http:///www.kickingsystem.com — In this interview, Bret Caslavka and John Matich talks about what is Pilates, how it can help your kicking game and much more. This is a must listen for all levels of kickers and punters! A great workout!
You can find Bret at www.pilatesplussandiego.com!
http://www.kickingsystem.com — In this interview New York Jets Kicker, Nick Folk talks about life as a NFL Kicker, what he does in the off-season and of course Rex Ryan and his half time talks!
Want to listen to the full version click here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kickingsystem
A great person retired this last week….. and no I dont mean Oprah I am speaking of the quietest record breaking career for a place kicker, Matt Stover.
Time and time again, most every guest we have had on the radio show has said,” emulate a professional and it will help you take your game to the next level.” In my opinion there is no better professional kicker to emulate than recently retired 19 year NFL veteran Kicker, Matt Stover.
Stover played college football at Louisiana Tech University where ended his career 64-88 in field goals including a 57 yard field goal against Texas A&M. In addition to Kicking, his senior year he also punted 36 times for a 34.1 yard average. While his college statistics were less than impressive in consistency, it was his pure leg strength that brought him to the NFL. It was known that he frequently kicked his kickoffs through the uprights.
Stover was selected 329th overall by the Giants in ’91 but couldn’t usurp the incumbent kicker, Matt Bahr. He was picked up by the Cleveland Browns and the rest was history,
From 1991-2008 Matt Stover was a mainstay for the Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens. In his time with the Browns/Ravens, Stover appeared in 2 Probowls and was a SuperBowl Champion with the Ravens in 2001. Up until 2008 when he was released by the Ravens, Stover was the last remaining original Cleveland Brown since the team moved to Baltimore. As a testament to his skills, at age 40 Stover was picked up by the Indianapolis Colts to fill in for the injured Adam Vinatieri. With the Colts, Stover had two great accomplismnts, a game winning PAT against the Patriots with 13 seconds left, and in 2009 being the oldest player to appear in a Superbowl at 42.
While Stover came into the league and was known for his leg strength, 8 years into his career he made a change from distance to accuracy. It was best described by him in his golf analogy.
“I had to take away my 3- and 4-iron out of my golf bag, and I could only go out there with a 7-iron with it,” Stover said. “I mean, it really took some clubs out of the bag when I did it, but it was all about survival, and 48 yards and in was pretty good. After that, I was OK. I mean, I’m out there trying to hit a 190[-yard] shot with a 7-iron. And that’s not easy to do.”
Needless to say his adjustments yielded amazing results, from 1997 to the end of his career Stover didnt miss a PAT. That means that 14 year olds would be led to believe that Matt Stover cant miss PAT’s. Stover’s consecutive PAT record is the longest in the NFL 422, along with that record he also hold the record for most consecutive games with a field goal, 38. These two records also go along with him being ranked top 10 in every kicking statistic in NFL history including 4th all time for Field Goals.
Along with his kicking records, he is the 4th highest scorer all time and the Ravens all time leading scorer.
Stover finished up his illustrious career with a 99.5% PAT conversion rate and an astounding 83.7% field goal conversion rate, with his longest, 55 yards, coming in his first year. His career statistics, should net him the second spot for a kicker in the NFL hall of fame, in addition to his consistency raising the bar in what is expected of kickers.
Besides all of the statistics that proves Stover was a great kicker and person to emulate. Every action has made him worhty of high praise and admiration. From high school his accounts of kicking whether or not his high school teams had practice . In the pros him being humble enough to change his approach to kicking, to him representing the his franchise until he was forced out. In 2009 he helped give local kickers tips, while he wasn’t playing. Finally, even in his press conference where he retired he dressed in Raven colors and spoke nothing but kind words of the franchise that he spent most of his pro career. It should also be mentioned Stover has been a force in the community with his charity.
http://www.mattstoverfoundation.org/
Basically, any current kickers could do a lot worse than trying to be like potential future Hall of Famer, Matt Stover.
While his form might be mimicked his greatness might not ever be matched again.
http://blog.kickingsystem.com/ In this interview former, San Diego Charger, Kicker, Rolf Benirschke, talks about his life in the NFL, off-season kicking, Hall of Fame, Best kicker in the NFL and what he looks for in a kicker. Great insight from Rolf! Sorry for the poor audio! Want more check our our blog! This footage was from the Drew Brees Cox Celebrity Golf Championship.
Thanks to Hard Ninety http://hardninety.com/ for sponsoring this interview!
We had a chance to catch with a NFL Kicker at the Drew Brees Celebrity Golf Tournament in San Diego, CA. We caught him as he was approaching his last nine holes in the first round.
In this interview Josh Scobee from the Jacksonville Jaguars talks about his life as a NFL Kicker. He also gives some valuable information on what it takes to make it in the NFL, what his favorite trick shot is, off-season conditioning and much more. A must listen even for all levels of kickers and punters!
One of the interesting things about TKS is we speak about the overlooked aspects of football. I have to admit we have also been guilty of this as well. One of the most important aspects of the kicking game has to be… longsnapping.
Being on the receiving end of a concussion because of a botched snap on a punt. A good snap is the difference between a made field goal, a blocked punt, and in my case seeing clearly.
When evaluating the best Longsnappers one would have to look toward one of the longest tenured snappers in the league, San Diego’s own David Binn.
David Binn is the last remaining Charger from the Chargers SuperBowl team in the 94 season. He was elected to the Probowl in 2006 and is the Chargers all time leader in games played. His records, awards, and tenure are a testament to his work ethic natural ability. Honestly, I would like nothing more to talk about the mechanics and fundamentals of longsnapping, but I would be giving you false information. To give you the correct information I would suggest you listen to our Blog Talk Radio Interview with the one and only trickshot Longsnapper Larry Federoff which will be posted 5/11. Until then Keep stretching and Keep Kicking. And make sure you thank your longsnapper every chance you get.
Tim Valencia, Inland Empire Kicking Coach
In this episode, TKS Owner, John Matich, gives a review of a kicking net called the Solo Kicker made by Bow Net. Watch as we put the net thru some hard kicking, punting, snapping and much more – Will it stand up to the test?
If you are looking for new kicking net for your sidelines this might be the one for you, check this video out!
There is a chance that we may not see any kicker or punter get drafted this year in the NFL Draft but its not stopping me from writing about the possibilities.
Overall, not a strong class for kickers or punters, but with the kickoff rule change it could change how teams draft place-kickers.
Last year in 2010, there were three punters drafted one of which was on the TKS Radio Show this past week, Zoltan Mesko from Michigan. The others were, Brent Bowden (Bucaneers) and Matt Dodge (Giants). There have been six punters drafted in the last two years, and I think maybe one will get drafted this year.
Over the last three years, there have been four kickers drafted, including none last year. In 2009, David Buehler and the last player drafted Ryan Succop. The last few years have not been stellar for draft potential kicker –besides the punters.
First, here are some kickers I think that could get drafted. After doing research via -videos, articles, blogs and numerous arenas here are my thoughts of who and when they could get drafted.
Kicker:
1) Alex Henery – Nebraska
2) Kai Forbarth – UCLA
3) Dan Bailey – Oaklahoma State
Punters:
1) Chas Henry — Florida
2) Ryan Donahue –Iowa
As for the kickers, Aex Henery he is my number one choice to get drafted. Although he did not win the Lou Groza (not sure why he didn’t) he is the best of the bunch. If you watch the following videos you can hear his own head coach tell you about his character and to me that says a ton. When you get to the NFL every kicker has power and Henery has that of course but can you handle the pressure of kicking with 50,000 plus fans every week? He has shown that easily. His technique looks great, occasionally with these great athletes, you don’t see a much of a follow thru or he changes his rhythm, with Alex he is consistent and fluid.
Video of Alex Henery kicking:
Video of Coach and Teammate talking about him:
Not to far behind is Kai Fobath from UCLA. Another stellar college kicking career here, countless game winners and remarkable stats. The knock with Kai is his kickoffs, he had a 55-yard kickoff in the Senior Bowl and missed a 44 yard attempt which will not help his draft status, and he has to prove he can kick in cold weather. But again with the new kickoff rule a few teams may try to take a chance on him in the later rounds. Our guess is that he will sign right after the draft as a free agent because of his kickoffs. I know that sounds crazy but with the career he has had to just sign as a free agent would be nuts. I would make a Facebook fan page called “Please Draft Kai.” I think his technique is not as fluid as Henery from Nebraksa and if he has a strong leg of field goals he has to work on his mechanics on kickoffs.
Here is video of him warming up before a big kick:
As for Punters: Chas Henry from Florida might be the one pick. Great size and strength who can also kick and hold for field goals. Did not get much film on him but is known as a three step punter, which many coaches will not like in the NFL. He has all the attributes for a NFL punter tall and versatile and won the Ray Guy Award in 2010.
Here is some not so great footage of him kicking:
The other punter we think that may have an outside chance is Ryan Donahue from Iowa. A finalist for the Ray Guy Award this past season with a 44.6 yard average. Although most analysts think he has great mechanics, there is still some room for improvement. Overall, very reliable and another great character athlete. Possible late round or free agent.
Here is clip of Ryan punting —
Clip from the NFL Combine — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2IIHoG7_jM
If you are looking for some new kicking cleats you wait may be finally over. Over the last few years I have been a bit disapppointed with the lack of quality kicking cleats. Besides the Nike Tiempo Legends (which we rated a 5 out of 5 on) the Addidas Copa Mundial is just not durable enough. The new Adi Zero and some of the lighter shoe just dont last long enough. Let us know your thoughts!
Looks like finally Under Armour has come out with a new style of soccer shoe. Looks like you have till May of July to get a pair of these!
Actually judging by the fall catalogs, UA will price the Blur Pro FG at $179.99 which has a high performance microfiber in it combined with a very good foot bed for comfort. The outsole will have a outrigger componet to it.
The Hydrastrike is the pair that looks intriguing. It will have a K Leather forefoot and H20i which has some water intelligence technology on it. It will retail for $139.99. These shoe has a great look to it as well.
Also UA will have these shoe in indoor and turf versions, finally!
UA Blur Pro FG
UA Hydrastrike PRO
Match 23rd, 2011
Another great weekend of kicking lessons completed. We wish we had the time to blog about every single one of them but instead we will focus on a special one – Jorge Leon. Jorge, flew in from Mexico City, Mexico just for a lesson with The Kicking System. Jorge is looking to play professional football and was seeking some help with his overall kicking technique.
After a significant dynamic warm-up, that included some new drills that TKS students get, Jorge was ready to blast away. After a few warm-up kicks, TKS Owner, John Matich proceeded to start right away talking about his steps and line-up. Jorge was a bit wide on his angle, after an few alterations Jorge was kicking much better. Also after some explanation of some key fundamentals and a few kicking secrets Jorge was up and running. We have to say we performed the lesson in as much Spanish as possible. It was fun! Jorge’s wife, good friends all helped shag the footballs, it made for a very productive lesson. Even with a little rain coming down, Jorge had no problem battling the elements. Jorge was a good listener and was picking up the TKS Kicking Stlye easily and made some great improvements.
Want more — watch the video!
San Diego & Orange County Kicking Coach: Started in 2004 TKS has placed over 60+ kickers to schools around the country.
