The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-10-29

Strategy of Punting Holds Important Place In Football
Coaches Cannot Spend Too Much Time Drilling Men in Play Which Gould Turn Tide of Battle-Numerous Illustra-
 tions Are Given
By SOL M ETZGER Coach of WashinGt and Jefferson

The spectator at a big football game Is prone to criticise the play of the two elevens at grips for champion ship because of the large number of punts played by each opponent. To him 1t makes the game somewhat monoto- nous and it also causes the belief to arise that each lacks general, admits it's weakness in attack and is poorly coached. Yet the kicking game is by all odds the most important maneuver of attack. It has paved the way for more victories and broken up more games than any other play in mod ern attack.
 If one has followed such games as the Yale-Harvard and army-navy af- fairs he will recall the fact that each team once it gains possession of the ball in it's own end of the feild, almost in1- inediately punts it to the other. While this may be monotonous 1t has proven to be good generalship. I followed closely the development of the Harvard machine under Haughton in 1910, 1911 and 1912 In the first two years the Yale game was a scoreless tie. In each of these contests Harvard was continually bunting and with Sam Felton doing this work there was nothing left to be de- sired.
 Haughton, the Harvard coach, who knocked the autocracy out of Cambridge football and put it on a democratic basis, was slowly studying the problem of attack in the modern game. New con- ditions were met that were difficult of solution. The old days when the ball was pounded the length of the field for "a touchdown had been automatically Nradicated by the forward pass and Nyen men on the line of scrimmage. T&e new game, the game we play today, puAa premium on stamina, speed and skilN It took Haughton some few years to develop his attack.
 OPPORTUNITY CAME
 Tn the meantime, Haughton seized upon the kicking game as the immediate solution and how well he planned is a matter of history. In 1910 and 1911 liar ward punted frequently against Yale but the break did not come In 1912, at New Haven, Yale fumbled one of Feltons punts and the long-waited for opportu- nifty had arisen. Touchdowns and drop kicks told the story of the 20 to 0 vic- tory. The next season Haughton had not yet mastered the running attack but the bunting game and the dropkick gave Harvard another victory. By 1914 Brickley's team and by all odds the strongest eleven Haughton developed had a running attack of power which swept aside the feeble resistance of the Ellis.
 Haughtons coaching career Is most in- terestng in that 1t clearly proves the kicking game to be a strong method of attack. It was the base of his whole | system as 1t Is the base of all attack A rx5h trur foop Of ofh }strength meet today. Therefore, it Is Well to consider the kicking game and to analyze the pricples governing it. Football history Is crammed full of ex amples of the right and wrong way to kick
 A punter is born, not made. The can Gidate finally selected to take care Of this important part of the game, which is both an offensive and defensive meas ure, must have the leg power to drive the ball. Lacking that no end of coach ing will make a punter out of him.. Pos sessing that coaching will teach him how to get off his punts rapidly-thus avoiding their being blocked-as well as how to place the ball and whether to kick 1t high or low.
 SPIRAL PUNT BEST
 The high spiral punt is the desid- eratum as it gives the kicking team time to get down under it, Is hard to handle and has a certain depressing eff feet on the mind of the backs selected to catch it. The latter is especially so when kicked with high wind. People smile when they read about big teams practicng in their opponents stadiums before big games in order to study the air currents. They are but preparing for the handling of high punts should high wind be blowing in the game. These high winds play odd tricks with foot ball when they are kicked above the top of the encircling stands. The inability to handle such punts on it's own field in 1912 paved the way for Harvard's four straight victories over Yale.