When to Punt the Football

Series Summary

Kickers are an essential part of any football team. An good kicker versus a great kicker can and does many times mean the difference in winning or losing a football game. One of the kicker's jobs is to punt the football. When the ball is punted to the opposing team, it can generally dictate the opposition's field position. A great punter can make the ball land within the 10 yard line and thus give the opponent poor field position. Professional football players and collegiate football players make punting an art. If you would like to learn how to punt the football from collegiate punter, you can learn for free online from our expert from Oregon State University.

In this free football how-to video series, learn how to punt the football from expert punter and collegiate football player John Millar. John will teach you all about punting including when to punt, what to do after a punt, the proper footwork for a punt, how to fake a punt, and how to line up for a punt. He will demonstrate how to receive the snap for a punt, how to grip the football for a punt, how to drop the football for a punt, how to swing your leg for a punt, how to flop for a first down when punting, how to pooch punt a football, how to kick a football in windy conditions, and how to kick the football out of the endzone.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm John Millar here with Expert Village to teach you how to punt a football. You punt the football when your offense has been stopped, it's fourth down, fourth and long, you're deep in your own territory or you're outside of field goal range. That's when you have to turn the ball over to the opposing team and give it to their offense and let your defense go out and make a stop. So when that happens, special teams comes up, your punt unit goes out there. The punter tries to kick the ball as far and high as possible. So punting is really a game of field position. You want to pin the other offense as deep as possible, and make them have a long field to work towards to score. The probability of an offense scoring, if they start on their own ten, is very small. The probability of an offense scoring if they start on your ten, ten yards from the goal line is very high. It's all a game of field position. Every time a punter steps on the field, they have an opportunity to have a drastic impact on the field position. You're standing somewhere around fifteen yards behind the line of scrimmage. And you are kicking the ball anywhere from forty or fifty yards past the line of scrimmage, or it could be a shanked punt, it could be a pooch punt. Maybe only kick it ten or fifteen yards, and that is where the punter can have a dramatic impact on the game. They might only come out for two plays a game on the average it might be six, eight, ten plays a game. They are having a dramatic impact on what happens in that game."