Kicking System Blog

TKS is pleased to announce that it will direct the San Diego State University Kicking Camp on June 18th, 2008.
  

This will be the second year in a row that TKS will have this opportunity.

“We are thankful to be able to part of the SDSU Coaching Staff for a day and help instruct and evaluate players for the 2009 season.  We had a great time last year and looking for a bigger and better camp this year.  We had a great turnout and are expecting over 50 kids. We look forward to continuing our relationship with SDSU and build a strong kicking contingent at the MESA.”  –John Matich, Owner, The Kicking System

This years camp includes the following:

* Kicking Technique
* Cutting Edge Stretching and Conditioning for kickers
* Competitions and Awards!
* Exposure to SDSU coaches
* Instruction from current and and former college kickers
* Learn the TKS System of kicking!
* Special Guest Speech during Lunch 

Click here for registration:

http://www.kickingsystem.com/camps.html 

Here is a look inside at TKS from this past weekend April 26^th-27^th, 2008

On Saturday morning in Del Mar, CA — at 9am is was close to 90 degrees, TKS had a private kicking lesson with Blake Busse from San Diego, CA.  

We started wit punting I am pleased to see how Blake has really developed his punting skill and has started to him more balls with a spiral nose over.  If Blake can get these fundamentals down he will be a great combo threat. We ended the session kicking off the ground, although Blake is a sophomore I wanted him to get started early!  He was kicking 40-45 yard kicks relatively easily. Blake is one to watch over the next year.

At 10am Nicolas Stantisas from San Diego, CA had a private kicking lesson. Nick a lefty had a great session. He finally bought a shoe that fit his foot and ended up kicking a 45-yard field goal. And he is only in 8^th grade!!  I am proud of Nick. We spent most the session working on his timing with his hips and legs and finishing on balance.

At 11am TKS had another private lesson with Dominic Valentine a freshman from Riverside.  This was the first time I had worked with him. He has a strong leg. We worked primarily on getting the basics down as he had never been coached before.  

At 12:30 for the final lesson of the day TKS worked with Lee Abelkop, from San Diego, CA.   Lee started with kickoffs and hit a 4.0 inside the 5-yard line.  Lee is ready to take his game to the next level.  Lee also looked string on FG’s, we continued to work on the details. Fine-tuning his skipping motion and keeping his head down longer.

What a day.  Back to back sessions and the weather was hot. I thought it was a great day of kicking and looking forward to seeing these kids develop.

Sunday

It started with a phone call from the River City Rage of the UIFL. They want me (John Matich) to kick for them this year.  This is the third phone call from them this year. We’ll see what happens, if the price is right it could happen.

The first private lesson at 10am was with Josh Boyd from San Diego, CA.  Josh is heading to Oregon next fall as a walk-on punter. Josh hit a 55-yard field goal in the session and had some good hang time punts.  We worked on his cross over step. And his drop that gets placed just outside  his hip. It was a good day for young Josh as he punted well and even kicked some long field goals.

At 11am with the temperatures now close to 100 degrees. I got a chance to work with Andrew Sayer from San Diego, CA.  Andrew a freshman punter started with a few field goals and then we worked out way into punting.  Andrew is having trouble because he keeps pointing the nose of the ball down on his drop table.  All in all not a bad day as he got a few punts to turn over.

Next at 12pm we had Jeff Lipton, a junior from San Diego, CA.  Jeff mostly worked on field goals.  We hit a few field goals.  Jeff is starting to hit field goals off the ground and is doing a great job.

The next session at 2pm TKS worked with Brian Huynh, from San Diego, CA.  Brian had a great day kicking the football as we worked mostly with field goals and kickoffs.

The last session of the day was the TKS Kicking Academy at 3pm.  We had a big turnout as 11 students showed up.  We started with a dynamic warm-up for about 10-15 minutes with some balance and flexibility work.  We then did some static stretching and started to kick.  First we hit some field goals, then kickoffs, and then punts.  In the end Lee Abelkop who I saw the day before won the field goal competition in the end with a 53-yard kick over Rich Rodriguez. It was his third week in the run to win. 

After 5 hours on the field today and 5 hours on Saturday, I was exhausted.  The 100 degree temperatures were finally getting to me. Gotta love kicking!

TKS Summer Kicking Camp is set for July 13th, 2008 at Mira Mesa High School, San Diego, CA

* Cutting Edge Drills for FG, KO’s and Punts

* Add distance and hang time to your kickoffs

* Cutting Edge Strength information from Fitness Quest 10, trainer to NFL stars such as LT from the San Diego Chargers. (www.fitnessquest10.com)

* How to increase your flexibility, improve your mental game

* Train with the best kickers in SoCAL  

* The best kicking camp you will ever attend

* Also find out how to get a DI scholarship.  Presentation given by John Matich, TKS owner, will lecture on what you need to do to get a look!  John Matich, sent three kickers this past season to PAC-10 schools from San Diego County alone. He has a proven method to guarantee you looks to colleges!!! 

Registration coming soon!

www.kickingsystem.com 

Specialists often have the hardest times getting noticed by college recruiters and coaches.You often hear about kickers from a small school in Nebraska or Idaho that hit a 65-yard field goal and are listed as the number one kicker in their class on Rivals.com because of that kick. Kickers are also often the last position to get recruited and there are thousands of good kickers across the country. So,what can set you apart?

Here are three easy and simple things you can do to separate yourself from the rest:

Build it and they will call. If you can build a high-end highlight film or DVD, coaches will notice. All you need is a 3-5 minute DVD of your best kicks in games andpractice that is easy to see and professionally done. Visit as an example:http://kickingsystem.com/ethan-swerdlow.html.

Make sure your game film looks professional and that is not low-end film. Add your personal information such as SAT score, grades, phone number and school information at the beginning or on the DVD itself. Highlight your strengths, such as hang time on kickoffs or long field goals. Put your best stuff in the beginning.

Once you have your DVD, send it to at least 20 schools that interest you. Find out the name of the special teams coach or recruiting coordinator and include the DVD with your football resume. You have only one chance to make your first impression!

If you’re a rising senior or JUCO player, I recommend attending the college camps. Each Top 25 college football program will either have a  “football camp” or a kicking camp in June or July. Sometimes you’ll be invited to attend by the coaches on staff; as an alternative, you can sign up online, as most schools list their camps on their athletic websites. There are numerous kicking events and combines out there, but the new rule that college coaches cannot attend them places even more emphasis on the summer camps.

I can tell you from experience, by running the San Diego State University Football Kicking Camp last summer, the entire staff was in attendance, with the head coach holding for placements. You’re guaranteed exposure at these camps. Sometimes colleges will just have you come in for a day and kick for a coupleof hours. Others, like Cal, have full-fledged kicking camp; it has a three-day kicking camp that includes instruction and lectures.

Study! I can’t tell you how many more doors you can open for yourself if you can raiseyour GPA or SAT scores. Making sure you are on pace for the NCAA clearinghouseand have all the requirements to graduate are easy steps to solidify your eligibility, but I cannot overemphasize the important role grades play in your acceptance to certain universities. Sometimes kickers and punters have to “walk-on” their first year and earn a scholarship. Getting into the school academically is a great way to help you get on the football team.

Lastly,if you’re an upcoming junior, senior or JUCO player, let your performance speak for itself. Acquiring great stats, kicking long field goals and setting records will only help you get noticed. Your high school coach will believe that you’recollege material and recommend you more to college coaches when they visit your school.