It’s always fun to blow up Twitter once in a while with tweets like these, which I mean half sarcastically and half legitimately:
Of course, it elicits the bro-science football coaches who say empathic things like “this guy is f*cking stupid” or “worst recruiting advice ever.” (But little do they know the whole scheme of my Twitter account is to garner attention, not peer reviewed scientific research but I digress)
And, maybe they are right. I’m not a certified strength and conditioning coach. I’m also not an NFL kicker nor ever had the potential to be. It’s just my biased and limited observation that there isn’t much difference between a DIII kicker and a DI kicker technique wise, but there is a massive power generation difference.
Where might one generate that power…? Ah - yes the weight room.
The general knock on kickers is that they don’t like to lift weights. I’m not sure where this started. Maybe it had something to do with a few kickers like Gary Anderson in the 1980s who had just such great touch on the ball, they had no need to deadlift hundreds of pounds. (Or before Justin Tucker unfairly created the expectation that every NFL kicker needs to be able to kick 70 yard FGs in practice for fun. But I digress.)
The other knock on kickers it that they’re “not real football players”. They are isolated during practice, and sometimes don’t help themselves by not lifting or following the regular team schedule at some schools.
Therefore, the simplest way to kill seven birds with one stone - lift weights, meld into the team, and boost your performance on field - is by lifting weights and taking nutrition, and fitness seriously.
In fact, I’d say some of the tweets that have helped generate the most recruiting interest for kickers has been clips of kickers doing lower body workouts with great form rather than kicking. Like this guy, Stone Anderson, Michigan bound now:
Summing It All Up
No college coach ever said…
That kicker is too strong.
Lift weights.
Great form with manageable weight beats awful form that gets you injured.
Eat real food.
Get real sleep.
Don’t be shy about posting Twitter clips of these workouts.
Want to learn more about lifting and kicking?
I defer to these three guys the most on all things strength and conditioning on kicking:
John Carney - 5th All Time Leading NFL Scorer and NFL Kicker for 20 years
Cody Smith - The go-to SC coach for All Pro Kickers like Joey Slye, Jason Myers, and Jake Bailey.
Redford Jones - Up and comer, former NFL Chicago Bears Kicker now trains wide swaths of kickers online.
That’s all for now, thanks!
If you have any questions on today’s post, join me on Substack Chat where I’ll quickly get back to you here:
Brendan
PS When you’re ready, here are three ways I can help you
Ebook: Grab a copy of my ebook How To Kick In College
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