On Saturday I had my second One on One Lesson with Cole Atwell, Arizona's Pinnacle High's All-State Kicker.
In Cole's first blog, I mentioned that Cole was having a little problem making the transition from kicking off a one inch tee to the ground. In the second lesson Cole made improvement.
We started the lesson with the one step drill, which is my favorite drill. I have to get Cole kicking up and through the ball rather than scooping the ball like he was kicking in the first lesson.
After several kicks Cole was hitting the ball much better. He hit several kicks with excellent trajectory and straight down the middle.
Cole has never had any type of kicking instruction and pretty much was kicking on raw talent. However, when you have to kick field goals off the ground in college you must be fundamentally sound.
At the present time, I'm just trying to stress three or four basic fundamentals: a consistent approach, perfect plant, the ankle and knee locking and lifting and using the hip muscles more.
Cole made excellent strides during the lesson and he was very happy with the results. We ended the session with Cole taking some kickoffs. Cole has not been kicking a lot and was a little inconsistent even on his kickoffs.
My advice to Cole was to go home and practice what he has learned for two to three weeks and see how much progress he can make. Right now he needs to practice, practice, practice and get the correct muscle memory for kicking off the ground.
Stay tuned for more of Coach Zauner's Blog!
