On Sunday and Monday Patrick McLaughlin from Herndon High School in Virginia was in Phoenix, Arizona for two individual kicking lessons. Kathleen and Rody McLaughlin accompanied their son on the trip and also made it a family vacation. After the One on One Lessons they headed to beautiful Sedona, Arizona and then to the Grand Canyon.
When Patrick started the kicking lesson he just tried to kick the ball as hard as he could. He used a long approach and just kick and fell off to the side. His plant foot stayed in cement. Patrick was just kicking at the ball rather than up and through it. (See Above Photo)
When I tried to get him to kick up and through the ball he started to crunch. (See Below Photo)
He actually kicked and not skipped but jumped through the ball. (See Below Photo) My job was to go back to the basic principal of kick and skip. Patrick's mother is a teacher and she knew exactly what I needed to do. I used a very basic teaching progression to get Patrick to do what I wanted him to do. Whole Part/Part Whole Method of Teaching.
Patrick start to kick and skip through the ball but was kicking a little out of control.
Once I got him to kick and skip through the ball the next part was foot to ball contact. In soccer Patrick was use to passing the ball with a loose ankle and kicking the soccer ball with a draw.
I had to get Patrick to open his foot up and lay his foot open to the sweet spot of the ball to the sweet spot of his foot.
Patrick was a quick study. We got the kick and skip and the foot position. Next was body and arm position.
Kathleen and Rody decided to take some extra coaching time because they saw how much their son had progressed in the first two kicking lessons.
In the extra teaching time we tried to refine Patrick's field goal technique and also work on some punting skills.
At the conclusion of the kicking lessons Patrick hit several 50 to 55 yard field goals straight and true with good field goal kicking form. He also hit a couple of SNO Spiral Nose Over Punts to the Power Zone.
Patrick and his parent were very pleased with the results of the five and a half hours of instruction. They saw a remarkable amount of improvement in their sons field goal kicking technique.
They mentioned they will be back again in the spring. Patrick is going into his junior year. He is a big kid with some excellent kicking skills. Now that he has some technique his potential might be unlimited.
It was a real pleasure meeting and working with Patrick. I wish him the best of luck this season making the transition from a soccer player to a field goal kicker.
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