Posture - Maintaining Spine Angle and Neutral Hips

      After working with many of my D1 and NFL punters, I've found that maintaining proper posture upper/lower spine angle while  keeping our hips in a neutral position (no slide)  throughout the kicking motion is imperative if we want to consistently strike the football. A rock solid plant leg is just as important.

     One way of practicing posture and neutral hips is to punt/kick a soccer ball while maintaining our posture(shoulders,lower back, hips). By using a soccer ball, we're not worried about 'outcome' and can then let our leg snap fluently through the impact zone.

     I've included a couple clips of Cincinnati Bengals P Kevin Huber working this drill. We want to make sure our shoulders square and hips are in the neutral position during this drill. You'll notice how Kevin sets his leg, pulls his knee, snapping his foot through the hitting zone and then collapses his knee on his kicking leg.....all with great balance. This will help us avoid rolling our hips under and coming out of our posture. The first clip is with a soccer ball, then the next clip is with a football. Notice his posture, nice drop in front of his hip and his leg 'lifting' through the impact zone. His 'Set" knee actually passes the ball as he 'Pulls' his lower leg through the impact zone.

                                                 





Proper Posture - Upper/Lower Spine Angle


  After many sessions with top punters in college and the NFL,  I've concluded  that in order to maximize foot speed, the spine needs to be in a firm, neutral position at impact. By maintaining a solid base (hips, lower back), our leg is then in a position to move freely and snap through the hitting zone. We want to maintain our posture with the feeling of 'standing tall' throughout the process.

Neutral Hips


   One of the most common areas of concern with punters and kickers is the ability to maintain neutral hips throughout the punting/kicking stroke. A solid , well aligned core is 'a must' if you want to consistently punt/kick the football. As in golf, we want to maintain a straight upper and lower spine angle throughout the kicking process. The feeling of 'sitting on a stool' is one way of getting the proper hip position.

    There are way too many athletic adjustments needed when we lose our neutral hip position.It's very easy to slide our hips, which in turn causes us to release our knee early and lengthen our leg. The next adjustment is to lean back in order to make contact.By working on strengthening our core, the hips will remain neutral and will give you a better chance of being a consistent punter/kicker.

Good Punting - UG