Ben Woods One on One Lesson

Today and yesterday Ben Woods was in Scottsdale, Arizona for One on One Punting Lessons. Ben is a 6' 2" 201 pound good looking punter who just graduated from the University at Buffalo.

He was signed in the spring by the Cleveland Browns but recently released due to the 80 man roster limitations instituted by the NFL this Year. This new rule has not only hurt Ben but a lot of good kickers and punters around the country.

In the first lesson Ben went through his warm up, drills and punting routine. I observed his technique and asked a lot of questions. I noted a couple of minor flaws in his technique.

Like many punters, Ben places the ball on the table with the nose slightly up and pushes the ball down to his foot. Also, after he punted the ball he fell back and off the ball pretty violently. When I asked him if he always does that when he punts, he replied, not like the way I'm doing today.

We ended the first session with a lot of good video to review. In the afternoon video session the couple flaws I noticed and pointed out to Ben became crystal clear. They were: nose up drop, pushing the ball down, falling back off punts and slow get offs.

We ended the day and Ben knew exactly what he needed to improve on to get better.

Today, we hit the field bright and early and Ben started with the drop progression drill. Ben repeated the drill until he did it to perfection. We progressed to the One Step Drill and tried to get Ben not to fall back after he punted.

Ben did the One Step Drill much better in the second session. He eliminated some unnecessary movements in his drop and hit a lot more punts that (SNO) spiral nose over punts to his power zone. Ben had now corrected his second flaw.

We did drills which I felt would help Ben become more consistent and fundamentally sound. The drills also helped him eliminate unnecessary movements and produce better handling or get off times.

We had now addressed the four minor flaws in his punting technique and he was punting every ball to his power zone and turning the nose over.

At the end of our second One on One Punting Lesson we worked on Directional Punting Technique. Ben took what he learned from the Power Zone Punting Technique and parlayed it into an excellent day of directional punting. He punted almost every ball (SNO) spiral nose over directly to or outside the numbers. It was pretty impressive!

In the two sessions Ben made himself a better and more fundamentally sound punter. I believe Ben's investment to come out to Scottsdale will pay dividends in the future for him.

Below, is a short video clip of Ben Woods punting and the improvement he made with his technique from the first day to the second day. The One Step Drill did wonders for Ben and can do the same for any punter.

Stay tuned for more of Coach Zauner's Blog!