Derek Doerfler One on One Lessons

Wednesday, I had my first One on One Lesson with Derek Doerfler. I didn't write a blog after the first lesson because I wanted my observation to be positive about this junior kicker, out of Baker University who is 6' 225lbs. and has a big leg. He will be a senior this up coming season.

Doug Doerfler, Derek's father heard about me through the agent for Derrick Frost who is the punter for the Washington Redskins. Doug brought Derek to Scottsdale for one reason, he believes his son has the potential to be an NFL kicker.

Derek started kicking and from the very first kick I said to myself, "Boy, this kid has a leg." The next questions I needed answered was technique, consistency and the ability to kick under pressure.

Derek through the first two days executed the one step drill and kicked his field goals with good field goal technique. I really liked the way he kicked up and through the ball, skipped down field and ended up on balance. (Above photo)

In the first lesson we put Derek through a diversified kicking workout. He did the one step drill, kicked field goals from both hashes, various distances and finished with kickoffs. We video taped everything so I could critique his technique later.

During the kicking session and it was confirmed in the video review, when Derek missed a kick, it was usually to the right. I pointed out two things that were obvious to me that could be causing this tendency.

This information is not free. To find out the answers, you need to take One on One Lessons from Coach Zauner.

Thursday, the second lesson, we started with some drills to correct what we saw on video the night before. Derek is a very good listener and executed the drill extremely well. As soon as he kicked a couple of balls with perfect technique he could tell the difference and really liked the adjustments we had made.

It was pretty easy for Derek to make these adjustment because he has not had as much bad muscle memory as most kickers because he has only been kicking footballs for 3 years.

Derek was a Missouri High School All-State soccer player in 2004 and went to Baker on a soccer scholarship. He did not play any football in high school. After a career ending soccer injury he decided to try out for the football team. The coaches liked Derek and gave him a scholarship to be their field goal kicker. That was a smart move by the coaching staff.

The second day we charted all of Derek's field goals. We did two sets of field goals from short and intermediate ranges. Once again I was checking for tendencies. Derek still had a tendency to miss to the right when and if he would miss.

However, he did not miss much. When Derek hit the ball correctly, the kick was high, long and straight.

I was thinking to myself, if I could coach or train this kid for a year he would be an NFL draft pick.

At the end of the second session I made one more minor adjustment and Derek nailed the last three or four kicks right down the middle.

Derek and his father Doug seemed very happy with the results of the first two lessons. Friday we will chart again and spend more time on kickoffs.

This is not a NCAA or NAIA rules infraction for a player to pay an Ex Coach a Golf Bet.

Today's One on One golf skins game almost cost me, my perfect record. So far to date, none of the kicking specialists have taken any money from me during our skins game matches. However, this match with Derek went right down to the 18th hole. I had to give Derek 3 shots during the skins game Match. Derek, used a 4 iron all day long to drive off the tee box, and he hit drives of 230 to 240 yards. He hit his 8 iron 180 yards.

Needless to say, Derek hits the ball a ton. However, as the old saying goes, drive for show and putt for doe. In the above photo you see me receiving the $1.00 skins bet from Derek.

Derek was tough and made some big putts, however, my winning streak is still in tack.

Stay tuned for Coach Zauner's Blog!