Visualization and imagery techniques key training for kickers and punters. This is an excerpt from Football Kicking and Punting. Associate Program.
Interfit Colorflash 300i Manual Lawn here. Weatherford calls the uncomfortable-looking position below the 'Van Damme,' in honor of the actor's iconic demonstration of it in the 1988 martial arts classic Bloodsport. Ironically, however, he hadn't actually tried to do it until recently, when prompted by friends at a party. 'Flexibility and explosiveness are the two most important things for a punter,' he says, 'and I've always stretched like crazy, so when I tried to see if I could do it, it wasn't that hard.' Punters aren't supposed to look like the New York Giants' Steve Weatherford.
They're supposed to be scrawny ex-soccer players who stand in one place during games, huddled behind the bench in their oversize parkas, waiting for those few-and-far-between times when they're called onto the field to do something requiring neither hitting nor running. Underneath their pads, punters aren't supposed to be 6-foot-2, 211 pounds at 5% body fat. Weatherford is, however, and says you can be, too, provided you're willing to put in the time. X-wing Vs Tie Fighter Patch on this page. 'It's a combination of being blessed with good genetics and being disciplined,' Weatherford says. 'A lot of guys might wake up one morning with a sore back and take the day off, I never do.' Watch Steve Weatherford's Daily Workout!
Currently in his sixth NFL season, Weatherford, who is among the league's most accurate punters, unseated incumbent Matt Dodge in training camp, when most observers had expected Dodge to hang on to his Giants starting spot. To the University of Illinois graduate and Crown Point, Indiana, native, his football success is attributable to a training and nutrition game plan forged during his rookie season with the New Orleans Saints in 2006. Weatherford claims punting a football is similar to driving a golf ball-a scenario where everything needs to work in concert, the same way, every time out.
If one little thing is off - a hamstring is pulled or the hips are tight - a punter's rhythm can be completely thrown off. The idea is to be as explosive as possible when it's time to punt, six to eight plays per game, on average, and to ensure physical consistency. 'You can't do this perfectly every week,' he says, 'but you want to feel exactly the same way every single Sunday. You want to build that explosiveness in the off -season, then train to maintain it so everything is the same during games.' Since his entire year comes down to those six to eight bursts of perfectly coordinated explosiveness - as opposed to position players, who need significantly more stamina - Weatherford's off-season training resembles an Olympic high jumper's regimen more than it does a linebacker's or a running back's.