Proper Footwork for Punting a Football

Video Transcript

"My name is John Miller with Expert Village and I am here to teach you how to punt a football. To do the foot work on your punt, the main goal for your punt is try and kick a ball down field, get it off and get some field position for your team and avoid getting it blocked. Do not over stride when you are stepping. It is important to make short and quick steps which means that you will get the ball out faster. Your total operation time is approximately 2.1 seconds from the time the long snapper snaps you the ball to the time when you kick the ball. Your hoping that he snaps it within eight tenths of a second leaving you 1.3 seconds from when you catch the ball and kick it which is not much time. To shorten that time, you begin the motions before the ball arrives to you. This is called a shuffle receive. This is done by lifting the right foot while the ball is still in the air and put it down in the about the same place where you started. You immediately lift up your left foot and catch the ball while your left foot is still in the air then put it down in the same place. This means you are not getting any ground and you are not getting yourself closer to the rush and closer to the hands that are trying to block the ball. It also gives you some rhythm since you are already moving. So when you catch that ball you only have two steps to take in order to get the punt off. In order to take these steps, step with your right foot remembering to keep your steps short and concise and then step with your left foot. With your left foot planted, follow through and kick with your right foot. It is two and a half steps. Step, step kick. You want to make sure you make these steps in the shortest steps possible and as fast as possible. Another important thing to note is that these steps are directly in front of you. If you veer off to your left or right, you are not kicking behind your block point, your blockers are blocking directly behind the center. If you veer left the defender on the end could probably get a hand on the ball. You want to kick the ball straight up the field. It is also an advantage because you want everything in a line. You want your leg swing to be in a line so it is important to step evenly. A common problem most punters have is with the left planted foot they are over striding it and that means for balance they are bringing it in side and across their body. Therefore as he is about to kick the ball, and as he swings his leg, he over compensates and swings across his body. He can't help it because he has already stepped across his center line. It is really important to take short concise steps and do it directly in a straight line."