ben to have great season and plan on coming to his game on September 10th against Elizabethton. I look forward to working with Ben for hopefully another 5 years!

The next kicker is George Bullock. George is one of the first kickers that I ever worked with along with Corey Acosta.

I started working with George during his freshman year and as he was growing as a kicker at the same time I was growing as a coach.

When I first started with George I didn't use video or even know how to turn on a camera. Now I use video for all my lessons and couldn't imagine not having it as a resource in coaching kickers and punters.

George has gone from a good kicker his freshman year to being one of the best kickers in the state. He hit a 52 yard field goal in a scrimmage and won the kickoff competition in Neyland Stadium last weekend with a 66 yard kickoff.

I am very proud of George and look forward to big things from him this year!

Conar Roberts is the punter/kicker for McMinn County. He will be entering his junior year and is a standout punter.

In my opinion, there are not as many pure punters across the country, which makes Conar so valuable.

The state of Tennessee was blessed this year to have 4 of the top 20 punters in the entire country but that is far away from the norm.

Conar has very good fundamentals and really seemed to like the Drop Progression Drill. If he continues on the same path he is on than he will have plenty of interest from colleges.

The final kicking specialist is Jarrett Lay. He will be entering his junior year from Oneida, TN.

Jarrett is a legitimate 6'2 and 190 pounds with a strong leg. The amazing thing about Jarrett is that he doesn't know how good he can be.

During the kicking lesson we backed up as far as 55 yards and he was kicking each kick right down the middle. Almost every kicker I work with will struggle a bit on the first day but he looked like a seasoned veteran.

I believe there are three keys to success in kicking:

1. Talent
2. Being Coachable
3. Desire

I think that Jarrett has the first two and I hope he gains the third. Once he figures out how much God-given talent he has than he can really take his game to the next level.

Overall I am very impressed the junior kickers and punters in the state of Tennessee. This season and the upcoming year of kicking camps will determine which kicking specialists receive scholarships...

Stay tuned for Monday's blog as I will be writing my On A Specialists Path on what it is like to play the opening game of a season.

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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Specialist's Path Brad Nortman

As I have been writing my On A Specialists Path blog each week I have learned so much about what it takes to be successful as a kicking specialist. Most kickers and punters don't grow up wanting to be kickers and punters. What often happens is a specialist will see some early success kicking or punting and the opportunities will just unfold in front of their eyes.

Brad Nortman is going into his third year as the starting punter for the University of Wisconsin, and is one of the top punters in the Big 10 if not the entire country. I am proud to tell his story and I consider him to be a friend.

Brad and I had the unique and very unlikely honor of playing for the school we grew up following, which has its advantages and potential distractions.

This is Brad Nortman On 'A Specialist's Path'.

Punting is a very specific skill and I have noticed that it is very difficult to be both a talented punter and kicker, which is why there is not one kicking specialist in the NFL that handles both the kicking and the punting.

Brad says that he got his encouragement to punt at a very young age and was able to focus solely on his craft.

"I started punting as early as 5th grade, and improved from simple technique coaching from my dad and a few camps I attended," Brad said.

He always enjoyed punting but it wasn't until later in his high school career that he really saw the potential he had and the opportunities it could bring for his future.

"I felt becoming a specialist was the right choice for me after a successful Junior year in High School Football and performing well in kicking camps," Brad said. "It transformed from a “secondary” position for me to a focal point of mine that year."

This "secondary" position became a "primary" focus for him and he never would have dreamed where it might take him.

"Personally, I never imagined I would be punting anywhere beyond high school," Brad said. "It is a not a usual dream a high school athlete has."

"It wasn’t until I began to compete nationally that I realized the opportunity to punt in college was a possibility. After recruiting took place and attended more camps, it was a dream of mine to become a starting punter, and hard work has helped me achieve that."

Brad certainly worked hard and was ranked the 4th best punter in the nation and it was almost as if the stars were in alignment for Brad to end up at his dream school

The University of Wisconsin was graduating their senior punter and Brad lived a mere hour away from the campus in nearby Brookfield, Wisconsin.

"I have loved Wisconsin football from a young age," Brad said. "I have been a huge fan my whole life. When going through recruiting, and considering my options, I truly believed Wisconsin was the best fit for me and where my heart was. It has everything I want in a school and program. I have had an unforgettable experience with it so far."

Ever since Brad signed with the Badgers he has been a weapon for the team but that doesn't mean he hasn't had his ups and downs during his career. He pinpointed a time his freshman year as his toughest time so far in his two years with the team.

"My true freshman year, I strung together two games where I struggled in mid October," Brad said." However, the very next week, we played Illinois. I had 6 punts for a 51.7 yard average and was Big Ten Special Teams Player of the week. I was proud of how I responded and the support I received from my teammates and family and friends."

One of the main factors in Brad's success has been the support he has had from his parents. So many times people forget how important it is to have a good support system around an athlete and it is even better when it is an athlete's parents.

"My parents are the biggest influence in my life," Brad said. "They have supported me through the highs and lows the career has thrown at me. Further, the countless life lessons of hard work, honesty, kindness and Faith have been invaluable."

Brad has sought kicking coaches and additional kicking camps to improve his skills over the past few years and he is always trying to get better.

I have admired Brad's ability to be coachable and his willingness to try new ideas. He has some very specific goals for this season that are mixed with personal and team goals.

"This year, I would like to have less than 10% of my punts be touchbacks while maintaining an average above 43 yards and have consistently high hangs times for my coverage team," Brad said. "If I can do this, individual accolades will take care of themselves. Most Important, I want to do whatever helps our team to win and be successful this year."

His goals describe a a humble and hardworking guy from Wisconsin who is living every boy in Wisconsin's dream!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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Long and Successful Summer

It has been a busy and successful Summer as I have learned the gratification of seeing punters and kickers improve. I have also experienced the true meaning of hard work.

As you can see in the picture (above) I have two footballs laying side by side. The football on the right is a brand new football and the football on the left was brand new on June 1st when I started my Summer kicking and punting lessons.

I have eight other footballs that look just like the one of the left in the trunk of my car. I have calculated that my footballs were kicked 7,800 times this Summer!

I have put together a couple of rough estimates for certain things that happened in my lessons over June and July.

• Drove Approximately 7,200 miles in my Honda Accord this Summer
• Stopped these cities and towns in Tennessee: in Kingsport, Bristol, Johnson City, Knoxville, Greeneville, Adamsville, Savannah, Lebanon, Cookeville, Strawberry Plains, Oak Ridge, Woodbury, Chattanooga, Camden, McKenzie, Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, and Murfreesboro.
• Longest Day June 30 (my birthday) did six lessons and started at 8 AM in Mt. Juliet and finished at 8:30 PM

• Worked with approximately 130 kicking specialists across the state of Tennessee (260 total lessons)
• Spent 325 hours in the sun (260 lessons for hour and fifteen minutes)
• Lost 10 pounds (197 pounds to 187 pounds)
• Demonstrated approximately 800 field goals with a long of 58 yards
• Longest kickoff recorded was 78 yards with a 4.1 hang time

Favorite Food: Germantown Commissary (Memphis) pictured above, Bobby Q's (Cookeville), Sawmeal (Adamsville), Bricks Cafe (Brentwood), Pal's (Kingsport), TK's (Kingsport), Bonefish Grill (Germantown), Hagy's Catfish Hotel (Savannah), Cheddar's (Hendersonville), and Cherokee Steakhouse (Gallatin).

It has been a fantastic Summer and I have given everything I possibly could to make the kicking specialists in Tennessee better this summer.

I look forward to assisting guys throughout the season and I am excited to watch the guys I have worked with throughout the Summer.

Also, I look forward to playing some golf, catching up on TV shows, and being normal 27 year old kid for a few months!

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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On 'A Specialist's Path' Injuries

I don’t know of any kicking specialist that likes to be hurt but we have all had our fair share of injuries. Since kicking is a repetitive movement, a kicking specialist is susceptible to injuries caused by over use and also by fluke injuries.

For this week’s On A Specialists Path I will be talking about preventing and overcoming injuries.

I have had more than my share of injuries throughout high school and college as I constantly dealt with an injured groin. Also, I had major surgery on my foot going into my junior year of college.

The first thing I would like to talk about is the prevention of injuries.

There are quite a few things that can attribute to injuries like the amount of kicks in the offseason, amount of kicks during camp, and not doing the proper physical training in the offseason.

The amount of kicks that are done during the offseason can significantly contribute to injuries during a season. There is a constant struggle to find what the proper amount of kicks should be during the offseason.

If you were to kick too little during the offseason you could not be in the proper condition to handle the workload for fall camp. Imagine of you were to only kick twice a week during the offseason and then you were asked to kick everyday during fall camp. Your body is not prepared for the extra work and this can lead to a possible injury.

On the flipside if you were to kick too much during the offseason you can be overworked leading into camp. Kicking kickoffs four days a week is certainly too much and this can lead to injuries in fall camp and during the season.

There is a constant struggle between kicking too little and kicking too much.

The next thing to take into account is using the proper preventative measures to keep you healthy. A good weight program is something that can help contribute to a healthy season plus having the proper flexibility.

Lifting the proper weights can help to keep your legs in the proper condition throughout the season and it is important to maintain a light lifting program during the season to keep the muscles in your leg strong.

You should not expect to make physical gains during the season but your leg should still be very strong at the end of the season.

The final aspect to focus on is flexibility and a proper warm up. It is important to gradually warm up when you are kicking or punting. Do not try and warm up with 50 yard punts or 50 yard field goals. Incorporate drills that will help you to gradually increase your effort into the ball.

Finally, flexibility is one of the keys to being a successful kicking specialist. I have told so many punters and kickers to make sure and stretch but a lot of times I believe that falls on deaf ears. You should stretch at least 4 times a week to get the proper flexibility. Hold the stretches for the proper time and don’t bounce on the stretches.

Many times kicking specialists’ are on the sideline because of a kicking injury. Many of those injuries could be prevented if specialists would use the proper kicking routine, a solid workout routine, and stretch throughout the year.

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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College Specialists Improving Technique

This has been a very busy and fun Summer for me as I have worked with over 130 kickers and punters across the Southeast. Many of those kicking specialists have been college kickers and punters. I have been impressed with the college talent I have seen in the Southeast!

I worked with talented specialists at MTSU, Austin Peay, Carson Newman, Tennessee Tech, Southern Miss, Arkansas State, and Millsapps College in Mississippi.

I have also worked with a few talented free agent kickers that are looking to make it on an NFL, CFL, or UFL team.

Alan Gendreau (pictured above) is returning for his junior year after being a semi finalist for the Lou Groza in 2009 when he made 18 of 22 field goals.

I really liked his demeanor and approach to kicking. I expect that he will continue the accuracy he achieved this past season and be much improved on his kickoffs this year.

Next up is Austin Peay kicker Stephen Stansell. Stephen will be entering his sophomore season at Austin Peay and has unbelievable ability.

When I first worked with him earlier this Summer in Chattanooga, I saw that he crunched a lot on his kicks, which limited his movement through the ball. After working a few lessons he was able to kick through the ball much easier.

Stephen not only has the ability to be a top college kicker but a chance to get to an NFL Training Camp in the future. He hit some 65 yard field goals when we worked together and numerous touchbacks on kickoffs.

Carlos Lopez (pictured above) from Carson Newman is one of the most talented kickers I worked with all Summer.

Carlos came to me last year after having a disappointing season in 2008 where he hit only 1 of 4 field goal attempts.

We worked together last year and I was able to teach him some good fundamentals that helped him to make 11 of 12 field goals last season. You can read more about his story on my On A Specialists Path blog from earlier in the Summer.

http://jameswilhoitkickingcoach.blogspot.com/2010/06/carlos-lopez-on-specialists-path.html

Carlos decided to go to a college competition camp this Summer and competed against 80 other college kickers from BCS schools like Florida State and Virginia. He did phenomenal and placed 5th overall averaging 73 yards on his kickoffs with hang times ranging from 3.9 to 4.2.

I believe that if Carlos can take every game one at a time and stay within himself that he will have an even better season this year.

I look forward to working with Carlos and the rest of the specialists from Carson Newman on August 16th.

Nick Campbell is the punter at Tennessee Tech and I am expecting some big things from him this year. He has pretty good mechanics and has been working hard this offseason to have breakout year.

Nick and I have worked quite a bit on his punting technique and I was very impressed when I worked with him earlier this Summer. He hit lots of nose over punts and some hang times around 4.8 to 5 seconds.

I am planning to go visit both Nick and kicker Tim Donegan before their season starts at Tech.

Also, I am hoping to go to the Austin Peay vs TN Tech game this season as I will be able to watch the guys I have worked with in action.

Nate Toulson is vying to be the starting punter at MTSU. He was a tight end in high school and you can definitely tell that he isn't your average punter.

I worked with him on locking the ball out a little quicker and eliminating some movements that were a little inconsistent. I believe that Nate is going to have a very good year this year with the Blue Raiders.

I look forward to watching Nate and Alan play this season at MTSU.

Finally there is Taylor Russolino at Millsapps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

Taylor drove from his home in Louisiana to come work with me and I was certainly impressed with his talent.

He hit some 55 and 57 yard One Step kicks! I will say that there was a good wind at his back but he hit a 55 yard One Step Kick the next day when the wind slowed down.

Taylor also went to the same competition camp that Carlos Lopez went to and placed in the top 10 out of the 80 participants.

I look forward to working with Taylor again in a few days over at Millsapps College.

Overall it was a great Summer and I am very impressed with the young talent that there is at the college level.

I think that in the next few years a couple of these kicking specialists will have the chance to compete at the professional level...

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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On 'A Specialist's Path' Fall Camp/ Two a Days

As kicking specialists enter fall practice, there are quite a few things that I have experienced over my years of kicking and being around kickers and punters that I believe are useful.

In this week's On A Specialist's Path I will give my advice for kicking specialists' going through fall practice.

Going through fall practice can be a challenge because of the physical toll that kicking everyday can do to your body and also the mental grind of competition.

The first topic I would like to discuss is the physical strain of kicking during fall camp.

Coaches are in a tough position when it comes to kickers and punters during fall practice because most of them generally don't understand kicking specialists and the rigors of kicking and punting a football.

The coaches believe that since the other position players are tired and hurting they feel that kicking specialists should just suck it up and keep kicking when their legs are fatigued. The problem with this philosophy is that many specialists don't ever make it out of camp because over kicking can often lead to an injury.

Would you rather kick well August 1st or a month later when the first game starts? That is for you to decide but it is acceptable to tell your coach you would like an afternoon off because your leg is sore.

I dealt with a similar situation my freshman year of college at Tennessee. I was competing with a fifth year senior kicker named Phillip Newman and we were in a tight battle for the kicking job.

About two weeks before our first game I developed a muscle pull in my leg. I was concerned to take any time off for the injury because of the fear of losing my job. I decided to take the time off though cause I knew that if I continued kicking I would do more damage and not have a successful season even if I did win the job.

I decided to sit down with Coach Fulmer and tell him that I needed a week off to let my leg recover from injury. That week was one of the longest weeks of my life as I had to miss a scrimmage and a few practices but the decision paid off for me.

After letting my injury heal I came back and won the kicking job and held it for the next four years. Sometimes you have to understand the bigger picture during camp and know what is best for you and the team.

Kickers and punters are very similar to pitchers in baseball because what they do is a repetitive motion. Anytime you do a repetitive motion the body is eventually going to tire and the mechanics of the movement will start to breakdown. This is what leads to injuries.

There is very little a player can do to combat what a coach decides to do during practice, but he can certainly control what he does before and after practice!

Bottom line is that there is plenty that a specialist can do without kicking a ball. Dry runs and the One Step Drill can be extremely important to a kicker and Drop Drills and the One Step Drill are important for a punter. You don't have to work harder than your competition just work smarter.

The next part of fall camp is the mental side. Either a kicking specialist is in a heated battle for his job or he has locked down a starting spot but both situations have their challenges.

If you are in a heated competition for a kicking job there is always the feeling that you are fighting for your job. This can be a challenge if you are always focusing on your competition. Specialists can get so caught up in what the competition is doing that it can take you out of your game.

It is vital to focus on what you can control rather than focusing on outside factors like how far your competition has kicked or punted a ball. I found that it is better to not even watch the other person when they kick and just focus on what I have to do.

A specialists should feel confident enough in their abilities that if they do their best than they will win the job regardless of what the competition does.

The final challenge is for specialists that have already locked down a starting spot after a successful season.

Drew Butler (pictured above on the left) won the prestigious Ray Guy Award this past year. There are a whole new set of expectations for someone who has a successful season.

The challenge for specialists who have secured their job already is learning to be self motivated. Everyday you have to be able to work on something that makes you better and avoid the challenge to over kick.

I watched our punter at Tennessee, Dustin Colquitt, kick way too much his senior year because he was trying to live up to expectations. He injured his hamstring and did not have the year he expected to have because he did not handle dealing with high expectations well.

He recovered from his hamstring injury and will be entering his 6th year in the NFL. The bottom line though is that even the best kicking specialists have their own challenges in fall camp. The important thing is to be smart and understand that camp is there to prepare you for the season and not to forget that being prepared for the season is the main goal of camp.

Visit: www.jameswilhoitkickingcoach.com

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