On Friday, Saturday and Sunday Travis Cochran who is a kicker at USC and his father, came to Scottsdale, Arizona for some One on One Kicking Lessons. Travis is a red shirt freshmen who transferred from the University of San Diego.
During the first lesson I just let Travis go through his warm up routine and kick. I observed and asked a lot of questions. Like many kickers Travis has kicking talent but has a kicking progression and warm up routine that causes him to a lot of bad muscle memory.
Travis started with the No Step Drill and immediately I could see he was a cruncher. I cringe when I see any kicker warm up using the No Step Drill.
When Travis started to kick field goals I noticed a really long approach. I believe it was 143 inches to the ball. It was the longest approach I had measured in years of giving One on One Lessons.
During the three days we worked on drills to 1) eliminate his severe crunching technique, 2) better foot position on the ball 3) his ability to kick up and through the ball and skip down field and 4) improve his consistency and distance on his kickoffs.
Travis has a passion for kicking and worked hard. He worked the mirror drills at the hotel and during his three day stay he improved in all four areas.
Travis also wanted to improve his kickoff consistency and distance. We worked on a slower and more consistent approach, his 'Perfect" plant and better foot position of the ball. I introduced him to a 2, 4, 6 and 8 step approach. We also addressed his severe crunching when he was doing kickoffs.
At the end of our three day kicking session Travis and his father told me that they had both learned a lot about kicking. Travis is eager to go back home and start work on improving his technique. As I told Travis and all kicking specialists, his improvement will happen two or three weeks after he goes home and practices all the drills.
I try to point out flaws and give all specialists drills to improve their technique. As a consultant I make people aware of a problem and recommend or suggest drills to correct a problem.
I believe Travis now knows exactly what to work on. It will be up to him to go back home and work the mirror drills and drills on the field and put in the time. I believe Travis and his father will be happy with the results.
It was a pleasure working and meeting Travis and his father and I wish Travis the best of luck this upcoming season at USC..."Go Trojans!"
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