Whether you’re a part of the football team or you’ve just started learning football, field goal kicking requires practice, and consistency.

A beginner soccer player who is learning soccer is treated differently than an experienced player. When kicking a ball, the beginners focus more on the technique of kicking the ball using the toes or only the end of the foot.

On the other hand, an experienced player knows the approach to getting a perfect kick. However, both need different training.

Are you a soccer fan who wants to master the skill of kicking field goals? This guide will help you in making yourself confident on the ground and how to kick a field goal.

How to Kick a Field Goal – Tips for Advanced Players

1. Kick styles

There are two kick styles: straight ahead and soccer style. Most of the finest field goal kickers follow the soccer-style approach.

In this approach, the player kicks the ball at an angle with the top of the foot whereas in straight ahead, the player kicks the ball with the toe in a straight fashion.

Throughout this guide, the soccer-style approach is discussed.

2. Know where to stand

You should know where you stand on the ground when you’re kicking a field goal. Players often do the mistake of standing far away from the ball.

The good practice is to stand 2-3 steps back behind the ball and two steps to the left if you’re right-footed and opposite for the left kicker.

Adjust the steps according to your comfort but 3×2 is the universal rule and is a starting point. Plant your left foot on the ground if you’re a right kicker while your kicking foot should be a few distances away from your plant foot.

3. Be Confident

Take a deep breath and be confident. When you’re in actual football ground with the audience, the chanting of the crowd and the cheerleading of the squad may get on your nerves.

When that happens, breathe deeply and focus on the game. Recall the techniques and apply them. Take a jab step using your plant foot to gain momentum.

Now take a longer step than previous and increase the speed. The movement should be a smooth and uniform direction.

Now leave your plant foot around 7-8 inches away from the ball.

4. All eyes on the ball

The ball will be in line with your foot’s arch. When you kick a field goal, fix your eyes on the ball. The most fundamental thing you should know is the contact with the ball.

Players either get the kick too low or too high on the foot. Kicking with your toes isn’t always an ideal approach.

Try kicking it using an instep technique in which the ankle is used to kick the ball. There is no involvement of the toes. Now, beginners would be wondering how that is possible.

Your navicular bone that is on top of the foot has got the potential to kick the ball in soccer style. You need to practice this to get the hang of it.

5. Kick the ball

Make sure you don’t spin your kick as this would cause low hooking or slicing kick.

Instead, let the weight of your body and your hips do the work in driving the instep through the ball. In this way, your football travels in the direction that your body is in.

Increase the momentum even after the contact with the ball and use a skip step when necessary.

The foot should go as high as the top of the head.

How to Kick a Field Goal – Tips for Advanced Players

1. Impact

Senior players may try to swing the ball way too hard without intending to.

To check whether you’re being aggressive on the ball, make sure that you don’t fully bend when you kick the ball.

Stand straight at the time of impact and use both of your arms. This will result in lesser injuries and greater consistency.

2. Use the right foot part

Most senior players use the wrong foot part to kick the football because they have been doing so for years and it works for them.

However, it may not always guarantee success and even lead to injuries. By using the navicular part of the foot, you’ll see a huge difference.

Not only you’ll need less exertion to kick the ball but you can easily kick a field goal.

What part of your foot do you kick a field goal with?

Kick the ball with the instep of your foot. Contact the ball a bit below the fat part in the middle. Continue to kick through the ball. Your foot should go almost as high as your head.

How do you kick a field goal for beginners?

Is it hard to kick a field goal?

It would be hard enough to kick a normal range field goal, much less a freakish one. There aren’t going to be too many opportunities – The games are often too close, the ball can be run or thrown the distance far easier, and the desire to put a touchdown (and thus a higher score) on.

How can I get better at kicking field goals?

What is the longest field goal ever made?

Can you punt for a field goal?

The longest field goal kick in NFL history is 64 yards, a record set by Matt Prater on December 8, 2013. The previous record was 63, originally set by Tom Dempsey (1970) and then matched by Jason Elam (1998), Sebastian Janikowski (2011), David Akers (2012), Graham Gano (2018), and Brett Maher (2019).

Has anyone ever kicked a field goal on a kick off?

You cannot punt a field goal. For some people this is very sad, while for others they agree with the rule. You have to actually indicate that you are kicking a field goal for it to be fair for the other team. You are allowed to do a fake punt , but you cannot punt the ball for a field goal.

Can the QB punt?

The last player to attempt a fair catch field goal was Phil Dawson, who tried a 71-yarder for the 49ers in 2013. Slye’s field goal attempt was actually only the fifth fair catch kick attempted in the NFL over the past 20 years.

Can you recover your own punt?

Absolutely. Anyone can punt the ball at any time, as long as you’re behind the line of scrimmage. A good example of this is a time when a quarterback was being pressured on 3rd and 23. Instead of throwing the ball away, he punted the ball over the defense.

What is the shortest punt in NFL history?

Simply put, a punt is a scrimmage kick. Therefore, any member of the punt team is allowed to catch or recover a punt as long as it is behind the neutral zone, basically the line of scrimmage, and then advance that ball.

What happens during punt?

(The shortest punt ever was actually negative-7 yards by Sean Landeta of the New York Giants in the 1985 playoffs (returned five yards for a touchdown), and there have been at least two 1-yard punts.)

Can you throw a punt?

A punt in gridiron football is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and then kicking the ball before it hits the ground. The center makes a long snap to the kicker who then drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground.

What is a good punt distance?

If the punt is blocked, then even if you recover the ball, you probably didn’t gain enough yards for a first down, and the other team will take over anyway. Once that happens, like any punt that is touched by the receiving team, it becomes a live ball.

Can a punt returner kick the ball?

Best Hang Time

Coaches at all levels desire the punter to have the ability to get the ball away in 1.0 second or less when necessary. The camera should follow the ball downfield. Minimum distance for these punts is 35 yards.

How do you punt?

After signaling for a fair catch, the punt returner can‘t advance the ball. After he touches it or loses control and the ball hits the ground, either team is allowed to recover the ball. If the returner muffs a kick, or fails to gain possession, the punting team may not advance the ball if they recover it.

How can I improve my punt distance?

Can you shoot straight from kick off in football?

One of the easiest ways to immediately improve your distance is to work on striking the ball’s sweet spot with the correct part of your foot. You want to hit the ball with the upper instep of your foot (right at the second shoelace loop from the top of most soccer cleats).

How do you do a drop punt?

For every kick–off: a goal may be scored directly against the opponents from the kick–off; if the ball directly enters the kicker’s goal, a corner kick is awarded to the opponents.