Successful Onsides Kicking

[William Harrell]

Coaches,

I have seen a umber of coaches that subscribe to kicking onside at all times. What I want to know, however, is there anyone on the board who can say they have a great track record of recovering Kickoffs? If so, what do you do and how do you do it?

[YCarr]

Last year we recovered 1 or 2 a game. 

We have 2 onside kicks that we use. 

1) We place the ball next to the tee on its side, tips pointed towards the sidelines.  We form a wall next to the kicker who kicks the ball slowly rolling towards the 1st line middle of the field defender.  The 2 players closest (L&R) of the kicker are our "gunners".  They are supposed to smack the sh!t outta the front line guy we kick at.  The next 4 players (2 to the left, 2 to the right) are supposed to get in there and get after the ball.  You can also have the next 4 form a wall around the ball while the kicker comes in and scoops it.

2)  Traditional.  We use a similar tactic, placing our 2 fastest best hitters to my sideline.  We always kick to me.  I stand on the sideline where I want the ball to give the kicker a visual aid.  My #1 gunner smack the EMLOS while the #2 Gunner goes for the ball, with #3 and #4 close behind. 

If nothing else, they don't get a return, or I get an extra possession.

[jkoester]

We got 7 in 8 games last year.  Got 3 in one game, so it's not quite as impressive as it sounds - so we recovered a kick in 5 of our 8 games.  And we didn't have anyone pick up and return an on-sides kicks.

Our priority is #1 no return, #2 get the ball.  We aim sideline about 15 yards down the field - try to pop it past the first line.  Several of our recoveries were unopposed, the return team had nobody there.  We send our fastest sure-handed kid straight down the sideline to try to keep the ball in bounds, he recovered at least 4 of those 7.

We have a few not go 10 yards because of the extreme angle we kick, and that's okay.  We also have had a couple go OB, and that's okay - nobody has ever elected to have us re-kick.  I wouldn't either, not with that field position vs. risking losing the ball on the next one.

[joshv155]

Last year we recovered 1 or 2 a game. 

We have 2 onside kicks that we use. 

1) We place the ball next to the tee on its side, tips pointed towards the sidelines.  We form a wall next to the kicker who kicks the ball slowly rolling towards the 1st line middle of the field defender.  The 2 players closest (L&R) of the kicker are our "gunners".  They are supposed to smack the sh!t outta the front line guy we kick at.  The next 4 players (2 to the left, 2 to the right) are supposed to get in there and get after the ball.  You can also have the next 4 form a wall around the ball while the kicker comes in and scoops it.

2)  Traditional.  We use a similar tactic, placing our 2 fastest best hitters to my sideline.  We always kick to me.  I stand on the sideline where I want the ball to give the kicker a visual aid.  My #1 gunner smack the EMLOS while the #2 Gunner goes for the ball, with #3 and #4 close behind. 

If nothing else, they don't get a return, or I get an extra possession.

Yao -

Do you have any video of the #1 kick your talking about ? Was gonna try and run DP's mortar kick if I can train someone up to do it....but would like to have another option as well to keep them guessing.

[YCarr]

Josh,

Yes.  Let me figure out how to get it to you.

[William Harrell]

We got 7 in 8 games last year.  Got 3 in one game, so it's not quite as impressive as it sounds - so we recovered a kick in 5 of our 8 games.  And we didn't have anyone pick up and return an on-sides kicks.

Our priority is #1 no return, #2 get the ball.  We aim sideline about 15 yards down the field - try to pop it past the first line.  Several of our recoveries were unopposed, the return team had nobody there.  We send our fastest sure-handed kid straight down the sideline to try to keep the ball in bounds, he recovered at least 4 of those 7.

We have a few not go 10 yards because of the extreme angle we kick, and that's okay.  We also have had a couple go OB, and that's okay - nobody has ever elected to have us re-kick.  I wouldn't either, not with that field position vs. risking losing the ball on the next one.

Coach, that sounds like a good system. But I'm the opposite in priority. Im #1 get the ball #2 no return. I have a actual Kickoff scheme I composed of various stolen parts (yes, I'm a thief  ). But it is an actual side of the ball; in other words, it is extensive and would take time to install. Time away from offense and defense.

GaCoachYCarr, I like your Kickoff. It might be stolen. 

[jkoester]

Ours is extremely simple because of those priorities.  If my priority was get the ball back first, then I'd probably be obliged to make it a lot more complicated.  But because our main idea is to avoid a return, we can simplify to the point where we don't have to spend a ton of time on it.  We spend maybe 15 minutes a week repping it rapid fire.

We are also in MA, so we play under NCAA rules.  We can't hit the receiving team until the ball is live, meaning 10 yards or they touch it.

I certainly am not advocating what we do - it's just something I made up.  But it's simple and it fits our priorities, and we don't have to spend a ton of time on it.

let me add - we might have our best kicker so far this year, so I might have him try to lob it up over the first row if there's nobody there.  I'd probably call it just before the kick once I see where the return team is.  If they have a kid there, it goes on the ground.  If not, pop it over and go get it.

[YCarr]

Yao -

Do you have any video of the #1 kick your talking about ? Was gonna try and run DP's mortar kick if I can train someone up to do it....but would like to have another option as well to keep them guessing.

Could have been, better, more aggressive, but it worked.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HKLoKLV_nk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HKLoKLV_nk</a>

[joshv155]

I like it. Thanks for the posting the video. So many times last year our kicker either didn't get the ball 10 yards or kicked it out of bounds on our onsides kick. Hopefully I can train up a kicker on DP's Mortar kick and this......nice variation.

[William Harrell]

Could have been, better, more aggressive, but it worked.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HKLoKLV_nk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HKLoKLV_nk</a>

One last question; are you guys scouted? Our county does a lot of it; filmwork and guys sent from upcoming opponents watching games. I know it usually depends on what youth league you're in. Some don't at all, while others are like mine in middle school.

[YCarr]

Yes.  Heavily.

There is a "fee" service that everyone subscribes to.  Allows you to watch every game from every team in your age group online.

[William Harrell]

Thanks, coach. Just wanted to make sure before I proceeded to use this attack.

[YCarr]

Keep in mind we mix it up.  If you look at the tape this coach (8-0 team) had MPP types in the middle of the field.  I wait to see how thwyvalign and identify where we will kick, middle, sideline or deep.  I never kick deep unless the coach brings his studs up.

[ramscoach]

What worked extremely well for us last year was placing the ball on the far hash mark away from the side we kick it too. We then kick it really hard aiming for where the 15 yd mark intersects the opposite sideline. What this creates is a very hard, spinning and sometimes bouncing ball traveling horizontally all the way across the kicking teams front line. When it hits the 10 yd mark on the other side of the field, my guys are there and it's incredibly difficult for the receiving team to field that kick. We recovered in the neighborhood of 75% of our onsides kicks last year and gave up 0 yards of return on them. Conversely, when kicking deep because we were way ahead we gave up a TD and had a couple of scares.

[Coach56]

My team has played 4 games and took an onside in each game. We use a technique like Ramscoach just said. We go far hash, 6 kids on our side of the ball...

We put the ball on the tee laces down and pointed right where we are kicking it. It's slanted on the tee very minimally or not at all. We usually kick it around the 10-15 yd mark. One game we got the ball because it didn't look like it would roll 10 yds and the kid left it alone and we jumped on it right as it crossed the line.