09-19-2018, 10:10 PM
https://fullpresscoverage.com/2018/09/18/ryan-longwell/
Lengthy article, but worth the read. Here's just a bit of it.
Vikings Should Hire Ryan Longwell to Coach Kickers
The Minnesota Vikings should hire Ryan Longwell to coach place-kickers.
The team needs a kicker whisperer in the worst way. Poor place-kicking cost Mike Zimmer’s Vikings a playoff win against Seattle a few years ago. Poor kicking cost the Vikings a divisional road win in Green Bay a few days ago.
A few years or a few days. It can’t happen again if the Vikings are serious about winning the Super Bowl.
Lengthy article, but worth the read. Here's just a bit of it.
Vikings Should Hire Ryan Longwell to Coach Kickers
The Minnesota Vikings should hire Ryan Longwell to coach place-kickers.
The team needs a kicker whisperer in the worst way. Poor place-kicking cost Mike Zimmer’s Vikings a playoff win against Seattle a few years ago. Poor kicking cost the Vikings a divisional road win in Green Bay a few days ago.
A few years or a few days. It can’t happen again if the Vikings are serious about winning the Super Bowl.
Longwell appeared on the Mackey and Judd radio show Monday. Thirty minutes into the show, Judd Zulgad and Manny Hill got Longwell on the line to talk place-kicking.
Longwell’s kicking intellect split the uprights.
When asked about the Vikings recurring problems with place-kickers, Longwell said the Vikings place-kicking problems are self-inflicted: “To have Dan Bailey as their fifth kicker in six seasons to me says a lot more about [the Vikings’] approach than it does about the [kickers]. It goes back to the wrong words and the wrong kind of approach.”
Longwell’s kicking intellect split the uprights.
When asked about the Vikings recurring problems with place-kickers, Longwell said the Vikings place-kicking problems are self-inflicted: “To have Dan Bailey as their fifth kicker in six seasons to me says a lot more about [the Vikings’] approach than it does about the [kickers]. It goes back to the wrong words and the wrong kind of approach.”
“There’s a lot pressure on [drafted] kickers,” Longwell said. “It’s not like kicking in college. [The NFL] is a whole different animal. A lot of these kids are set up for disaster.”
Longwell said established NFL kickers like Robbie Gould, Phil Dawson and Adam Vinatieri have differing kicking styles. All, however, had similar mental approaches that kept their stroke smooth. “Their head position and eye position is absolutely perfect to allow the leg to swing through and start the ball where you are aiming,” Longwell said. “If you can’t start the ball where you are aiming, you got no chance.”
“There’s no such thing as an easy kick and there’s no such thing as a chip shot,” Longwell said. “The best of the best and the best coaches know how to keep the calm and keep everything in rhythm. When you miss one, there’s no panic on the next one. You still slow it back down. When you speed up, you try to swing harder. When you swing harder, your leg comes through, your head comes down lower, you keep your eyes on the ball too long. Everything [is] jammed. And when everything [is] jammed going faster, kicks miss high and right or they miss low left. That’s one thing most coaches don’t understand. These high school and college coaches go to kicking camps that are taught how to kick, but they’re not taught how to be a kicker.”
Zulgad asked Longwell if the Vikings called him and asked him to join the team as a kicking consultant, would he bite? “I think I could help the cause,” Longwell said. “[The consultant] better be some guy whose kicked before and not some guy who has never kicked a football in his life.”
Longwell said established NFL kickers like Robbie Gould, Phil Dawson and Adam Vinatieri have differing kicking styles. All, however, had similar mental approaches that kept their stroke smooth. “Their head position and eye position is absolutely perfect to allow the leg to swing through and start the ball where you are aiming,” Longwell said. “If you can’t start the ball where you are aiming, you got no chance.”
“There’s no such thing as an easy kick and there’s no such thing as a chip shot,” Longwell said. “The best of the best and the best coaches know how to keep the calm and keep everything in rhythm. When you miss one, there’s no panic on the next one. You still slow it back down. When you speed up, you try to swing harder. When you swing harder, your leg comes through, your head comes down lower, you keep your eyes on the ball too long. Everything [is] jammed. And when everything [is] jammed going faster, kicks miss high and right or they miss low left. That’s one thing most coaches don’t understand. These high school and college coaches go to kicking camps that are taught how to kick, but they’re not taught how to be a kicker.”
Zulgad asked Longwell if the Vikings called him and asked him to join the team as a kicking consultant, would he bite? “I think I could help the cause,” Longwell said. “[The consultant] better be some guy whose kicked before and not some guy who has never kicked a football in his life.”
LIVE WELL ~ LOVE MUCH ~ LAUGH OFTEN
