Kicking drill
Kick Tennis
Get high-volume punting and high-ball catching with zero retrieval walking.
- Time
- 20 minutes
- Players
- 2 to 10 players
- Intensity
- Medium
- Equipment
- Ball, cones
- Space
- Two 15m x 15m grids, 10m apart
- Positions
- All positions
Setup
Twelve cones and one ball. Build two grids like a tennis court - for a pair, two 15m x 15m grids with a 10m gap between them.
How to run it
- Kick from your grid into your opponent's grid, and they must catch it.
- To score a point the ball must be kicked above shoulder height and must land in their grid - the shoulder-height rule is what forces a genuine punt rather than a drilled pass, so enforce it strictly.
- If they catch it cleanly you score nothing; if it lands, bounces or is dropped you score.
- The receiver kicks from wherever they gathered it, which punishes deep wide kicks and rewards accuracy.
- Play first to 11, best of three games - roughly 60-80 kicks each in 15-20 minutes because your partner returns every ball.
Coaching cues
- Above shoulder height or it doesn't score
- Move forward onto the ball to catch, don't wait under it
- Non-kicking foot in line with the target
Common mistakes
- Kicking flat to win on distance, which the shoulder-height rule exists to prevent
- Catching flat-footed instead of attacking the ball
Related drills
- Box Kick with Live ChaserAdd the pressure and the chase that a solo box kick can never give you.
- Partner Punt LadderBuild punt distance and accuracy at four times the rep density of solo kicking.
- Find the Gap GrubberExecute a grubber inside a live attacking shape against real defenders.
- Cross-Kick to the CornerBuild the flat cross-field kick and the one-handed leaping catch that finishes it.
- Aerial Noughts and CrossesTrain kick selection, accuracy, contested catching and chase decisions all at once, competitively.
- Target Kicking LadderBuild punt accuracy across increasing distances with a scoring system you can beat.