Untitled - Fast and Furious Football
Untitled - Fast and Furious Football
Untitled - Fast and Furious Football
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SPECL{LTEAMS 139<br />
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Kicking for the Winning Edge<br />
SPIKE DYXES<br />
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The old adage that three to five games per season<br />
arc deterrninad in the kicking gaJne hoids true<br />
Jsr ,h.ck the rpcords. Wp undprst<strong>and</strong> Iha importance<br />
<strong>and</strong> the value of a good kicking game, so w€<br />
involve o very best p1aye6 in the kicking game.<br />
On punt return, extra point, <strong>and</strong> field goal<br />
block teams we use defensive players. On the kickoff<strong>and</strong><br />
punt'cov€rage teams, we usually enploy<br />
defensive backs, linebackers, <strong>and</strong> defensive ends.<br />
Kickoff Coverage<br />
Our kickoff prin.iples dimer from somp rhpnries<br />
in that we kick otr from the exact middle ofthe<br />
field. We want a high, straight kick to the goal<br />
line.We use the watedall approach in alienmcnt<br />
so w€ can all hit the line runnins tull spe€d. Our<br />
alisnment is shown in Fisure 1.<br />
We have thrce potential safetieB on each kickoff:3,6<br />
(tbe kicker), <strong>and</strong> 9.We begin coveringthe<br />
fieid with each player maintaining his relative<br />
distance between his teammat€s. The farther <strong>and</strong><br />
oeeper the ball goes. lhc longer we .(ayin our<br />
lanes. In the event that we get forced out ofour<br />
hne. u e uork hard to get back in our lane Play<br />
crs should be aware of who is blocking them <strong>and</strong><br />
then beat or escape the block.<br />
Onc€ tho ball is fi€lded <strong>and</strong> starts in a direcri.n<br />
rlefi, middle, dghrJ, wF stafl .onverging on<br />
the footbal (see Fisure 2). This, <strong>and</strong>bustins our<br />
tails downfield, are the two keys to the coverage.<br />
The safety (3) opposite the retum pulls out <strong>and</strong><br />
ke€ps outside leverage on the football. The out<br />
side two coverage men fiD the hole created by the<br />
saf€ty pulljng out, maintaining the normal cov<br />
erage lanes one gap inside. The safety to the side<br />
of the retum no longer is a safety he is a lane<br />
runner that is totally involved in coverage. The<br />
Lickpr laccs up $ ilh r he ball at a depr h ofapproKimately<br />
8 to 10 yads behind the coverase t€aln.<br />
If the ball comes up the middle (see Figure 3),<br />
the kick€r is th€ middle safety, <strong>and</strong> boih safeties<br />
pull out olcov€rage after the ball has committed<br />
to the middlo <strong>and</strong> maintain ouhide leverage on<br />
the football.<br />
In otll coverage, 5 <strong>and</strong> 7 maintain the leverageontheball,<br />
even iftheballis run up the hasb<br />
mark. The closer the ball gets to our coverage,<br />
the more we converge to the ba]l. We a]l squeeze
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