How to Place the Football on the Kicking Tee

Series Summary

Modern American football began in 1874 and has since been a popular sport for competitive teams of all ages. The excitement of a Monday night gridiron game works down from the bright lights, over a roaring crowd, and through the voices of top sports announcers like the late Howard Cosell or John Madden. In fact, football is now the most-watched sport in America, easily beating out America’s national pastime, baseball.

The object of the game of football is to advance down the field into the opposing team’s end zone. This is called a touchdown and is worth six points. There are other ways score in football, including two-point conversions and field goals. The team with the most points when time runs out wins.

In this free instructional video series, learn how to kick a field goal. Understand how the game works, with an introduction to the basic rules and objectives, as well as a rundown of the offensive and defensive positions on the field. Lessons also include skills and techniques for beginner offensive and defensive players: how to carry the ball, throw a pass, block effectively, punt, and make a solid hand off.

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Sean Hobson for Expert Village. What we want to talk about now is the importance of placing on the kicking tee when you're going to kick off before a game. Beginners think you simply place the ball on the tee and kick it any way you want to kick it. But, if you're going to be good and you're going to become a kicker full time, there are some important tips to placing the ball on the tee. The first one we want to talk about is placing the ball on the tee straight up and down. The reason we place the tee straight is if you're going to be a straight on kicker. If you're going to be someone who approaches the ball from a straight on direction and just kicks it to drive it down the field then you'll want to have the ball placed on the tee a little straighter. If you're going to be a soccer style kicker and you're going to kick it from the left or from the right you're going to approach it a little different. In order to get the most of the ball and get it kicked down the field properly, if you're a right footed kicker you want to place the tee tilted a little more to the right. That way you can kick more of the ball. If you're going to be left footed kicker you want to tilt the ball a little more to the left. This way you can get the full amount of the foot into the ball and drive it down the field. That's why it's important to place the ball on the tee the proper way."