Ryan Licktenstein University of Syracuse On Friday I received a call from Ryan Lichtenstein's father Sam, that Ryan was having a slight problem with his kicking and on Monday he was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for two days of kicking lessons.
Ryan walked on as a freshmen at the University of Syracuse last year and won the starting job over a couple of scholarship specialists.
I have worked with Ryan for two years and he is a good kicker and will get even better each year with time and experience.
However, Ryan lost a couple of weeks of training and practice this year because of a couple medical issues. And like many kicking specialists can and was experiencing a slight bump in the road with his kicking technique. However, Coach Zauner is always a call or plane ride away.
Ryan was scheduled to report to school and start training camp on the next weekend. Because of the situation Ryan jumped on a plane for a quick emergency visit and tune up.
Also during those two days I was giving punting lessons to Garrett Maloney a freshmen punter this year at University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. Garrett also got a opportunity to work on his holding technique for Ryan during those two days.
Ryan Lichtenstein & Garrett Maloney
During Sam's phone call he mentioned that when Ryan was kicking he was not hitting a pure end over end kick. He was kicking a ball with a slight flutter to it and many times it was going left. This is very unusual for Ryan who normally hits a pure end over end kick.
During Ryan's first kicking lesson I watched, video taped and took sequential photos of Ryan's technique. The sequential photo's revealed that Ryan was wrapping his toe around the ball causing the problem. (See Photos Below)
After visiting the press box and reviewing the photos and video we headed back to the field to work on some foot to ball drills. When you have a problem you need a drill to fix it and get the proper muscle memory back. We finished the day with Ryan making better contact but the problem was not totally gone.
Day two of the kicking lessons we again started with drills and Ryan was making much better foot to ball contact. Ryan was opening up his foot on the ball better and balls were now flying true and straight.
Next we worked on Ryan kicking the same ball with a perfect end over end rotation with a snap and hold. I snapped and Garrett Maloney was the holder. Ryan finished the day drilling a bunch of kicks down the middle.
You always want to feel good about yourself going into training camp and not second guessing yourself. Ryan was smiling and feeling much better about his kicking... he was back!
It was once again a pleasure working with Ryan Lichtenstein and I wish him the best of luck in his sophomore season at the University of Syracuse.
It was once again a pleasure working with Ryan Lichtenstein and I wish him the best of luck in his sophomore season at the University of Syracuse.
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