Coach Tom Bass brings more than 30 years of coaching experience to USA Football. Along with answering youth coaching questions, he also receives emails from young players. You can email the coach at NFLAskTheCoach@aol.com.
Michael sent the following question:
I'm going into my junior year in high school, and I've been playing football my whole life. I was wondering if you had any tips on returning kickoffs and punts?
Hi Michael,
On kickoffs, you have the advantage of seeing the ball the moment it is kicked. Because it is a live ball and can be covered by the kicking team, it is important that you start moving in the direction of the flight of the kick right away.
If you can, it is good to get directly in front of the path of the kick and be moving forward as you make the catch. Know where the blocking seam is designed to open up for your return and then run as hard as you can to that position and get as many yards as you can. Have faith that a hole will open up and do not stop and start and change direction when returning a kickoff. Make sure you protect the ball when you see you are going to be hit.
Returning punts is a different skill in that you may not pick up the flight of the ball right away and that you will need to make some decisions when the ball is in the air. With a punted ball, you do not need to catch or cover every kick.
It is important to understand that your team will gain possession of the ball if you catch it and return it, "fair catch" the punt or merely allow the ball to roll dead. The decision will be up to you, and you should try to make your decision as quickly as possible and let the other members on the return team know what you want to do.
It is important to position yourself under the ball anytime you are catching a punt that you have determined that you can return. If you have any doubt about your ability to get to the ball, stay away and let it roll dead. Call out to your teammates to stay away from the ball.
When you catch either a kickoff or punt, it is important to have your elbows into your sides, your little fingers together, your palms up, your fingers spread and arms extended so that you reach up, allowing you see your hands and the ball as you make the catch. Secure the ball before you begin making moves.
Many penalties occur on the return team when the player returning the kick does not return the ball where it is designed to go. Try to run at the designated area of the return every time you bring either type of kick back up the field.
Returning kicks is one of the most exciting plays in the game, so I hope you have fun - I know I did.
Coach Tom Bass
Nick sent the following question:
I'm going into 10th grade, so I will just be starting high school. I have been a soccer player for eight years and realized I can kick a football well. I have been practicing field goals and punts. I hit anything 35 and under almost 100 percent and my long is 43. I was wondering how to increase that and how many yards would I have to kick to make it into the NFL?
Hi Nick,
It sounds like you are making the change from soccer to football without much trouble. Focusing on doing both punting and kicking can often be a challenge in that they require different movements and muscular action.
My feeling is that you should focus right now on your placekicking. The number one attribute that coaches look for in a placekicker is accuracy. A majority of your kick attempts will be from the 30-yard line in and most coaches want to see that you are very accurate from this distance.
A challenge most beginning placekickers face is that they become so concerned with the distance of their kicks that they do not spend the required amount of time practicing their kicks from a closer range and at a variety of angles from each hash mark.
Your leg strength and your distance will naturally improve as you get older and kick more. You need to be patient and slowly work into the 40-yard range and not be in a hurry to move back there every day to see if you can get more distance on your kick.
Be very careful that you do not change your natural kicking motion when you try distance kicking. Young kickers will find that they often over stride and over kick when going for distance and as a result they will lose their accuracy.
Start your kicking session by warming up by kicking straight across the field on a yard line so that you can get your kicking motion set and that you can see if the ball is going straight or to the right or left off the line. The distance of the kick in this warm up is not as important as having the accuracy of seeing the kick land on the yard line on each attempt.
Establish a good kicking practice procedure where a majority of your kicks are from PAT range out to the 30-yard line. Move from one side of the field to the middle to the other hash mark. Move back in 3-, 4- and 5-yard increments changing each practice so that you have the experience of kicking from different yard lines. Keep a written record of all your kicks because you may find certain distances and areas of the field that decrease your accuracy that will require more attention. Try to avoid attempting longer kicks if you have not been more than 90 percent accurate at this beginning range.
NFL kickers will attempt field goals of 40- to 50-yards during the season, but this is a goal that you have time to work toward and is not something you need to focus on as you begin your kicking career.
Do not forget to work on your kickoffs, as this will be an important part of your job as a kicker for your team. Good luck and keep up the good work.
Coach Tom Bass
Francisco sent the following question:
I'm going to be a sophomore this fall. I'mcompeting to play quarterback. I've attended all the spring workouts, and I'm pretty accurate but I'm having trouble on the deep ball and going through the motions quickly (footwork, releasing the ball). How canI improve?
Hi Francisco,
Try to establish a practice regimen where you spend time practicing each phase of your throwing procedure individually and then bring them all together in one smooth motion.
Start with lining up in a proper stance, next practice taking your three-step drop, then your five- or seven-step drop. Try to do your drops at maximum speed. With these movements you will not be throwing the ball, your focus is on maintaining proper steps and body control so that at the end, you are in position to start your throwing motion.
Next, practice from your setup position (at the end of your drop) by stepping forward with your lead foot pointing directly at a target area to the right, left and center of the field. As you take this step, push off with your back foot and rotate your body so that your hips and chest are pointed in the direction of your lead foot. Your passing hand should be coming back behind your helmet as you start your step, and then moving forward with your passing hand and arm extended to the target area as your body moves in that direction. Finally, as you release the ball, allow your passing hand to rotate down and to the outside.
Try to go through this style of warm-up before proceeding to actually throwing the ball to a receiver. Always start with your three-step drop pass routes and move to pass routes farther down the field.
If you find that you are ever having difficulty with any one phase of your passing, take some time and go back and just practice that phase until you feel that it is properly engrained once again in your muscle memory.
Throwing a deep pass is a challenge in that you need to be aware that you must lead the receiver by 10 to 12 yards as you release the ball. The sooner you release the ball as the receiver makes his break, the better chance you have to throw a completion. Try not to wait until the receiver is running free down the field. On a deep route to the sideline, your aiming point should also be 5 yards inside in addition to 12 yards in front of the receiver's path so that the ball does not sail out of bounds. Always try to allow your receivers the opportunity to run under each deep pass as they make their reception. Keep working hard.
Coach Tom Bass
Terrance sent the following question:
I'm interested in playing football at the safety position, but I don't really know where to start. I developed a huge interest after moving to Ohio, and I've been interested in trying out for a semi-pro league or arena football. I haven't found any other recreational type leagues, so I figured that was my best bet.
I sort of missed the boat on playing in high school and college, but I'm still very competitive and athletic.Since I'm 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, I figured I would be best at free safety or a basic safety position. Can you tell me the training that I should do, the knowledge I should obtain or any other information about becoming one of the greatest safeties?
Hi Terrance,
Before you make the jump of trying out to play semi-pro or arena football without any training or experience, one other place you might consider for your football training is joining and playing for a flag football league for a year.
Flag football will provide you with the opportunity to gain additional knowledge and appropriate skills needed to play the game. This would be especially true for the safety position.
Because the flag football game involves so mush passing, you will have the chance to learn and perfect your coverage skills and to actually use them in a game situation.
These skills should include having a good stance, executing a good start, back pedaling (running backwards), recognizing different pass routes, learning how to break up the reception causing an incompletion and learning how to make an interception.
You will need to have perfected each of these skills in order to play tackle football as a safety, so this may be a way to develop and prepare these skills right now.
There are many adult flag leagues all over the country and they play excellent football and are very competitive. Playing flag football for one season might be a positive way for you to begin your football career.
Coach Tom Bass
Ryan sent the following question:
I've been having some problems setting up when I boot left. How do I set myself up and release quickly at the same time?
Hi Ryan,
Anytime you throw on the run, it is important that you turn your body so that your hips and chest are facing the target area. Ideally, you should be able to step directly at your target with your front foot as you start your passing motion.
Right-handed quarterbacks have trouble moving to their left because they do not get enough depth away from the line so that they can turn their body up field and step directly at the target. Often they end up shot putting the ball without the necessary velocity on the pass to result in a completion.
Instead of coming out flat to the outside when you boot to your left, you need to belly back allowing you to gain a couple of more yards of depth away from the line of scrimmage. As you come out with this additional depth, you have the room to get your hips, shoulders and chest turned up the field pointing at your target area as you make your throw.
With your body turned in this manner, you will be able to step directly at your target with your front foot. You will find that you can now use your normal throwing motion to deliver the ball as your back foot comes through and your body moves up the field.
Start out moving at half speed until you have the belly back, turn, step and throw down into a smooth fluid motion.
Coach Tom Bass
Coach Tom Bass, the technical writer and advisor for USA Football, is a 30-year NFL coach who has also authored several books, including "Play Football the NFL Way" - the first "how to" book ever authorized and published by the NFL. Coach Bass is happy to personally autograph his books to you. Book ordering information can be found on http://www.coachbass.com/.
