Today and Wednesday Cole Wilson who was the kicker at Louisiana-Monroe was in Scottsdale for One on One Kicking Lessons. Cole was the senior kicker this year for the Warhawks. His home town is Clear Lake, Texas. He has just finished his degree and would like to pursue a career in the NFL. He is here to try to get better.
Wednesday was Cole's first One on One Lesson. Like usual he kicked and I observed. Cole has been to other instructor's for private lessons so I always like to learn what he knows. In short it's my Who, What and Why survey.
Cole was very impressive explaining his arsenal of warm up and technique kicking drills. He had a drill for everything. He explained each drill in great detail. It was like I was getting a kicking clinic. He was very impressive.
Cole's warm up and impressive kicking demonstration lasted about 45 minutes.
I had watched, observed, analyzed Cole's kicking technique enough and I was now ready to make some comments. In addition to Cole being an excellent kicker he is also an excellent athlete. In my opinion Cole had way too many drills that I felt gave him bad muscle memory. The drills he explained and demonstrated had no carry over value to his field goal kicking technique.
My evaluation was pretty simple. Don't be so analytical in your kicking. Paralysis by analysis!
Cole was very precise on steps back, over and his approach. The only thing I could see was he kicked with two or three different kicking strokes.
I want kickers to be fundamentally sound, but kick with one motion or stroke. Same kicking stroke on every kick. It's no different than a golf swing.
I first recommended to Cole that he get ride of any drills that give him bad muscle memory or have no carry over effect to his field goal kicking technique. Secondly, I recommended he do more of the One Step Drill to emphasize finishing his kick the same way on every kick.
On Thursday we had our second One on One Kicking Lesson but it was cut short when Cole started having a problem with his quad and groin. Cole has spent a lot of time finishing his degree in the last couple of months and his legs where not in the best kicking condition.
Cole has a smooth kicking motion and excellent technique but must get himself back into shape so he can take his kicking game to the next level. Now, that he is through with classes and has graduated he has nothing but time to get back into kicking shape. That's his goal and he is driven to do it.
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