The place kick is a type of
kicking play commonly used in
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
,
association football (soccer),
Canadian football
Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...
,
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
, and
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
.
Gridiron football
Place kicks are used in
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
and
Canadian football
Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...
for
kickoffs,
extra point
The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...
s, and
field goals
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
. 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
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
). The place kick is the most common kick used in most
indoor football games, including the former North American
Arena Football
Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...
League (AFL); punting was not legal in AFL play. A specialist player named the
placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter.
Spe ...
is generally the only member of the team who attempts place kicks, and is generally not used for any other role on the team. In the USA's
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
teams, placekickers are generally able to successfully kick a field goal from at least 50 yards away, although kicks from 60 yards or beyond are rarely attempted or successful.
Place kicking typically involves placing the
ball
A ball is a round object (usually spherical, but can sometimes be ovoid) with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used f ...
either directly on the turf, a mound of sand, a hole in the turf, or a plastic
tee
A tee is a stand used in sport to support and elevate a stationary ball prior to striking with a foot, club or bat. Tees are used extensively in golf, tee-ball, baseball, American football, and rugby.
Etymology
The word tee is derived from the ...
is sometimes used to keep the ball in position. A player called a
holder is required to hold a ball upright during field goal and extra point attempts, as the ball is placed directly on the turf. When weather conditions prevent the ball from standing on its tee by itself, a holder can be used during kickoffs (although this is uncommon).
In most forms of
, a place kick during timed play that travels through the uprights is a
field goal
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...
worth three points; on a
free play following a touchdown, it is worth one point; most leagues (including the NFL) require the ball to be placed directly on the turf with a holder.
In a few indoor football leagues, a kickoff that travels through the uprights results in an award of one point, although this practice is becoming less common with the collapse of the AFL (formerly the largest indoor gridiron football league in the world).
In the comic strip ''
Peanuts
''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...
'',
Lucy
Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Lu ...
frequently holds the football to allow
Charlie Brown
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great American ar ...
to place kick but invariably pulls it away at the last second, causing Charlie to fall on his back.
Association football
Place kicks in
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
are the
corner kick
A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is taken ...
,
free kick
A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play.
Association football
In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...
,
goal kick
A goal kick is a method of restarting the play in a game of association football. Its procedure is dictated by Law 16 of the Laws of the Game.
Award
A goal kick is awarded to the defending team when the ball goes out of the field of play by cr ...
,
kick-off and
penalty kick
A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...
.
Rugby league
![ThurstonRLWC2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/ThurstonRLWC2013.PNG)
The place kick is commonly used in
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
for kick offs
and most 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.
[ RLIF, 2004: 18] A kick at goal from a penalty kick can be taken at any point along an imaginary line parallel 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 imaginary line parallel to the touchline from where the try was scored.
[ RLIF, 2004: 14]
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
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
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.
![Brisbane City versus North Harbour Rays NRC Round 8 (5)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Brisbane_City_versus_North_Harbour_Rays_NRC_Round_8_%285%29.jpg)
Most of the top kickers can kick a goal from approximately 55m, or just inside their own half.
Rugby union
In rugby union, the most common position for a goal kicker to play is
fly-half
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...
as that position requires good kicking skills from hand. Slightly less commonly, the
fullback 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 notable in recent years having been the Australian second row
John Eales
John Eales AM (born 27 June 1970) is an Australian former rugby union player and the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby. In 1999, he became one of the first players to win multiple Rugby World Cups.
Early life
Eales ...
.
Australian rules football
![Vin Coutie (before 1911)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Vin_Coutie_%28before_1911%29.jpg)
In the early decades of the sport of
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
, place kicks were regularly used for taking
set shot
A set shot in Australian rules football is a kick for goal in which the player can 'set' themselves, rather than have to quickly react during the play. A set shot occurs when a player has been awarded a free kick, or has taken a mark within ki ...
s for goal after a mark or free kick, and occasionally for the purposes of
kicking off after a behind. The use of a place kick in these circumstances was not required by the laws of the game, nor was it used universally, and many players preferred punts or drop kicks.
To execute with the oval ball, a divot would be created with the heel in the direction of the goal; the ball would be placed at a slight upward angle in the divot with its long axis pointed at the goal.
Place kicking was considered the longest and most accurate type of kick for a skilled practitioner, but more erratic than a punt for a player who was less adept.
The laws allowed a player to place the ball for a place kick, take a run up, then regather the ball and play on instead of kicking it, in order to catch defenders offguard.
The use of place kicking declined rapidly from as early as the late 1910s, and was considered a lost art by the late 1920s, partly due to the increased speed of the game and stoppages of the game to execute one.
Aside from any of these time issues, another considerable factor in the eventual disappearance of the place kick was that the changes to the football's shape, design, and constituent materials and, especially, according to ex-Melbourne player
Les Rainey in the late 1930s, to a very significant reduction in the weight, the thickness of the soles, and robustness of the standard football boot. had made the once-standard place kick, especially over longer distances, a far more difficult kick to execute.
Rarely, some players continued to use place kicks until as late as the 1950s,
Snapshots from League Grounds, ''The Argus'', (Monday, 18 April 1955), p.4.
/ref> but the skill is entirely obsolete in modern football.
External links
BBC: Rugby league - Skills - Kicking skills - Place kick
(Includes animation)
See also
*Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter.
Spe ...
, a position in American football.
*Drop kick
A drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player dropping the ball and then kicking it as it touches the ground.
Drop kicks are used as a method of restarting play and scoring points in rugby union and rugby league ...
* punt (American and Canadian football)
Notes
References
*
How To Goal and Place Kick
*
{{Gridiron football plays
Australian rules football terminology
Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents
Rugby league terminology
Rugby union terminology
American football plays
Canadian football terminology