Write an article based on this "Punt only if you're the goalie. Hold the ball at waist height. Take your first step with your kicking foot. Push off your lead foot and plant your other foot firmly into the ground. Bring your kicking leg straight up. Drop the ball straight down. Point your toe up after contacting the ball. Follow through."
The only player on the soccer field who will ever pick up the ball for a punt is the goalie. There is no circumstance in soccer that allows any other player to punt the ball. While you might be called on occasionally in practice to pick up the ball and punt it, it's not a skill that you need to practice unless you're the goalie. Punts must be made within the 18 yard (16.5m) box. When you pick up the ball, you can punt anywhere inside your box. If you want to take it outside of the box, you've got to drop it on the ground. When you pick up the ball, hold it in both hands gently, at a height about even with your waist. It doesn't need to be perfect, but it's usually easiest to punt the ball by dropping it from waist-height and no higher. Your arms should be out straight from your body, with the ball held in your fingers. You'll see many goalies dribbling the ball before they punt it, or holding it in one hand while they gesture, but you should hold onto the ball securely with two hands as you complete your pre-punt steps. Don't try to get fancy. Just hold the ball. Punting a soccer ball will happen pretty fast, which means a lot of steps will have to happen at once. Most goalies will have the ball in one hand as they take the steps and extend and drop it in one big fluid motion. Practice blending all these steps together to make it comfortable for you. Take your lead step with the step you'll eventually kick with. Your dominant foot should be used to punt the ball, which is the foot you'd normally kick with. If you're right-footed, take your first step with your right foot. Some goalies will elect to take multiple steps, but all you need is two. One lead step and one plant step is all that's necessary, before bringing your lead leg up and following through with the punt. Practice some to see what is most comfortable and powerful for you. This will provide your pivot point, a form in which you'll lift your kicking leg and launch the ball into play. Your two lead-up steps should happen quickly, and be spread fairly far apart as if you were about to take off running. This will put more power into your kick. The lead steps should happen at the speed of a jog, regardless of how many steps you choose to take in your lead-up. As you plant, your kicking leg should be cocked back behind you, trailing from your initial step. You'll swing it forward to kick with. When you plant your pivot foot and leg, imagine your kicking foot is attached by a magnet to the ball. Rotate your hip so your leg comes up perpendicular to the ground, swinging into the ball and making contact. Keep your eyes locked on the ball at all times and stay focused. The punt should come from the hip. try to picture your kicking leg as a club that you're whipping up into the ball as it falls, cranking from your hip joint. Rather than coming straight up, many soccer players will cross their leg over their plant leg. A lot of the punt has to do with where you want it to go and what feels most comfortable for you. Practice punting and making the ball go where you want, not on the "perfect" technique. The moment just before you start to bring your kicking leg up and swing freely into the ball, remember to drop it straight down in front of you. Just let go. Never toss the ball up to attempt to punt it, or throw it out in front of you. Let your momentum carry you into the ball naturally, don't try to get fancy by throwing it anywhere specifically. The odds of your missing it become much greater if you toss it. Drop it instead. As you're swinging your leg into the kick, point the toes of your kicking foot. The ball should make contact with the hardest part of your foot, just along the laces. As soon as it does, point your foot up, so it makes a right-angle with your shin, as if you were standing normally. This will help to put more lift and distance into your kick. Never try to kick the ball with your instep, the tips of your toes, or with any other part of your foot. This will cause the ball to skew off in unpredictable directions. When you're finished, your foot should come up and point straight in the direction where you want the ball to go, lifting you off the ground gently. You shouldn't have to jump, necessarily, but be careful to let your body follow through with the kick so you don't hyper-extend your hamstring and stretch out your leg uncomfortably. Land gently on your pivot leg, turning your attention immediately back to your goalkeeping duties.