Place kick The place kick is a kicking style commonly used in rugby league and rugby union . It is also seen in Association football , American football and Canadian football . American and Canadian football . Place kicks are also used in American football and Canadian football for kickoffs , extra point s , and field goals ( a variation is the Squib kick ) . The place kick is one of the two most common forms of kick in gridiron - based football codes , along with the punt . The punt , however , cannot score points ( except in Canadian football where it counts as a single ) . The place kick is the nearly exclusive method of kicking in arena football as well as most other indoor football leagues , since punting is not legal in arena football . It typically involves placing the ball on the ground . To keep the ball in position , a mound of sand , a hole in the turf , or a plastic tee is sometimes used . A holder is required to hold a ball upright during field goal and extra point attempts ; a holder can also be used during kickoffs , but is usually only used when weather conditions prevent the ball from standing on its tee by itself . In the comic strip " Peanuts " , Lucy frequently holds the football to allow Charlie Brown to place kick but invariably always pulls it away at the last second . Association football . Place kicks in association football are the corner kick , free kick , goal kick , Kick - off and penalty kick . Australian football . The technique was once used in Australian rules football when kicking for goal , but fell out of favour in the mid - 20th Century in favour of the Drop punt . Rugby league . The place kick is commonly used in rugby league for kick offs and some kicks at goal ( penalty goals and conversions ) . The lack of a consistently successful place kicker in a team can be detrimental to a team . Anybody on the team can take a penalty or conversion kick although there is often a regular kicker . Sometimes teams will use different players to kick depending on what side of the field the kick is to be taken from . Place of kick . Kick offs are taken from the centre of the halfway line . A kick at goal from a penalty kick can be taken at any point along an imaginary line perpendicular to the touchline between the place the offence was marked by the referee and the kicker ' s goal line . Conversion attempts may be taken at any point along an imagingary line perpendicular to the touchline from where the try was scored . Placing the ball . Most kickers use some form of aid to allow them to strike a preferred part of the ball . Popular aids used include kicking tees and mounds of sand on which to place the ball . Players might also use their boot to mould the ground where the ball will be placed , making a divot behind the ball to allow greater access to the kicking foot . Kickers attempt to position the ball in a way that allows them to kick the ball ' s " sweet spot " . Kicking the sweet spot will result in the ball travelling further and is located about a third of the way up the ball . Kick . The most common kicking style is the round - the - corner kick , which tends to , hook the ball to the left for a right footed kicker . Kickers usually pace out their kick before taking it . This begins with the kicker standing over the ball with their feet in kicking positions . They then measure out a run up . When the ball is kicked , usually with the instep of the foot , the kicker will follow through with their swing . Most of the top kickers can kick a goal from approximately 60m , or just inside their own half . Rugby union . In rugby union , the most common position for a goal kicker to play is fly - half as that position requires good kicking skills from hand . Slightly less commonly , the full back will kick ( another position which requires kicking from hand ) . If the goal kicker is neither of those two positions , the remaining three - quarter backs and scrum - half might kick . Goal kicking forwards are extremely rare , but not unknown , the most exception in recent years having been the Australian second row John Eales .