How to Measure Kicking Progress: The Numbers That Tell You If You Are Actually Improving
Ask a kicker if they have improved this year and you will get a feeling. Ask them for evidence and you will usually get their longest-ever kick, which is the least informative number available.
Here is the problem with judging your own progress. Feel is unreliable, memory is selective, and the number everyone quotes — maximum distance — measures one exceptional kick rather than the thing that actually wins games, which is what you do repeatedly from ordinary distances.
Without measurement you get two failure modes, and both are common. Kickers on a good run conclude they have improved when they have simply had a good fortnight. Kickers in a slump conclude they have got worse when a single measurable variable has drifted and could be fixed in a session.
This guide covers the metrics worth tracking, how to test properly so the numbers mean something, how often to do it, what realistic improvement actually looks like, and how to read a slump from your own data.
📋 What’s in this guide
Why Maximum Distance Is the Wrong Metric
It is the number every kicker quotes and it tells you the least.
It measures one kick. Your longest-ever attempt is a single data point, and single data points from the extreme end of a distribution are exactly where noise dominates. A good bounce of wind and a perfect strike on a warm day is not a capability.
It is not what you get asked to do. The overwhelming majority of kicks in a season come from ordinary distances. Being reliable from 30 to 45 decides far more games than being occasionally capable from 55.
It is highly condition-dependent. Wind, altitude, temperature and surface all move it. A personal best set with a tailwind at altitude is not comparable to anything.
It responds slowly. Genuine range gains take months of strength and technique work. Testing it fortnightly mostly measures how you slept.
What actually matters instead: consistency at working range, whether your mechanics are holding, and hang time. Those are trackable, they respond to training, and they are what coaches select on.
Your longest kick is a story. Your make rate from 40 is a fact.
The Metrics Worth Tracking
Six numbers. You do not need all of them, and the first two carry most of the value.
| Metric | What it tells you | How to measure | Responds in | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make rate by distance band | Actual reliability where it matters | 10 kicks per band, recorded | Weeks | Highest |
| Consistency of miss pattern | Whether one fault dominates | Log direction of every miss | Immediately | Highest |
| Hang time | What coverage depends on | Stopwatch, several kicks averaged | Weeks | High |
| Operation time | Whether the unit is inside its window | Stopwatch, full operation | Weeks | High if you have a unit |
| Plant position consistency | Whether mechanics are holding | Film, compare landing frames | Immediately | High |
| Comfortable range | The number coaches actually need | Distance you make 8 of 10 | Months | Moderate |
Start with make rate by distance band and miss direction. Together they answer both questions that matter: are you reliable, and if not, in which specific way. Everything else is refinement.
Distance bands, not individual distances. Group them — under 30, 30 to 39, 40 to 49, 50 plus. Ten kicks per band gives you a usable figure; tracking every individual yardage gives you a lot of numbers with no statistical meaning.
💡 Log the direction of every miss, always. It costs nothing and it is the single most diagnostic thing in this guide. Eight misses of which seven went left is not eight misses — it is one fault with seven pieces of evidence, and it is almost certainly a plant foot problem. Kickers who log direction find their fault in a fortnight; kickers who log only make-or-miss stay confused for a season.
How to Run a Proper Test
The point of a test is comparability. If the conditions of your test vary, the results tell you about the conditions rather than about you.
- Same day of the week, same time. Fatigue and time of day both affect performance, so hold them steady.
- Same warm-up, every time. Identical duration and content. Then start the test.
- Test fresh, not at the end of a session. Otherwise you are measuring accumulated fatigue.
- Same distances, same order. Ten kicks per band, working outward.
- Record conditions. Wind, surface, temperature. A windy test is not comparable to a calm one, and you need to know which was which.
- Record every kick. Make or miss, and the direction of every miss.
- Do not stop on a good one. Finish the protocol regardless. Stopping when it is going well inflates every figure you have.
- Film at least one band. Same angle, directly behind. That is your mechanical record alongside the numbers.
The discipline of finishing the protocol is the part people get wrong. It is genuinely tempting to abandon a test that is going badly, or to stop early when it is going well. Both destroy the value of the exercise, because your record then reflects your mood rather than your kicking.
How Often to Test
Frequent enough to catch drift, infrequent enough that noise does not swamp signal.
| Measurement | In season | Off season | Why that interval |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miss direction log | Every session | Every session | Free, and the most diagnostic thing you have |
| Make rate by band | Every 2–3 weeks | Monthly | Needs enough reps to be meaningful |
| Film check | Fortnightly | Monthly | Catches mechanical drift early |
| Hang time | Fortnightly | Monthly | Moves slowly; frequent testing adds noise |
| Operation time | Monthly | When the unit trains | Requires the whole unit present |
| Comfortable range | Monthly | Every 6–8 weeks | Responds over months, not weeks |
| Maximum range | Rarely | Every few months | Costs leg, tells you little |
Notice that the two most valuable inputs — miss direction and film — are also the cheapest. Neither requires extra kicks, extra fatigue or extra time. That is not a coincidence: the useful measurements in kicking are mostly observational rather than maximal.
⚠️ Testing maximum range frequently is actively counterproductive. It is the most fatiguing thing you can do, it responds over months rather than weeks, and it exposes you to the highest injury risk of any kick you take. Testing it every session costs you leg, tells you almost nothing new, and risks an injury in pursuit of a number nobody is asking you for.
What Real Improvement Looks Like
Calibrating your expectations prevents both false disappointment and false confidence.
Consistency improves first and fastest. A genuine mechanical correction shows up as a tighter miss pattern and a better make rate at working range within roughly six to eight weeks.
Range improves slowly. Meaningful distance gains come from strength, mobility and technical efficiency compounding over months. Expect to notice them across a season, not across a block.
Improvement is not monotonic. A correction typically makes things worse before better, so a dip immediately after a technical change is expected rather than alarming. This is the single most common reason kickers abandon a change that was working.
Judge across three tests, not one. Any single test is heavily affected by conditions, sleep and mood. Three consecutive tests trending in one direction is a signal; one good test is a good day.
The best evidence is a comparison. Film from six weeks ago against film from today, at the same angle. That answers “did the correction hold” more honestly than any number.
Our training programme guide covers how to structure the blocks these measurements are assessing.
Reading a Slump From Your Data
This is where the whole exercise pays for itself, because a slump with records is a diagnosis and a slump without records is a crisis.
First: is it actually a slump? Check your make rate against your own baseline. Kickers routinely panic over a run that is within normal variation.
Second: is the miss pattern consistent? If most misses are going the same direction, you have a specific mechanical fault, not a confidence problem. Usually a plant foot issue — our plant foot guide covers the diagnosis.
Third: compare film against a good period. Same angle, side by side. Drift that is invisible session to session is obvious across six weeks.
Fourth: check your steps. Re-measure from scratch. Step drift is silent, gradual and extremely common, and it is a thirty-second check.
Fifth: check the non-kicking variables. Sleep, volume, a new surface, new shoes, a change in the operation. Slumps often have mundane causes that never get considered.
Only then consider it psychological. Confidence problems are real, but they are frequently the consequence of an unnoticed mechanical drift rather than the cause of it. Diagnosing a plant fault as a mental issue sends you to the wrong solution for weeks.
Equipment
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Training Log
The Entire System, In One Notebook
Everything in this guide lives or dies on whether you write it down. Make rate, miss directions, conditions, hang times and test dates in one place is what turns a season of kicking into evidence you can reason about.
✅ What’s good
- Turns feelings into evidence
- Makes slumps diagnosable
- Compounds in value over seasons
- Costs almost nothing
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Requires the habit
- Easy to abandon mid-season
👤 Best for: Every kicker who has ever wondered whether they are actually improving.
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Stopwatch
Hang Time and Operation Time
Two of the six metrics need a stopwatch, and both are numbers coaches care about that most kickers have never measured. Fast, cheap, and it turns impressions into figures.
✅ What’s good
- Measures what coaches judge on
- Objective rather than impressionistic
- Trivially cheap
- Usable every session
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Some timings need a second person
- Phone timers less precise
👤 Best for: Kickers who can quote their longest kick but not their hang time.
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Phone Tripod
The Mechanical Record
Numbers tell you performance changed; film tells you why. A consistent camera position behind your plant foot is what makes six-week comparisons possible and turns a slump into a visible drift.
✅ What’s good
- Shows the cause behind the numbers
- Makes drift visible
- No helper required
- Cheap
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Needs stable ground
- Requires a consistent spot
👤 Best for: Anyone whose make rate has fallen without an obvious explanation.
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Measuring Wheel
Testing From Actual Distances
A test is only comparable if the distances are the same each time. On a field without clear markings, a measuring wheel is what makes “40 yards” mean 40 yards on every test day.
✅ What’s good
- Makes tests genuinely comparable
- Also useful for measuring distance achieved
- Reusable indefinitely
- Simple to use
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Unnecessary on a marked field
- Bulky to carry
👤 Best for: Kickers testing on unmarked fields or open ground.
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Training Cones
Marking Bands and Camera Position
Cones mark your test distances, your camera spot and your plant position — the three things that need to be identical between tests for the results to mean anything.
✅ What’s good
- Makes every test reproducible
- Also the key drill tool
- Packs completely flat
- Trivially cheap
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Move in wind
- Need collecting
👤 Best for: Everyone running a repeatable test protocol.
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Footballs (Practice Set)
Ten Kicks a Band Without Walking
A proper test is forty kicks across four bands. Stopping to collect after every three destroys the rhythm and stretches a thirty-minute test into ninety.
✅ What’s good
- Keeps the test protocol flowing
- Reduces total session time
- Shared use with teammates
- Long lifespan
⚠️ Keep in mind
- Bulky to transport
- Needs inflation checks
👤 Best for: Kickers running structured test sessions rather than casual practice.
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Setting Up a Simple Log
Deliberately minimal, because elaborate systems get abandoned by October.
Per session, record five things: date, conditions, total kicks taken, makes and misses by distance band, and the direction of each miss. That is it. Thirty seconds at the end of a session.
Per test, add three: hang time average, a note on what you were working on, and confirmation that you filmed.
Per month, review. Look at your make rate trend, your dominant miss direction, and whether your last correction is visible in the numbers. Ten minutes.
Keep it in one place. A notebook or a single phone note. Records spread across three apps and a camera roll are records you will not consult.
Do not gamify it. The log is a diagnostic instrument, not a scoreboard. The temptation to skip recording a bad session is exactly the temptation that makes the log worthless.
Common Mistakes
❌ 1. Tracking maximum distance as the headline metric
One kick, condition-dependent, slow to move, and not what you get asked to do.
✅ Fix: Track make rate by distance band instead.
❌ 2. Not recording miss direction
The cheapest and most diagnostic data available, and almost nobody logs it.
✅ Fix: Direction of every miss, every session, without exception.
❌ 3. Testing under different conditions each time
Then the numbers describe the weather rather than your kicking.
✅ Fix: Fixed protocol, fixed warm-up, conditions recorded.
❌ 4. Stopping a test early
Whether it is going well or badly, an incomplete protocol produces a number that reflects your mood.
✅ Fix: Finish it. Every time.
❌ 5. Judging progress on a single test
Sleep, wind and mood move any one result substantially.
✅ Fix: Look for a trend across three tests.
❌ 6. Panicking at the post-correction dip
Genuine mechanical change reliably produces worse results before better ones.
✅ Fix: Expect it, and give a correction six to eight weeks.
❌ 7. Diagnosing a mechanical drift as a confidence problem
Confidence issues are often the consequence of an unnoticed fault, not the cause.
✅ Fix: Check miss pattern, film and steps before concluding it is mental.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to measure kicking progress?
Make rate by distance band, combined with a log of which direction every miss went. Together they tell you whether you are reliable and, if not, in which specific way.
Both are cheap, both respond to training within weeks, and both are far more informative than your longest-ever kick.
How often should I test my kicking?
Log miss directions every session — it is free. Run a proper make-rate test every two to three weeks in season, check film fortnightly, and measure hang time fortnightly.
Test maximum range rarely. It is the most fatiguing measurement, carries the highest injury risk and moves over months rather than weeks.
Why is maximum distance a poor metric?
It is a single kick from the extreme end of your range, heavily affected by wind, temperature and altitude, and it responds very slowly to training.
It is also not the job. Most kicks in a season come from ordinary distances, and reliability there decides far more games.
How long before I should expect to see improvement?
Consistency improves first — a genuine mechanical correction typically shows up in your miss pattern and make rate within six to eight weeks.
Range moves over months, driven by strength, mobility and technical efficiency compounding. Expect to notice it across a season rather than a block.
My results got worse after a technical change. Should I stop?
No — that dip is expected. A genuine mechanical change makes performance worse temporarily while the new pattern is unfamiliar, and abandoning it during the dip is how kickers revert to the fault they were fixing.
Commit to six to eight weeks before judging, and compare film rather than results to check the change is actually taking hold.
How do I tell whether a slump is technical or mental?
Look at your miss directions first. If most misses are going the same way, you have a specific mechanical fault — usually at the plant — not a confidence problem.
Then compare film against a good period, re-measure your steps, and check the mundane variables: sleep, volume, new shoes, a new surface. Confidence issues are frequently the consequence of an unnoticed drift rather than the cause.
Measurement Checklist
- Miss direction logged for every miss, every session
- Make rate tracked by distance band, not individual yardages
- Ten kicks per band on test days
- Same warm-up, same time of day, same order
- Tested fresh, not at the end of a session
- Conditions recorded alongside results
- Protocol always finished, good day or bad
- At least one band filmed from directly behind
- Camera position marked and reproduced
- Hang time measured fortnightly
- Operation time measured monthly with the unit
- Maximum range tested rarely
- Progress judged across three tests, not one
- Post-correction dip expected and tolerated
- Monthly ten-minute review of the trend
The bottom line: stop quoting your longest kick and start recording your make rate and your miss directions. Those two numbers, kept honestly across a season, will tell you whether a correction worked, catch a drift before it becomes a slump, and give your coach something more useful than a feeling. It takes thirty seconds a session, and it is the difference between knowing you have improved and hoping you have.
Keep Going
👣 Plant Foot TechniqueWhat a consistent miss direction means
📅 Training ProgramStructuring what you are measuring
📚 Kicking GlossaryThe measurements coaches use
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