How to Punt a Football

If you want to make sure your team always has good field position, you'll want to know how to punt a football. Knowing how to punt a football means you can get distance on your punts and aim your punts so your opponents are trapped inside their twenty.

You will need these materials:

• Football
• Football cleats

1. Hold the football with your dominant hand. Use your dominant hand to hold the football. You want to hold the football near its end and have the laces facing in the air. Having the laces face up in the air is important; if the laces are facing down they can create a weird point of impact, causing the football to go in unexpected directions.
2. Take your steps. The next step in learning how to punt a football is learning your steps. Take the first step with your kicking leg. Next, step with your other leg and plant that foot into the ground. You want to take medium sized steps because larger steps will bring you closer to rushers. You'll want to step into position quickly so you can get your punts off before the rushers can get to you.
3. Drop the football. Perfecting your drop is the hardest part of learning how to punt a football. When you drop the football, make sure the laces remain upward. You want the drop to be timed perfectly with the swing of your leg and placed so you kick the proper part of the football. You want your foot to make contact with the fattest part of the football.
4. Go through the kicking motion. This step in learning how to punt a football might not feel natural at first. Many people are inclined to swing their kicking leg across their body when they punt, but swinging your leg straight forward is a more effective way to punt a football. Swinging your leg across the body makes it much harder to kick the football in the right spot and can cause some terrible punts.
5. Get ready to tackle. You should always be ready for somebody trying to return your punt for a touchdown. Hopefully your teammates will be able to bring a returner down before they get to you, but it never hurts to be prepared. Once you follow all of these steps, you have learned all there is to know about how to punt a football.