The Kicker Tryout: How to Handle the Twenty Minutes That Decide Your Season
A tryout is not a test of how good you are. It is a test of how good you are on a strange field, in front of people you have never met, with no warm-up you controlled and roughly twelve kicks to make your case.
Here is what almost nobody tells you about tryouts. The kicker who gets the spot is rarely the one with the longest leg. It is usually the one who looked the most reliable — consistent contact, sensible decisions, a visible routine, and no visible panic when something went wrong.
That is genuinely good news, because reliability is far more coachable in the two weeks before a tryout than distance is. And it means the preparation that actually helps is different from the preparation most kickers do, which is to spend a fortnight trying to add five yards.
This guide covers what coaches are actually looking at, how to prepare in the weeks beforehand, how to handle the day itself, what to do when something goes wrong mid-tryout, and how to follow up afterwards.
📋 What’s in this guide
What Coaches Are Actually Looking At
Understanding this changes your entire preparation, because most kickers optimise for the wrong thing.
Consistency, above everything. A coach watching ten kicks is trying to predict the eleventh. Eight makes from 35 yards with identical mechanics predicts better than a spectacular 50-yarder surrounded by four misses. Variance is what coaches are frightened of, because variance is what loses games.
Contact quality. Experienced coaches can hear it. A clean strike sounds different from a mishit, and it tells them more about your technique than the result does.
Whether you have a routine. A visible, repeated pre-kick routine signals that you have been coached, that you practise deliberately, and that you have something to hold onto under pressure. Its absence signals the opposite.
How you respond to a miss. Possibly the single most revealing thing at a tryout. A kicker who misses, resets and hits the next one has demonstrated something no make can demonstrate.
Honesty about your range. If asked how far you can kick, an inflated answer gets exposed within four attempts and colours everything afterwards.
Whether you are coachable. If a coach gives you a cue mid-tryout, they are partly testing whether you can take it on board. Trying it visibly matters more than whether it immediately works.
Coaches are not asking “how good is this kicker?” They are asking “can I predict what this kicker will do in October?”
Common Tryout Formats
You may not be told in advance, so be prepared for any of these.
| Format | What happens | What is being tested | How to approach it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight-on ladder | Kicks from increasing distance | Range and where accuracy falls off | Clean contact early; stop volunteering beyond your honest range |
| Fixed-distance block | Multiple kicks from one spot | Consistency and repeatability | Identical routine every rep; resist changing anything |
| Angle work | Kicks from both hashes | Whether you can handle your awkward side | Same routine; adjust aim, not mechanics |
| Full operation | With snapper and holder | Timing and adaptability | Adapt to their timing; do not coach them |
| Kickoffs | Distance and hang measured | Placement and hang time | Ask what they want before kicking |
| Competition or elimination | Kick-off against other kickers | Performance under pressure | Treat every kick as independent |
| Cold start | Minimal warm-up allowed | Readiness and adaptability | Warm up before you arrive |
The cold start is the one that catches people out. Some tryouts give you five minutes and start. If you have arrived un-warmed-up expecting a normal build-up, your first three kicks — the ones that form the first impression — are taken on cold tissue. Assume you will get less warm-up than you want.
💡 Arrive already warm. Do your mobility, activation and general warm-up before you get out of the car or before you reach the field. Then whatever warm-up you are given is a bonus rather than a necessity. This one adjustment has probably saved more tryouts than any technical tip on this page.
The Two Weeks Before
Preparation should target reliability, not distance. Distance does not meaningfully improve in a fortnight; consistency does.
- Change nothing technical. A tryout is the worst possible moment to be mid-correction. Whatever mechanics you have, take those.
- Practise your working range, not your maximum. Most tryout kicks happen at distances you should be making comfortably. Being excellent from 30 to 40 is worth more than being occasionally spectacular from 50.
- Drill your routine until it is automatic. This is the highest-value fortnight investment. It is what holds you together when the environment is strange.
- Practise cold starts. Warm up, wait fifteen minutes, then kick. That is what the day will feel like.
- Practise being watched. Get anyone — a friend, a parent, a teammate — to stand and watch you kick. It is surprisingly different, and the surprise is better encountered in advance.
- Practise from both hashes. Especially your awkward side, which is where a tryout will find you out.
- Establish your honest range. The distance you make eight times out of ten in ordinary conditions. Write it down. That is the number you will give a coach.
- Do not increase your volume. Arriving at a tryout with a tired or sore leg because you panicked and doubled your practice is a genuinely common self-inflicted failure.
The Day Itself
A sequence, because having one removes decisions when you are nervous.
Arrive early. Walk the field, note the wind at both ends, check the surface, work out where the sun is. This is free information that most people at the tryout will not have gathered.
Warm up before you are asked to. As above — assume the formal warm-up will be shorter than you want.
Introduce yourself to the coach. Name, position, that you are glad to be there. Ten seconds. It makes you a person rather than a number on a list, and it costs nothing.
Ask what they want. Particularly for kickoffs. “Do you want these deep, or directional?” signals that you understand the job.
Start conservatively. First kicks clean and comfortable. Establish that you are reliable before you attempt to be impressive.
Use your routine every single time. Including the throwaway warm-up kicks. Coaches are watching then too.
Give an honest range if asked. Your eight-out-of-ten number, adjusted for today’s conditions.
Watch and respond when others are kicking. Stay engaged, stay warm, and do not stand apart from the group.
When It Starts Going Wrong
It will, at some point, and this is the section worth reading twice — because how you handle it is itself being assessed.
Simplify rather than analyse. Mid-tryout is not the time for mechanical diagnosis. Shorten your focus to one thing — usually your plant or your finish — and swing.
Go back to your routine deliberately. Slower, more complete, more obvious. When things unravel it is almost always because the routine got compressed.
Do not chase distance to compensate. The instinct after two misses is to prove yourself with a long one. It rarely works and it makes a bad sequence look worse.
Reset physically. A breath, a step back, a look at the target. Visible composure is itself a positive signal.
Never show frustration outwardly. Not because feelings are wrong, but because a coach watching a kicker throw their head back after a miss is learning something about October.
Treat the next kick as independent. It genuinely is. The only thing carrying anything over is you. Our mental preparation guide covers building this reset properly.
⚠️ The recovery is more visible than the miss. Coaches expect misses at a tryout — strange field, cold start, nerves, no rhythm. What they are genuinely watching for is what the next kick looks like. A kicker who misses two and then hits four in a row has demonstrated something considerably more valuable than a kicker who made the first six and was never tested.
The Part That Is Not Kicking
Frequently decisive, and almost entirely within your control.
Be early. Late to a tryout is an answer to a question the coach did not have to ask.
Look organised. Right kit, both pairs of shoes, water, nothing borrowed at the last minute.
Be useful. Help collect balls. Hold for another kicker if asked. Coaches notice who behaves like a teammate before they have a place on the team.
Be quiet about other kickers. Comparing yourself out loud, positively or negatively, reads badly every time.
Answer questions directly. Including “how far can you kick?” and “what are you working on?” A kicker who says “I’m working on my plant foot consistency” sounds like someone who trains deliberately.
Thank the coach afterwards. Briefly, sincerely, and then leave rather than lingering for a verdict.
What to Bring
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Kicking Shoes (Both Surfaces)
The Most Common Preventable Failure
You may not know the surface until you arrive, and the wrong outsole on a strange field is how a good kicker has a bad tryout. Bring broken-in options for both turf and grass.
✅ What’s good
- Covers whatever surface you find
- Consistent feel under pressure
- No adaptation needed
- Removes a real failure mode
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Two pairs to carry
- Needs breaking in beforehand
👤 Best for: Every kicker attending a tryout on an unfamiliar field.
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Sports Bag with Shoe Compartment
Looking Organised Matters
Turning up with everything you need, in one bag, separated properly, is a small signal that gets noticed. It also means you are not borrowing anything from anyone five minutes before you kick.
✅ What’s good
- Both shoe options carried cleanly
- Room for layers, water, log
- Keeps muddy studs separate
- Durable
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Bulkier to carry
- Another purchase
👤 Best for: Anyone attending a tryout at an unfamiliar venue.
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Insulated Water Bottle
A Long Day of Waiting and Kicking
Tryouts involve a lot of standing around punctuated by short bursts of precision. Mild dehydration degrades concentration and fine motor control well before you feel thirsty.
✅ What’s good
- Easy to keep drinking regularly
- Holds temperature all day
- Durable on a field
- Cheap
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Extra weight
- Needs cleaning
👤 Best for: Everyone. Especially outdoor tryouts in heat.
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Resistance Band Set
Warming Up Before You Arrive
The single most useful tryout adjustment is arriving already warm. A band set lets you do activation and mobility work in a car park or a corner of the field before anything formal begins.
✅ What’s good
- Enables warming up anywhere
- Packs into a bag pocket
- Covers activation and mobility
- Cheap
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Needs correct technique
- Bands perish over time
👤 Best for: Kickers facing a tryout with an unknown or minimal warm-up allowance.
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Training Cones
Marking Your Steps on a Strange Field
Unfamiliar fields have unfamiliar markings, and setting your steps quickly and accurately matters more when you only get a handful of kicks. Cones make that thirty seconds instead of guesswork.
✅ What’s good
- Fast, accurate setup anywhere
- Also the key practice drill tool
- Packs flat
- Trivially cheap
⚠️ Keep in mind
- May not be allowed mid-tryout
- Easy to leave behind
👤 Best for: Kickers preparing on a field they have never used.
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Training Log
Knowing Your Own Numbers
When a coach asks how far you can kick, the credible answer comes from records rather than optimism. A log means your honest range is a figure you have, not a guess you make on the spot.
✅ What’s good
- Gives you a defensible range figure
- Reveals your true consistency
- Cheap and simple
- Useful long after the tryout
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Requires the habit
- Easy to abandon
👤 Best for: Any kicker who has ever guessed at their own range under pressure.
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Afterwards
Whatever the result, the hour after a tryout is worth using.
Write down what happened while it is fresh. How many kicks, from where, how many made, what went wrong, how you felt. This becomes genuinely useful preparation for the next one.
Ask for feedback if there is an appropriate moment. Briefly and without pressing. “Is there anything you’d want me to work on?” is a good question and it signals the right attitude.
Do not read the room. Kickers routinely leave tryouts certain they failed and get called, or certain they did well and do not. You have no reliable information about the decision.
If you do not get it, ask why. Politely, once. Some coaches will tell you something specific and useful, and that is worth more than the spot would have been in some cases.
Go back to your normal training. Not a panic block, not a two-week break. The next opportunity is prepared for the same way as this one.
If you did get it, the job changes immediately. Our training programme guide covers building the in-season structure that keeps you in the position.
Common Mistakes
❌ 1. Preparing by chasing distance
Distance barely moves in a fortnight; consistency does. And consistency is what coaches are assessing.
✅ Fix: Drill your working range and your routine, not your maximum.
❌ 2. Arriving un-warmed-up
Cold starts are common, and your first three kicks form the first impression.
✅ Fix: Complete your warm-up before arriving at the field.
❌ 3. Overstating your range
It gets exposed within four attempts and colours everything after that.
✅ Fix: Give your honest eight-out-of-ten number for today’s conditions.
❌ 4. Visible frustration after a miss
The recovery is more visible than the miss, and it is being assessed.
✅ Fix: Practise a deliberate physical reset until it is automatic.
❌ 5. Being mid-correction on the day
A half-embedded technical change is worse than the fault it was replacing.
✅ Fix: Freeze technical work for the fortnight before.
❌ 6. Doubling your practice volume beforehand
A sore leg on the day is a common and entirely self-inflicted failure.
✅ Fix: Keep normal volume; reduce slightly in the final few days.
❌ 7. Chasing a long one after two misses
The instinct to prove yourself makes a bad sequence look considerably worse.
✅ Fix: Go shorter and cleaner. Re-establish reliability first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do coaches look for at a kicker tryout?
Consistency above everything — they are trying to predict what you will do in October, and variance is what frightens them. Clean contact, a visible routine, and how you respond to a miss all matter more than one long kick.
They are also assessing whether you are coachable, honest about your range, and behaving like a teammate before you have a place on the team.
How should I prepare in the two weeks before a tryout?
Target reliability rather than distance. Drill your routine until it is automatic, practise your working range rather than your maximum, work from both hashes, and rehearse cold starts.
Change nothing technical, and do not increase your volume — arriving with a sore leg is a common self-inflicted failure.
What should I say when asked how far I can kick?
Your honest number — the distance you make roughly eight times out of ten in ordinary conditions, adjusted for the day. Keep a training log so it is a figure you have rather than a guess you make under pressure.
Inflating it gets exposed within a few attempts and undermines everything else you did.
What do I do if I miss early in a tryout?
Simplify rather than analyse, go back to your routine deliberately and slowly, and treat the next kick as an independent event — because it is.
Do not chase a long one to compensate. Coaches expect misses at tryouts; what they are actually watching is what the next kick looks like.
How much warm-up will I get?
Often less than you want, and sometimes almost none. Assume a cold start and complete your mobility, activation and general warm-up before you reach the field.
That single adjustment protects the first few kicks, which are the ones that form the coach’s first impression.
Should I ask for feedback afterwards?
Yes, briefly and without pressing. “Is there anything you’d want me to work on?” signals the right attitude and sometimes produces genuinely useful information.
If you do not get the spot, it is also reasonable to ask once, politely, why. Some coaches will give you something specific and actionable.
What Coaches See Versus What Kickers Think Matters
The gap between these two columns explains most of what goes wrong at tryouts — not because kickers are careless, but because they are optimising sincerely for the wrong thing.
| What kickers focus on | What coaches are actually weighing | Why the difference matters |
|---|---|---|
| Longest kick of the session | Make rate from ordinary distances | Most kicks in a season come from 30–45 yards |
| Whether each kick went in | Whether the mechanics looked repeatable | They are predicting October, not scoring today |
| Recovering from a miss quietly | Exactly how you responded to it | The recovery is more visible than the miss |
| Sounding confident about range | Whether your stated range survives contact | An inflated number is exposed in four kicks |
| Not looking inexperienced | Whether you took a coaching cue on board | Coachability is being tested directly |
| Staying out of the way | Whether you behave like a teammate | Collecting balls and staying engaged is noticed |
| Impressing on the first kick | Consistency across all of them | Variance is what actually loses games |
Every row in that right-hand column is more coachable in a fortnight than distance is. That is the practical takeaway: the things a coach is genuinely weighing are almost entirely things you can prepare for in two weeks, whereas the thing most kickers spend those two weeks chasing barely moves in that time.
It also explains why a kicker can leave a tryout feeling they did badly and still get the spot. If you missed three but your mechanics stayed identical, your routine never wavered and you hit the next four, a coach watching closely saw something considerably more reassuring than a kicker who made six and was never tested.
Tryout Checklist
- Technical work frozen for the two weeks before
- Routine drilled until automatic
- Working range practised, not maximum range
- Cold starts rehearsed
- Kicking while watched rehearsed
- Both hashes practised, especially the awkward side
- Honest eight-out-of-ten range established and written down
- Volume kept normal, reduced slightly in the final days
- Broken-in shoes for both surfaces packed
- Fully warmed up before arriving at the field
- Field walked — wind, surface, sun
- Coach introduced to, briefly
- Asked what they want, especially on kickoffs
- Routine used on every kick including warm-ups
- A rehearsed physical reset for after a miss
- Helped collect balls; stayed engaged
- Thanked the coach and left without lingering
- Written up the same day while fresh
The bottom line: a tryout measures predictability, not ceiling. Arrive warm because the warm-up will be short, start conservatively because reliability is the case you are making, use your routine on every kick because its presence is itself evidence, give an honest range because the alternative gets found out, and practise your reset because the miss matters far less than what follows it. Almost none of that requires you to kick the ball further than you can today.
Keep Going
⏰ Pre-Game RoutineThe routine you will lean on
🎓 Getting RecruitedThe longer road
🏕️ Kicking CampsGetting qualified coaching first
As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. General preparation guidance — tryout formats and expectations vary widely by programme and level.