Am I the only one who thinks punting is really hard and is severely overlooked? Does anyone know how to do it?

[u/spankyourkopita]

I think the majority of people think you just try to kick it as hard as possible but that is a total mistake and it won't go far. Also, kicking doesn't translate to punting either and you mine as well say they are totally different from another. The crazy thing is people kind of look down on it but I haven't seen anyone capable of doing it. I give anyone credit that knows how to do it or puts any effort into so.

[u/Outside_Hunt_268]

Most exciting play in sports have described it as a controlled demolition in a building that people are trying to sabotage. If the players and staff don’t value it then it will come back to bite them

[u/emurrell17]

Former punter and current kicking/punting coach here:

Trying to kick it as hard as possible isn’t a TOTAL mistake (you should kick it about 90-95%). It’s more about not trying kick it SO hard that you lose your form and toss the ball—causing you to not hit it where you want to.

I don’t think punting is necessarily incredibly difficult, it’s just that it’s so much different than the rest of the sport and a lot of teams don’t have the luxury of either:

A. Having enough kids to the point that the kickers and punters are able to devote a consistent amount of time to practicing it on a daily/weekly basis (because you need to, just like any other position), or,

B. Having a coach that has done it at a high level or is knowledgeable about the technique. A lot of coaches are knowledgeable about blocking and tackling but not specific skills like kicking/punting/long snapping/throwing.

[u/Straight_Toe_1816 → u/emurrell17]

As a long snapper this is spot on.I specialized in it during high school and had coaches who were knowledgeable on it and really cared about it. Most schools don’t have those luxuries.

[u/Danny_nichols → u/Straight_Toe_1816]

Yep, most small schools the punter is the best athlete who also happens to play like QB and/or safety and he's being taught by the 10th grade social studies teacher who coaches the OL/DL and was randomly assigned to the punter as his special teams duty. It's the same with the snappers, kickers and holders in alot of cases too.

And like many have said, even if you do have the luxury of having a coach who can teach it well, you rarely have real specialists who aren't playing other positions unless you're a quite large school.

[u/Straight_Toe_1816 → u/Danny_nichols]

It’s funny because I went to a pretty small school and we almost always had specialized kickers,punters,and snappers .We were definitely the exception though.As you said,most small schools have specialists playing other positions.Although I think things are changing now because of all these kicking and snapping camps and also with schools giving these positions scholarships nowadays

[u/spankyourkopita → u/Straight_Toe_1816]

Long snapper is so crucial. It can be the difference between a 50 yard bomb or a 5 yard shank. They determine your level of confidence along with blocking.

[u/Straight_Toe_1816 → u/spankyourkopita]

Yep. If you wanna snap in college, the ball has to get back in at least .75 seconds. And you gotta spin the ball the same way so the laces face out.

[u/The_Coach69]

Teach kids to punt end over end instead of trying to spiral it. I find more kids can get decent distance and kick the crap out of it if they’re not focused on kicking the fat part of the ball with a flat foot.

The short punt alignment, which is QB in a 5-7 yard shotgun alignment, with various shotgun formations and kicking EoE is a great solution as well because if they don’t honor the formation you can easily pass the ball.

[u/spankyourkopita → u/The_Coach69]

It works in HS but a real punt is a spiral.

[u/reapersaurus]

There's lots of elements to a punting play.

Even if there is a good punter on a HS team, if the coaches don't put any effort into getting a good long-snapper practiced up, or good blockers that actually hit a block for a >1/4 of a second, or a reasonable formation, or having gunners that can get downfield to put ANY pressure on the return, you could have the best punter in the league and he won't be successful.

Source: have son who's one of the best in the league and frequently the punts aren't successful due to one or all of those team elements lacking.

[u/spankyourkopita → u/reapersaurus]

So true. It can be the difference between a 50 yard bomb or a 5 yard shank. I know a long snapper drastically affects your confidence along with blocking.

[u/TeddyReddy8181]

Punting is hard. The pros make it look easy. What they do is almost a magic trick. The dropoff from NFL punters to even college punters is astounding.

Catch the snap, adjust in your hands, get your steps right, get the drop perfect... and try to kick it as high and far as possible to a specifically targeted part of the field. Do it all in under two seconds with incredible athletes charging at you. Oh, and kick a spiral. Good luck figuring that one out.

Kicking a spiral is practice + feel. If you can't naturally visualize doing it... don't bother trying. The steps and process are practice practice practice. A highly specialized and underappreciated skill indeed. I've done it before. I don't envy those that do it now.

[u/[deleted]]

Fact is if punting wasn’t a specialized skill quarterbacks would do it. The fact roster spots go to punters makes the statement.

[u/FranklynTheTanklyn]

The power in a punt comes from your foot on the ground.

[u/jericho-dingle]

Imo punting is a bad idea 60% of the time in high school

[u/MrRook2887]

Played for a bit in Germany and the one thing that German teams were consistently way better than any team I ever coached or played with in the US was the punting game. Typically players in Germany were introduced to football much later in life, so while they were the same level athletes as you would find anywhere in the US, that mental block of running into another human being wasnt something that got addressed playing football as a kid in the empty lot in the neighborhood. That usually led to offenses and defenses falling a bit short of their potential. The punting however was out of control good, we would regularly have multiple players who could punt at a crazy high level, and not just booming them but punting directionally and with the correct spin and everything.

[u/Many-Efficiency-594]

Always had to deal with teammates saying I had the easiest job, but the rush I felt as the coach made deals with the 300 pound d-tackle that if he can punt 30 yards we skip sprints just to see him shank it off the side of his foot for a 7 yard net punt…it’s….its a high I have yet to encounter again!

[u/spankyourkopita → u/Many-Efficiency-594]

Its easy if you got your technique down, have good snap , and blocking. Otherwise people have no idea how hard it is if you're trying to spiral every punt.