Choosing a Kicking Coach: How to Find One, Vet One, and Know When to Leave
Kicking coaching is an unregulated market where the buyers usually cannot evaluate the product. That does not make it a bad purchase — it makes it one worth doing carefully.
Here is the difficulty in a sentence. The reason you need a coach is that you cannot see your own faults. Which means you also cannot easily judge whether the person you hired is identifying them correctly.
That circularity is why kickers end up with coaches who rebuild everyone the same way, or who charge for a season of sessions that produce nothing, or who are technically fine but never actually watch closely enough to notice the thing that matters.
It is also why a genuinely good coach is one of the highest-value purchases available to a kicker. One hour with someone who spots a plant fault can save six months of practising it. This guide covers how to find one, what to ask, what good coaching looks like in practice, and the signals that it is time to move on.
📋 What’s in this guide
Do You Need a Coach?
Worth answering honestly before spending anything.
Strong case for coaching: you have a consistent miss pattern you cannot fix, you have plateaued for months, you have never had anyone qualified watch you, or you are trying to make a significant technical change.
Weaker case: you are early enough that basic repetition is still producing gains, you already have access to a competent coach at your programme, or you have not yet tried filming yourself — which is free and solves a surprising amount.
The consistent miss pattern is the clearest indicator. If most of your misses go the same direction, there is a specific mechanical cause, it is almost certainly at the plant, and it is exactly what an untrained eye cannot see. That is the purest case for paying someone.
Do the free things first. Film from directly behind, log your miss directions, run the cone plant drill. If those resolve it, you have saved the money. If they do not, you arrive at your first session with genuinely useful information.
Turn up with film and a specific question and you will get more from one hour than most kickers get from three.
The Types of Coaching Available
They are different products at different prices, and mixing them up is the most common early error.
| Type | What you get | Best for | Main limitation | Cost level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-off assessment | A qualified diagnosis and a plan | Finding a fault you cannot see | No follow-up unless you book more | Low to moderate |
| Ongoing private lessons | Regular in-person correction | Making a real technical change | Cost accumulates; needs proximity | Moderate to high |
| Remote video coaching | Film review and written feedback | Kickers far from any coach | Cannot see what film misses | Low to moderate |
| Group sessions | Shared coaching time | Cost-effective general work | Ratio determines the value | Low |
| Instructional camps | Concentrated teaching over days | No local coaching available | Weekend intensity, little follow-up | Moderate |
| Showcases and combines | Measurement and ranking | Already-recruitable kickers | Little or no teaching | Moderate to high |
The last row is not coaching. It is evaluation, sold in the same places and often by the same organisations. Both can be legitimate, but if you are trying to get better, the bottom row is the wrong purchase. Our camps guide covers that distinction in detail.
For most kickers, start with a one-off assessment. It is the cheapest way to find out whether coaching helps you, and a good coach will tell you honestly whether ongoing work is worthwhile.
Where to Find One
The market is fragmented, so this takes a little work.
Ask your programme first. Coaches, athletic directors and older specialists often know who is genuinely good locally. This is the highest-quality source available and it costs nothing.
Ask other kickers. Especially ones who have visibly improved. “Who did you work with?” is a completely normal question.
Look for former kickers and punters who coach. Playing background is not the same as coaching ability, but the ones who have both tend to spot specialist faults faster.
Check local camps and clinics for the coaches, not the events. A one-day clinic is often a cheap way to meet a coach you might work with properly afterwards.
Consider remote coaching if you are geographically stuck. Video-based feedback is genuinely useful for mechanical faults, which are precisely what film shows well.
Be careful with pure social media reputation. Visibility and coaching ability are different things, and the best local coach is frequently not the most visible one.
Vetting Before You Pay
A short list of questions. How they answer matters as much as what they answer.
- What is your background? Playing, coaching, who they have worked with. Specifics rather than generalities.
- How do you assess a new kicker? A good answer involves watching, filming and diagnosing before changing anything. A concerning answer starts with what they will teach you.
- Do you film, and do I keep the footage? Film is central to modern kicking coaching, and footage you keep is worth far more than footage you watch once.
- What do I leave with? A written plan, drills, priorities. If the answer is “you’ll remember”, you will not.
- How many changes will we work on? One at a time is the right answer. Anyone proposing to rebuild several things simultaneously has not thought about how motor learning works.
- How do you manage kicking volume in a session? A coach unconcerned with rep count is a coach who has not thought about your hips.
- Can I speak to someone you have coached? Reasonable to ask; a genuine reason for declining is acceptable, deflection is not.
- For a minor: what safeguarding checks and qualifications do you hold? A completely normal question that a professional will answer without hesitation. If anyone is evasive about it, walk away.
⚠️ If the coaching is for a young person, treat safeguarding as a threshold rather than a bonus. Ask about background checks, qualifications and their policy on one-to-one sessions, and expect sessions to be in open, observable settings with a parent able to attend. A legitimate coach will have straightforward answers and will not be offended by the question. Anyone who is evasive, discourages a parent attending, or wants to move communication to private channels with a minor is not someone to work with, regardless of their reputation.
What Good Coaching Looks Like
So you can recognise it once you are in the session.
They watch before they talk. A good coach spends the first portion of a session observing and filming, not instructing. You cannot diagnose what you have not seen.
They diagnose specifically. “Your plant toe is pointing about ten degrees left at landing, which is closing your hips early” is coaching. “You need to follow through more” is commentary.
They change one thing. And they explain why that one, and what it should fix.
They show you the evidence. On film, paused at the relevant frame. Being shown your fault is far more persuasive and more durable than being told about it.
They warn you about the dip. A coach who does not tell you that a correction will feel worse for two to three weeks has set you up to abandon it.
They give you something to do. Specific drills, a rep count, a timeframe, and a way to check whether it is working.
They are honest about what they cannot fix. Including telling you that you do not need more sessions, or that your problem is load or equipment rather than technique.
They respect your existing coaching. A good private coach asks what your programme coach has told you rather than contradicting it casually.
Warning Signs
None is automatically disqualifying, but each deserves scrutiny.
| Warning sign | Why it matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Rebuilds every kicker the same way | Applying a template, not coaching an individual | Ask why that change suits you |
| Changes several things at once | Produces confusion; nothing can be attributed | Ask to prioritise one |
| No filming, or you do not keep it | Removes your evidence and your reference | Ask; consider looking elsewhere |
| Guarantees outcomes or exposure | Promises about other people’s decisions | Treat as a serious red flag |
| Unconcerned with rep volume | Injury risk, particularly for young kickers | Manage it yourself; raise it |
| Talks more than watches | Cannot diagnose what they did not observe | Ask them to watch a set first |
| Dismisses your programme coach | Creates conflicting instruction you must resolve | Ask how the advice fits together |
| Vague or evasive on safeguarding | Non-negotiable where a minor is involved | Walk away |
| Pushes a package before assessing you | Selling rather than coaching | Book a single session first |
The template coach is the most common of these. Someone who teaches one specific style and reshapes every kicker into it will help the kickers whose faults happen to match that style and will actively harm the ones whose do not. Ask why a proposed change suits you specifically — the answer reveals a great deal.
Equipment
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Phone Tripod
Turn Up With Evidence
A coach who can see three weeks of your kicking before you take a swing is a coach who can help you faster. Film is also how you check afterwards whether the correction actually held.
✅ What’s good
- Makes your first session more productive
- Verifies whether a change held
- Essential for remote coaching
- Cheap
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Needs stable ground
- Requires a consistent position
👤 Best for: Anyone about to pay for coaching — it multiplies what you get for the money.
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Training Log
Arriving With Data Instead of Impressions
“I miss left about seven times out of ten from beyond 35” is a diagnostic starting point. “It’s been going badly” is not. A log makes your first session start twenty minutes ahead.
✅ What’s good
- Gives a coach real data
- Verifies improvement afterwards
- Cheap and simple
- Useful independently
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Requires the habit
- Easy to abandon
👤 Best for: Kickers wanting the most from a paid hour.
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Training Cones
Doing the Homework Between Sessions
A good coach sends you away with drills, and most of them need a cone. The improvement happens in the six weeks between sessions, not during the hour you paid for.
✅ What’s good
- Enables the drills you are given
- Highest-value drill tool
- Packs completely flat
- Trivially cheap
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Move in wind
- Need collecting
👤 Best for: Anyone with a drill plan from a coach and nothing to mark it with.
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Football Kicking Net
Volume Between Paid Sessions
Coaching identifies the change; repetition embeds it. A net makes the between-session repetition practical without needing a field, a holder or someone to fetch balls.
✅ What’s good
- Makes the homework practical
- Works alone
- Removes field dependency
- Folds for storage
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Needs space
- No accuracy feedback
👤 Best for: Kickers whose coaching keeps not sticking because they cannot practise enough.
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Extendable Tripod
For Remote Coaching Angles
Remote coaching lives or dies on footage quality. A taller tripod lets you shoot the elevated behind-view as well as ground level, which gives a remote coach considerably more to work with.
✅ What’s good
- Better angles for remote review
- More stable on uneven ground
- Adjustable height
- Reusable for team filming
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Bulkier than a mini tripod
- More expensive
👤 Best for: Kickers using video-based coaching because no local coach exists.
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Footballs (Practice Set)
Making Sessions Efficient
Paid coaching time spent collecting balls is paid coaching time wasted. Turning up with several balls is a small thing that meaningfully increases the reps per session.
✅ What’s good
- More reps per paid hour
- Keeps rhythm intact
- Useful for solo work too
- Long lifespan
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Bulky to transport
- Needs inflation checks
👤 Best for: Anyone paying by the hour for coaching.
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Getting Value From the Relationship
The coach supplies the diagnosis. You supply almost everything else.
Do the work between sessions. The improvement happens in the six weeks after, not during the hour. A kicker who does the drills gets far more from three sessions than one who does not gets from ten.
Report back honestly. Including when something is not working. A coach who does not know the correction failed cannot adjust it.
Send film between sessions if they will look at it. Many will, briefly, especially if you ask a specific question.
Do not shop for second opinions casually. Conflicting instruction from two coaches is worse than imperfect instruction from one. If you want another view, tell both.
Give a change proper time. Six to eight weeks before judging. Changing coaches during the dip means you will never find out whether anything works.
Know when it is done. Good coaching relationships often reach a natural end. A coach who tells you that you no longer need regular sessions is being honest, not losing interest.
And know when to leave. If nothing has changed in months, if you are being sold more before anything has worked, or if you feel worse and no explanation is offered — those are legitimate reasons to move on.
Common Mistakes
❌ 1. Paying before doing the free things
Filming yourself and logging miss directions solve a surprising amount and make a paid session far more productive.
✅ Fix: Film, log, then book — and arrive with both.
❌ 2. Buying evaluation when you needed instruction
Showcases measure; they do not teach. Sold in the same places, entirely different products.
✅ Fix: Decide which you are buying and verify the coach delivers that one.
❌ 3. Accepting a template rebuild
A coach who reshapes everyone the same way helps some kickers and harms others.
✅ Fix: Ask why that specific change suits you.
❌ 4. Working on several changes at once
Produces confusion and makes it impossible to know what helped.
✅ Fix: Ask to prioritise one, properly, for six to eight weeks.
❌ 5. Not doing the between-session work
The hour identifies the change; the following weeks embed it.
✅ Fix: Treat the drill plan as the actual product you bought.
❌ 6. Changing coaches during the dip
Corrections reliably feel worse first. Switching then guarantees you never learn what works.
✅ Fix: Give any change a fixed number of weeks before judging it.
❌ 7. Skipping the safeguarding question for a minor
It is a threshold requirement, not an awkward extra.
✅ Fix: Ask about checks, qualifications and session settings. Evasiveness ends it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a kicking coach?
The clearest case is a consistent miss pattern you cannot fix — most misses going the same direction almost always means a specific mechanical fault, usually at the plant, and that is exactly what an untrained eye cannot see.
Before paying, do the free things: film from directly behind, log your miss directions, and run the cone plant drill. If they resolve it you have saved the money; if not, you arrive with genuinely useful information.
How do I know if a kicking coach is any good?
Good coaches watch and film before they instruct, diagnose specifically rather than generally, change one thing at a time, show you the evidence on film, and warn you that a correction will feel worse for a few weeks.
They also tell you honestly when you do not need more sessions, and when your problem is load or equipment rather than technique.
What should I ask before booking?
Their background specifically, how they assess a new kicker, whether they film and whether you keep the footage, what you leave with, how many changes they will work on, and how they manage rep volume in a session.
If the kicker is a minor, also ask about safeguarding checks, qualifications and session settings — a professional will answer without hesitation.
Is remote video coaching worth it?
It can be genuinely useful, because mechanical faults are precisely what film shows well — plant position, toe direction, approach path and contact point are all visible on video.
Its limitation is that it cannot catch what the camera misses, so footage quality matters a lot. For kickers with no local coach, it is often the best option available.
How many sessions do I need?
Often fewer than you would expect. A single assessment that identifies a real fault, followed by six to eight weeks of doing the drills, produces more than a long series of sessions with no work in between.
The improvement happens between sessions rather than during them, which is why the drill plan is the thing you are actually buying.
When should I stop working with a coach?
When nothing has changed over months despite you doing the work, when you are being sold more before anything has worked, or when you feel worse with no explanation offered.
Equally, a good relationship often reaches a natural end — a coach telling you that you no longer need regular sessions is being honest rather than losing interest.
Coach Selection Checklist
- Free options tried first — film, miss log, cone drill
- Instruction versus evaluation decided deliberately
- Programme coaches and other kickers asked for recommendations
- Coach’s background asked about specifically
- Their assessment process understood before booking
- Filming confirmed, and that you keep the footage
- What you leave with confirmed — written plan and drills
- Confirmed they will work on one change at a time
- Rep volume management asked about
- Safeguarding checks and qualifications confirmed for a minor
- Sessions in open, observable settings; parent able to attend
- A single session booked before any package
- Turned up with film, a log and a specific question
- Between-session drills actually done
- Any change given six to eight weeks before judgement
- Progress verified on film, not on feel
The bottom line: a good kicking coach is one of the best purchases available to a kicker, and the market makes it hard to identify one. Do the free things first, book a single assessment rather than a package, and judge them on whether they watch before they talk, diagnose specifically, change one thing, and show you the film. For a young kicker, treat safeguarding as a threshold question. Then do the drills — because the hour you paid for identifies the change, and the six weeks afterwards are what actually produce it.
Keep Going
🎬 Video AnalysisWhat to bring to a session
📊 Measuring ProgressVerifying it worked
👪 Parent’s GuideSpending sensibly
As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. This article is general guidance on evaluating coaching services and does not endorse or review any specific coach or organisation. Where a young person is involved, always verify safeguarding arrangements and qualifications directly.