On Thurs, Friday and Saturday Baker University Kicker, Derek Doerfler was back in Scottsdale, Arizona for a tune up One on One Kicking Lesson and some additional One on One Punting Lessons. Because, Derek is an athlete and has kicking skills and a big leg, his coach might a need to use Derek in a dual role this season. Derek, who has never punted wants to spend time learning how to punt.
Derek who will be senior at Baker University and was the Conference Player of the Year as a kicker will be one of the top kickers coming out in the 2009 NFL draft.
Baker University is a NAIA College, so Derek was getting a final tune up in before his season starts next week.
In the first One on One Kicking Lesson I noticed that Derek had changed a couple things from our first meeting. He informed me that he had sustained an injury several weeks ago and had not kicked for a couple of weeks and was also trying to slow down his approach.
The key to making changes or refining your technique is not so much which changes are made but how you make them.
In the video review my observations were confirmed by the eye in the sky. The camera never misses a thing when you have super slow motion at your disposal.
In the second One on One Kicking Lesson Derek was back on track kicking everything right down the middle from any spot on the field.
In the third One on One Lesson with Derek, we spent almost the entire time working on punting fundamentals.
Derek like most kickers has played around a little with punting but has never taken it seriously.
However, in just a few minutes I could tell if Derek spent more time on his punting skills he would be a heck of a combination kicker/kickoff man and punter.
The key for most punters is the Drop! Most of the drills I worked with Derek emphasised the placement of the ball directly in front of his punting leg and getting a consistent drop.
Derek, hit a couple of big (SNO) spiral nose over punts, but also hit some stray bullets or 'shanks'. During the lesson he got a little frustrated with his punting. I told him it's not as easy to learn how to punt because of all the various fundamentals and parts that make up the skill of punting.
During Derek's punting lesson he hit a couple of 45 to 50 yard punts with 4.7 to 5.0 second hang times. He has the leg but its now a matter of consistency. I wish we had a couple of more days to work on his punting but its time to start the football season.
Just a quick update on golf. The last time Derek was in town he lost $1.00 in our skins game. This visit Derek lost his match and had to pay $6.00. Coach Zauner is still perfect for the season. There is no extra charge for the golf lessons.
