In the first lesson Jon went through a very short warm up and started punting. From the very first punt I could tell Jon had a strong leg!
As Jon punted I analyzed his technique and made several mental notes to myself. Jon has not had much punting instruction but has a tremendously strong leg! As he punted I asked a lot of questions and he gave me answers.
We progressed from open field punts to directional and finished with pooch punts. Jon hit a bunch of big hang time punts but also hit a couple of stray bullets. Jon mentioned to me that he felt a little out of rhythm.
We had enough video of Jon's punting technique in various situations and finished up the first lesson. We head back to my office to analyze the video.
Jon did not realize that he dropped the ball with the nose up and he was surprised how low he was dropping the ball.
Friday night we discussed in more detail the first practice and Jon thought it would be a good idea to have specific drills to work fundamentals. I showed him drills that I have done with other punters and he agreed that some of these drills would also be good for him.
In the above photo I am teaching my drop progression drill.
After we worked the drop progression drill, I taught Jon my One Step Punting Drill, which is my favorite drill to teach punters. In the above photo we worked on Jon getting a flat or nose down drop. During the this drill Jon boomed a bunch of (SNO) spiral nose over punts with five second hang times.
In the photo below Jon is working on placing the ball directly out in front of his punting leg with a flat drop.
Jon had a big smile on his face because he was hitting the ball high and far with very little effort. He said I feel like I'm coming straight up and through the ball and it feels great! In the photo below you can see Jon's exploding straight up and through the ball.
In the photo below Jon is working on a higher drop table
In the photo below Jon is working on a flat or nose down drop!
During the course of this lesson we stressed the drop progression and the one step drill. We also worked drills to shorten up Jon's jab step and reduce the amount of ground Jon was chewing up on his approach. We tried to shorten his approach and keep him more compact so he could punt up and through every ball with consistency.
At the end of the lesson Jon was getting tired and a little frustrated. Jon like most punters and kickers want immediate success. However, I tell all the guys that come for One on One lessons, it usually takes two to three weeks to get comfortable with the drills. As all the players do more repetitions of these drills with the correct muscle memory they will start to think less and have more success.
I told Jon to keep working the non-punting drills as much as possible and just don't think too much and when he goes to punt... Just Punt!
Listen to Jon Ryan's testimonial about working with Coach Zauner:
It was a pleasure working with Jon and I wish him the best of luck in the future. I've seen a lot of punters and there are not 32 punters in the league better than Jon Ryan.
Stay tuned for more of Coach Zauner's Blog!
