The River Falls Kicking Camp is an excellent camp if you want to improve your individual technique and take your kicking game to the next level.
Also, college and free agent specialists check out my PRO Development Kicking Camp July 24-26 at Macalester College in St. Paul Minnesota.
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On Saturday, Sunday and Monday I worked the River Falls Kicking Camp, in River Falls Wisconsin for my 35th year...how time flies. This year we had 41 kicking specialists attending the camp from the Wisconsin, Minnesota and surrounding areas. Mike Morris who was the long snapper when I was the special teams coach with the Minnesota Vikings was our PRO headliner working with the snappers. Jon Ryan former Green Bay Packers and current Seattle Seahawks punter was our PRO headliner working with the punters. Also in the Camp as college counselors was Brad Nortman, University of Wisconsin sophomore punter, Rob Maver one of the top Canadian college combination punter / kickers and St. John's Minnesota senior kicker, Russell Gliadon.
Rob Maver (left) Brad Nortman (right)
All the PRO's and College Counselors did an outstanding job working with the high school specialists.
I must say once again there was a lot of excellent teaching, video taping and video review for all the participants attending the camp. Every camper left camp with a before and after video series of his performance with an analysis by a PRO headliner.
Demonstrating kicking technique and form to the campers while Jon Ryan Seattle Seahawks punter holds.
Between sessions I spent time watching and working with all the headliners and college counselors. In the above photo I am working with my two Canadian friends Jon Ryan and Rob Maver. Both have 'big' punting legs!
In the above photo (left to right) Brad Nortman (University of Wisconsin), Coach Zauner, Jon Ryan (Seattle Seahawks) and Russell Gliadon (St. John's University) kneeling.
Click below to hear Coach Pearce's testimonial about his evaluation of the River Falls Kicking Camp. Coach Pearce is a High School Coach at Hutchinson High School in Minnesota.
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On Wednesday I began my first Coach Zauner PRO Development Kicking Camp (June 24-26th) at Macalester College, located in St. Paul Minnesota. You can go to www.coachzauner.com for camp details. Again on July 24-26th I will be hosting my second PRO Development Kicking Camp. This camp will be a Fri., Sat., & Sunday event. I had 14 college and free agent specialists (kickers, punters and snappers) at my first camp. By design I want these camps to be fairly moderate in attendance. Ideally 15 to 25 specialists.Also, proportionately an equal numbers of kickers, punters and snappers for group work. 
Thursday night the kicking specialists received an excellent presentation on 'The Mental Side of the Kicking Game'. 
In the above photo you see my first group attending my PRO Development Kicking Camp. I was fortunate to have the assistanceMarshall Mullenbach special teams coach and defensive assistant on the far left. Click below to here Testimonials about Coach Zauner's PRO Development Camp by A.J. Schable University of South Dakota (NFL) Utility Player and Snapper, Ryan Dougherty (Punter) East Carolina and Free Agent with Green Bay Packers, Niko Rechul (Kicker) Syracuse University and Free Agent. Stay Tuned for More of Coach Zauner's Blog Visit: www.coachzauner.com Follow Coach Zauner on www.twitter.com
On Thursday and Friday University of Michigan snapper Sean Griffin came to Scottsdale, Arizona for some One on One Snapping Lessons.
During the two days of snapping lessons I worked my 'Elbow Thrust and Slide' and my snapping progression drills. Sean was a quick study and made some excellent progress.
The second day Sean was also very proficient during my 'Balls & Strikes' drill. He was striking out guys left and right. No bases on balls.
In the photo above Sean is trying to hit my hip at 10 yards with his warm up snaps. We progressed from 10, 12 and 15 yards. By the end of the second day Sean was a machine.
We continued working on snapping and vertical setting or kick stepping back off the ball. Sean like many college snappers was in a system where he snapped and took off in coverage. This is what separates most snappers from either making it or not making it. How consistent they snap when trying to block on rusher in their gap.
We finished each day working on field goal snapping. In the photo above I am explaining to Sean how to snap 'Perfect Laces'. By the end of the second day Sean hit 20 in a row. He was snapping with better tempo and rhythm.
Click below to listen to University of Michigan senior long snapper Sean Griffin's testimonial after working his One on One Snapping Lessons with Coach Zauner:
Brock Jolly who will be a sophomore punter at Missouri Baptist College next season lives here in Phoenix, Arizona and came over to Fountain Hills, Arizona for some One on One Punting Lessons.
During the lessons Brock hit a lot of SNO (spiral nose over) punts. However at times his drop moved on him and went nose up. When Brock had a good drop he hit some good hang time punts.
When I asked Brock what is a good hang time for him he said about 4.2 to 4.4 seconds. I said what if we can get you to hit some 4.5 to 4.8 hang times. He was all for it!
We worked my drop progression and one step drills and Brock was a quick study. He learned fast and improved quickly. As his footwork and drop improved his hang times went up.
At the end of the second day he hit two 4.7 second plus hang times back to back and said he had never done that before. His best was a 4.92. Brock was now punting more consistently. He was punting up and through the ball rather than punting and falling back.
I believe Brock was happy with his improvement and would like to come back later in the summer and work on his field goal kicking technique.
It was a pleasure meeting and working with Brock and I wish him the best of luck next year as the punter and kicker at Missouri Baptist College.
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On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Sutton Coleman a kicker and track man from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana was in Scottsdale, Arizona for some One on One Kicking Lessons..JPG)
Sutton and his parents, Tim and Susan came to Arizona for a weeks vacation. They had never been to Arizona and wanted to take advantage of our beautiful weather and sites. The weather has been awesome with temperature only in the low 90's and dry heat.
After reviewing his video I introduced Sutton to some basic fundamentals and drills that I thought would help him refine his technique. He now has his 'Perfect Triangle', 'Target Line' and a consistent approach to the ball.
In the photo below you can see Sutton now kicking up and through the ball and skipping down field. The third and last day Sutton was finally achieving better foot to ball contact and he was kicking much better. He and his father Tim were both happy.
We finished the third lesson with kickoffs. Sutton has been the kickoff man but also wants the placekicking job. After three days of kicking I could see Sutton's leg was getting tired.
Sutton feels his trip to Arizona was a success. The work on basic fundamentals and drill work has and will pay dividends. Sutton must go back home and keep practicing so he gets the correct muscle memory to continually refine his kicking technique.
On Saturday June 20th my wife (Michelle) and I will be getting on Northwest Airlines and heading back home to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Land of the Packers (minus Brett Favre) and their loyal fans.
Macalester Game Field
Immediately after my Macalester Pro Development Kicking Camp I will travel to River Falls, Wisconsin for the River Falls Kicking Camp (kickers, punters and snappers).
I have worked this kicking camp for 30 plus years, conceived by Mike Farley in the mid-1970, River Falls Kicking Camp was the original kicking camp in the nation and was considered to be the best.
This is were I grew up and got my start as a kicking coach. I went to the University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse. I taught high school physical education and coached in the Milwaukee area for eight years; Cudahy, Wauwatosa West and Sussex's Hamilton.
At the River Falls Kicking Camp Jon Ryan former Green Bay Packers and current Seattle Seahawks punter will be one of the Pro Headliners.
When I finish the River Falls Kicking Camp I will travel back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and give One on One Lessons at Wisconsin Lutheran College. Below is a photo of the game field on which I will give lessons.
On Monday and Tuesday Kyle Witman from Slippery Rock College and his father Dennis were in Scottsdale, Arizona for some One on One Punting Lessons.
Kyle is a 6' 215 pound punter with a pretty big leg. Kyle averaged about 42 yards last season and ended up 6th in the nation but is looking to refine his punting technique. Kyle admits he is a self taught punter who has done pretty well on his own but knows he needs to get better to take his game to the next level.
Kyle asked me what I taught about his punting technique. My answer was "I really never like to ever change any punters drop unless it is absolutely necessary. Kyle has succeeded to date but if he wants to take his game to the next level I suggested he at least try a one handed drop like most college and NFL punters.
This was one of my more difficult lessons. Only because I was trying to make a decision for a young man that wants to be an NFL punter but has a rather unique but fairly successful punting style.
As a consultant I gave Kyle and his father two options. It will be up to them to decide which way they decide to proceed.
It was a real pleasure meeting and working with Kyle and I wish him the best of luck this upcoming season at the 'Rock', Slippery Rock College.
On Monday Joshua Jones from South Dakota School of Mines drove to Scottsdale, Arizona for a One on One Snapping Evaluation.
Joshua is a 6' and 240 pounds left handed snapper with excellent form and technique. He warmed up and started to snap from about 10 yards working on technique. He quickly went to 12 and 15 yards.
I could tell immediately that this young man had the velocity or snapping speed needed however the only thing was a question of accuracy and consistency. Joshua continued to snap and now started snapping and working off the ball.
I put him through my balls and strikes drill at 12 and 15 yards and he continued to fire strikes. He had one poor snap when his hand slipped on the ball but for the most part he was right on the money.
We finished the evaluation with my perfect laces drill. Kyle Witman a punter from Slippery Rock was catching snaps. Joshua's laces started a little off.
However, once I got Kyle catching the snaps at the correct distance Joshua was again right on the money. He was a machine.
Joshua has all the tools needed to be an NFL snapper. Form, technique, speed, accuracy and consistency. He might be a little undersized by some NFL teams standards. The next question is his ability to block and cover.
On Thursday and Friday Cody Harter a red-shirt freshman punter at Colorado State University was in Scottsdale, Arizona for One on One Punting Lessons.
During the first lesson I watched and observed Cody's technique and asked a lot of questions. Cody informed me that he was taught to drop the ball outside of his hip as you see in the photo below. This can be a major factor effecting consistency.
The second thing that I noticed with Cody was "Crunching" technique. "Crunching" can cause any punter not to punt up and through the ball and basically lose power. (See photo below)
After Cody's first lesson we had a long video session to analyze his technique and came up with a teaching progression to help him become a more consistent punter.
I introduced Cody to my 'Drop Progression Drill'. He worked on drops, walk and drops, leg up and through, skip and transfer technique. Basically good sound fundamentals that I think will help him be more consistent with his footwork, drop and foot to ball contact.
The second day I introduced drills that emphasized basic fundamentals. I also introduced my One Step Drill which Cody had immediate positive results. When he lined up the ball directly in front of his punting leg and punted up and through he his some SNO (spiral nose over) punts to the power zone.
On Thursday and Friday senior long snapper Clinton Mower, University of Utah, was in Scottsdale, Arizona for some One on One Snapping Lessons.
Clinton immediately showed me he has NFL potential. He has excellent velocity on his snaps and was very accurate while warming up and during the first part of the lesson. However, I noticed he had two styles of snapping.
When he started snapping at 15 yards he was still snapping fast however, he occasionally fired a couple of stray bullets.
When asked why he snapped two different ways he told me a story that an NFL scout had suggested he try to snap and not look. I suggested he needed to snap one way, deciding which way was going to be the most consistent for him.
Clinton like most college long snappers came from a system where all he had to do is snap and cover down field. He had no blocking assignments or duties.
I believe, this is where NFL scouts have trouble evaluating talent. If they never get a chance to see a college snapper in a protection scheme where he snaps, vertical sets, blocks and covers subsequently, the NFL scout gives a player a lower grade. This year there were very few college snappers drafted or signed to free agent contracts.
After the first lesson we analyzed the video and talked about what Clinton needs to improve on to reach the next level.
I told Clinton that I thought he needs to refine his technique and improve on his accuracy and consistency when snapping and blocking.
Many snappers think they are pretty good, however there are only 32 snapping jobs in the NFL and most are taken year after year by the same person. So, I tell all snappers you have to be more than pretty good.
The second day, I put Clinton through my snap progression drills and he caught on quickly. In the photo below he is working on my 'Elbow Thrust and Slide' drill. We worked on a snapping progression that I think will give Clinton the correct muscle memory that he needs to make him more consistent. More consistent when he is snapping, vertical setting and blocking.
By the end of the second lesson Clinton was not thinking as much and was firing snap after snap on the punters hip and ending up off the ball in the proper position to block a rusher.
We ended the second day lesson with field goal snaps. Clinton again quickly improved his technique and found the rhythm and tempo he needs to hit 'Perfect Laces'. At the end of the two sessions I believe Clinton knows what he needs to work on to get better.
Lee Johnson who I coached at BYU for two years and is a former 18 year NFL punter called me about Clinton. He asked me to help this young man out!
