Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-14
By WALTER CAMP
Special Correspondent of The Great Falls Tribu
Conxright. 1922. BY Tho Great Falls Tribune.

Copyright. 1922. By Tho Great Falls Tribune.
New York. Nov. 13.-The kicking
game is being neglected by many foot
ball coaching staffs of this day and
generation. This is a phase of the
great gridiron sport which counts more
largely than the average man in the
stand believes. The trend of play this
season shows that the running game
has so dwarfed the kicking game in
the minds Of many that the finer points
Of p%unting drop and place kicking have
been lost sight of.
Perhaps as good an illustration of
this as any is TO be found in COM
ments on recent games describing the
p%unting as fine excellent 'effec-
tive" Yet the punts in question in
many cases went directly across the
goal line and permitted the defenders
of the goal to come out and COM
mence their scrimmage at the 20-yard
line.
Cutting Sidelines
Contrast this with the kicking done
by kipke in the Michigan-Ohio State
game. where repeatedly this man cut
the side lines with bis kicks. and some
Of them crossed within the 5-yard line.
II only takes a tape measure to prove
that d kick that cuts the side line at
the J-yard point is worth Is yards
over the kick that crosses the goal
line. In addition it has a psychological
effect in that it forces the player
who kicks in return to stand behind his
own goal line.
ANY team which succeeded in gain
ing 10 yards on three forward passes,
would be praised highly for the work
and vet each one Of these kicks of
kipke's when properly placed, gained
that distance for the kicker's side.
Take the ease of kicks which are
made from back III the territory of
the kicker's side. The mar who can
side lines with them at the extreme
of the kick always prevents any dan
der of a run back.
Long Runs From Punts
The records show that ever in games
with big teams where the men are sup
posed TO be excellent tacklers. it often
happens that a caught punt may result
in a very long run, or even IN excep-
tional instances in q touchdown. This
Is one phase of the matter, that while
it may be understood. is certainly
not put in practice by the majority of
punters on our teams,
The punter who has nerve and
steadiness can hold back his kick
slightly in point of time when the
opposing line is well blocked or is
not hurrying him particularly. A cool.
collected punter knows full we'll that
every fraction of u second that he can
delay his punt means just so many
added feet or yards that his ends and
tackle can go down the field to nail
the runner. A first-class fuilback can
kick quickly or slowly. He can punt
his kicks high with the wind and low
into it, and the lineman on a team who
understands blocking can often delay
the charge of the opponents quite Il bit
and give the kicker Il pause in which
to let his ends sail down the field.
These points too seldom receive suffi-
cient consideration and practice.
Side Swing Kicker
There is another phase of this kick
ing game that should be understood.
An expert with a side swing can punt
around a man who is coming at him.
We see a very few p%unters NOWADAYS
who are expert in this. but a good
man with Il sidestep can do it with
comparative ease.
We do not see as much done with
the punters as should be done in teach
ing them to kick ugly kicks that is,
those that are extremely hard to han
die. There are men who can kick a
ball that gives a back considerable con
Germ, and n man who can do this is
extremely valuable to any team. One
single muff of II dozen kicks may mean
a touchdown. even from midfield. There
are plenty of these in the records.
1t is not unusual to see many teams
beginning a game with the wind in
their favor and receiving the kickoff
from their opponents, Immediately
start a running attack. Players are
very proud If they can get from their
own 20-yard line up to the 40-yard
line before they are checked. Then.
having used up some of their own run
ming yigor. and having also given the
opponents an opportunity in safe
ground to diagnose their plays. they
punt and the ball sails down over the
opponents goal line.
Running Plays Exhaust
They have wasted three or four min
utes of their valuable time when the
wind was in their favor and exhausted
a certain amount of energy. If the
kick had been made from 20 yards
further back, the opponents would have
gained the ball on their 5 or 10-yard
line instead of on their 205yard line.
In other words. if the teanf receiving
tha kickoff had kicked on the first