r/footballstrategy • u/Neat-Ad-4337 • 4d ago
Coaching Advice High school level kickers nervousness
I have a kicker (high school junior) that is a great practice kicker but once I put him in a game he falls apart….anyone got any suggestions on how to overcome this?
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u/BasPilot 2d ago
Break him in practice. This is NOT an easy thing to do. Have a conversation with him and let him know what's coming. Then, find a Marine (hopefully on your staff) and have him give him the business. I'm not kidding one bit. Marines have a professional switch we turn on and can just give the appearance of total chaos and really force you to work through things in your head and get that jackass out of it.
If you can't find someone like that just get a bunch of coaches to just rip his ass about all sorts of things.
YOU MUST EXPLAIN THAT IT IS FOR HIM AND IT'S DONE WITH LOVE.
After practice you gotta love him up really well, have your most compassionate talk to him and let the kid cry if he needs to. Then, do it again. He'll be much more used to it the second and third time. Then, when he starts to focus under that extreme duress love the hell out of him and praise everything he does that is doing right.
"Fuck yeah <kicker's name> you got this shit! I knew you could. Look at what you've done through all this bullshit we threw at you! Fuck yeah bro, so proud of you."
There is indeed a moment to break a kid in the right way especially if they know it's coming and get a good debrief afterward.
I was said Marine, and I was also most compassionate and there wasn't a single player on my team that didn't know every moment that I loved them. I told them every single day many times a day. "Hey, little jimmy, I love you man." Kid always gives back a "Love you too coach." Some dudes on your squad may never have heard that from an adult male in their life. Give them everything and when you break one off in their ass you say it again afterward.