On Sunday, I worked with Shane Phillips for the fourth time. Shane is originally from Australia.
Shane played baseball and football at Alcorn State and graduated in 2006. He played catcher on the baseball team and was the punter on the football team.
In the previous One on One Punting Lessons Shane who is 6'2 215 pounds showed a big leg, but was inconsistent.
Shane punted at Alcorn State, and had decent numbers, but mentioned he had never received a lick of coaching. He received my name from an agent and made contact with me.
In the first three lessons we worked simply on fundamentals. Catching snaps, molding the ball, getting the ball on the table, a consistent drop and my power zone punting technique. Shane worked hard to his own credit, he got better and became more consistent each time a saw him.
In March, he traveled to Dallas to compete in Louie Aguiars Punting Combine and after three days was ranked as the number one punter.
He called me and was all excited. He told me all the things we had worked on, were clicking and he thanked me for all my coaching assistance.
The next day during competition, there was a major thunderstorm. Shane was punting during the middle of the storm, slipped, fell and pulled his hamstring. Down he went and many of his dreams to become an NFL punter.
In attendance at the workout were 25 NFL special teams coaches and they were there to evaluate the talent. They notice his talent but his injury was going to take him out of action for about 4 to 6 weeks. This was a major set back.
However, Shane has not given up. He's back in Phoenix and working One on One Lessons again. He still wants to get better and knows working with me will help him to refine his technique and boost his confidence.
I don't put just any kicker or punter on my website, www.coachzauner.com. I must feel they are training camp worthy. After today's workout, Shane is now going up on the website. He has improved to the point where he is more consistent and hitting some excellent hang time punts. He's excellent at directional punting and has the aussie pooch punt down to a science. He deserves a shot in the NFL. I will do my best to help him with the contacts I have.
Shane, an Aussie Rules Rugby Player in the Arizona Desert. Go Figure!
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