Kickers: How To Handle The Pressure

March 3, 2011 By
Kickers: How To Handle The Pressure

A common definition of a kicker, as defined by the outside world is “Head Case”.  For those that don’t know how to handle pressure, this may be true.  But for those that are trained properly, this couldn’t be further from the truth.  It all begins with a simple rule: Do the same thing, the same way, every time.  Being a confident kicker simply means being prepared.  The minute you step onto a football field for the first time, that preparation begins.  Take every session seriously, make every kick count, train like a pro.  I won’t get into great detail as to what that training means (that might come in a future blog), but I will scratch the surface and explain how to handle pressure. 
Step 1:  Learn how to kick with proper technique.  Attend a Chris Sailer Kicking lesson, attend a Chris Sailer Kicking camp, buy the Chris Sailer Kicking Instructional DVD.  We are the #1 kicking camp in the world for a reason.  Buy into the years of study that we have put into being able to teach the core mechanics needed for kickers of any and all styles.  Believe in what you are learning and practicing and you will have accomplished the first step.

Step 2: Training sessions are about quality, not quantity.  Make every kick count.  Treat it like a game winner.  Create a routine for yourself and go through that routine every single time.  Do not get lazy. Challenge yourself.  Remember, do the same thing, the same way, every time you do it.  Train like a pro. 

Step 3:  Film yourself and watch film after every training session.  Once you know and understand the proper technique, film yourself, and make sure you are practicing it.  If you are making mistakes, that is ok.  Make sure to fix them in step #4. 
Step 4:  Do the muscle memory drills (bench, contact, and line) that you will learn from Chris Sailer Kicking every day.   There are NO excuses.  You can do these on a field, at home, on vacation, etc.  You want to be the best, train your body to do things one way, the correct way.  Your body will learn, through muscle memory drills, to kick with the proper technique. 
Step 5:  Treat kicking as a year round sport.  Without proper training and consistency in training, you will never be prepared.  The harder you work, the better you will be.  Enter a season having zero doubt about your abilities and preparation. 
If you do the above you will be a CONFIDENT KICKER, not a “Head Case”.  Having confidence will allow you to handle any and every pressure situation.  Go through your routine (like you do every time in practice), know that your preparation (film study, muscle memory drills, on field work, weight room work, flexibility work) will pay off, kick with confidence.  No matter how nervous you may be, routine and muscle memory will always get you through it.  Your body will no nothing else to do but what you’ve trained it to do. 
If you need to see a sports psychologist, not step on lines, wear the same dirty socks it may be to late for you.  You are already a “head case”.  Get that all out of your head.  Start now.  Follow steps 1-5 and be a CONFIDENT KICKER.  Chris Sailer Kicking will never recommend a head case.  We recommend well-trained, confident, hard working, competitive, athletes. 
See you on the field!

Chris Sailer



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Filed Under: Article Archives, Kicking

The Ranking of a Kicker and/or Punter by Chris Sailer Kicking

February 28, 2011 By
Chris Sailer Kicking is the #1 Kicking, Punting, and Long Snapping business in the nation.  We have trained kickers, punters, and long snappers for 10 + years and counting now.  Each year we will train and evaluate over 1000 players at camps around the United States.  We have had the opportunity to train High School All-Americans, College All-Americans, Lou Groza Award Winners, NFL Draftees, and NFL Pro-Bowlers.  Most importantly we enjoy working with players of all skill levels.  Sponsored by Nike and continuing to grow from within has put us in a position to help players at every level (Junior High School, High School, College, and Professional) for many years to come.  Chris Sailer Kicking began with a vision to help more specialists get scholarships, well-deserved scholarships.  That has happened. Our vision is to keep that trend going and increase the number of scholarships every year.  To do this, it is important for you to understand how we rank players. 

1. We will only rank a player that we have seen IN PERSON.  Film is great, but it does not compare to an in person evaluation.  An in person evaluation can be at a private lesson, group lesson, camp, or national event run by Chris Sailer Kicking.  College camps are NOT taken into consideration. The evaluation must and will only be done by Chris Sailer (Kickers / Punters) and Chris Rubio (Long Snappers).  We do not use 3rd parties for evaluations.  This is the only way we can assure 100% accuracy. 

2. We do not rank all players that we see.  We only rank players that we feel show the ability or potential to one day compete at the college level.  We take effort, work ethic, and attitude into consideration when determining if a player meets the above criteria.

3.  Our rankings are subjective, not objective.  We focus on our evaluation, not just stats.  Stats may be misleading.  We are the professionals at what we do.  Our rankings will take the following criteria into consideration: 1. Current Skill Level, 2. Potential Skill Level, 3. Performance Under Pressure.  We look for the following: technique, strength, leg speed, athleticism, mental toughness, competitiveness, confidence, tee sizes to name a few. 

4. The ranking system is as follows.  After every camp, we evaluate each player.  They are then added to or adjusted on the TOP RECRUITS site of Chris Sailer Kicking.com 

Star Rating System:
5 Stars: D1 Scholarship Player
4 1/2 Stars: D1 Talent (D1 Preferred Walk-On or possible D1 Scholarship Player)
4 Stars: D2 Talent (D2 Scholarship or Possible D1 Preferred Walk-On)
3 1/2 Stars:  D3 Talent (D3 Scholarship or Possible D2 or D1AA Preferred Walk-On)
3 Stars: D3 Talent (D3 Preferred Walk-On)

Number Ranking System:
Will list the exact number rank of the player from (#1 through #……)  #1 being the very best in the nation, and so on. 

The Star Rating and the Number Ranking is an evaluation based on that day.  So, younger players usually do not receive 4 and 5 star rankings yet.  Older players earn the higher rating as they begin to show more of the criteria necessary to be considered a college prospect.  Rankings change on a daily basis.  You can always improve your rank the next time we see you. 

*Understand, rankings are not complete until fall camp begins your freshman year of college.  We will see new players constantly and the rankings will constantly be updated.  You have to work to maintain or increase your ranking.  You are only as good as the last time we saw you.  We cannot predict the future.  You will see that we will now list (Student Since: – to show when we first evaluated a player & Last Evaluation: – to show the last time we evaluated that player).  These pieces of information will help both the players and college coaches better understand the accuracy of the rating and ranking. 

5.  Once a player is ranked you are in our system until you begin your fall camp as a freshman in college.  You will never be dropped in the rankings.  However as we see new players or current players improve their ranking, you will slide naturally.  Again rankings are now complete until fall camp begins your freshman year of college.  That is when the rankings are as accurate as can be and are removed from the website.  You can increase your ranking by attending any future lesson, camp, or event.  A rating and ranking becomes much more accurate the more often we see a player.  We see improvement, we get to know a player mentally, and the player generally becomes much better physically and technically.  A college coach will always ask the question, “How many times have you worked with him?”  Why?  Because he wants to be sure that our evaluation is accurate and not a fluke.  He wants to be sure that we know that player mentally as well as possible before a large scholarship investment is made by the University.   Certain players are phenoms and earn 5 star rankings right off the bat.  It is just a no – brainer.  But most must work hard to establish consistency and improvement over time.  Our confidence in you as a player is a BIG DEAL.  We have to know who and what it is we are recommending. 

6. Once a player is ranked, we do take season stats into consideration.  Because there are so many factors out of your control at the high school level (coach, opportunities, snapper, holder, field condition, etc.) most players never get the chance to put up big numbers – this will not hurt you.  Both we and college coaches understand this.  But, if you happen to be fortunate enough to put up great stats, this can help you.  We don’t put a huge amount of stock in your season stats, but a good season can definitely help prove that you are consistent over time and that you can perform well under pressure. 

7.  Vegas Event Statistics.  Yes, they are great as they give us all something to look at.  However, they are NOT the only factor we take into consideration when updating the rankings.  They are a small piece of the puzzle (see above #’s 1-7).  Please do not just look at the stats and send us a spreadsheet as to why you should be ranked ahead of someone else.  I promise you, we do a thorough evaluation that looks at all your kicks from both Saturday and Sunday.  And we take into consideration past camp performances.  A bad statistical day isn’t going to effect the great statistical days that a player may have had in the past.  The statistics from Vegas are big for many reasons, but please remember that we look at EVERYTHING. 

8.  The Kicking and Punting Rankings are completely separate.  One does not effect the other and vice versa.  However doing well in both is always a positive for college coaches.  Combo players are rare and are a hot commodity. 

Chris Rubio and myself are very confident in our player evaluations.  The ranking / rating is intended to help each player find the right college fit for THEM.  If you are ranked that is a tremendous accomplishment.  You should be proud of yourself.  No matter the ranking/rating, use it as motivation to continue to improve.  Remember, you are only in High School or Junior College.  This is only the beginning.  Keep working hard and you will achieve your goals.  We are here to help you reach your goals.  We are always here as a reference for you.  Please DO list our name and contact information in your correspondence with college coaches  and on your highlight videos.  I promise you, it is worth it.

Thanks for reading and I hope this helps clarify the Chris Sailer Kicking TOP RECRUITS Section of www.ChrisSailerKicking.com

Chris Sailer
[email protected]
Twitter: Chris_Sailer

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Filed Under: Article Archives, Kicking, Punting