It’s a common question for specialist coaches, and the answers you get can vary greatly. You see, kicking routines, especially in the off-season should vary from kicker to kicker because of their age, maturity, leg strength, flexibility, recuperation time and so forth.
The basic things to know are:
50 kicks in a day is a “healthy” amount of kicks (or punts), but shouldn’t wear anyone out. Often, as a punter and kicker, I’d basically kick about 25 balls and punt 25 balls back. For kids who are really into it (or feeling strong) and have been consistently training — 75 balls might be a max number of reps for a day. For lighter days, maybe just 20-25 balls — think weight training… you don’t work quads heavy every day of the week, you need a balance.
The focus on lighter days is to make every single kick count.
Below is a kicking guideline for you to consider (click to enlarge). This sample schedule has a high school age kicker working out 6 out of 7 days a week. Many prefer to do 4 to 5 days a week. It really is about personal preference, your willingness to commit to improvement (which means quality reps) and the maturity of your kicking and punting — in short, “if it feels like it’s too much, then it’s too much.”
Attending one (or many) of Mike Farley’s Kicking Camps is a great way to test your mettle with other area kickers and improve your overall performance. Learn new drills, skills and get some added pressure that’s so hard to find on solo summer workout days.