The Opening Drive 9/12: Details Matter on Andre Szmyt's Two Missed Kicks
The mechanics behind pushing a kick to the right.
What better thing to do than start your Friday with a reminder of the two costly kicks last Sunday. I know, you all love me. But seriously, figuring out how these happen is something I am fascinated with. Kicking the football has so many similarities to striking a golf ball, another thing I am obsessed with, so naturally I care about this way too much. Which sort of speaks to my entire existence in the Cleveland Browns space and why you’re here at this website, but I digress.
When we all had our hearts crushed five days ago by the missed kicks, I was curious how a kicker, who was striking the ball so well, was all of a sudden pushing his kicks to the right. Something had to be forcing this to happen so I took some time yesterday and found the film.
After the game, in the locker room, Szmyt said he felt like he knew what went wrong on those attempts. “Same thing on both. I think I was rushing my approach and pushed the ball.”
The Browns stand behind Szmyt heading into Week 2 but he will need to solve the consistency problem quickly. “I would say this. You know, he’s done a really good job since he’s been here, you know, from the end of last year on practice squad, from April all the way until this point.” Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Bubba Ventrone continued. “So, we have a lot of confidence in him. Had a good practice yesterday. I have confidence that he’s going to get it right.”
We will find out soon enough. I’ll show you the details of the issue below.
Below you’ll find the latest in the BFB catalog for supporters to dig into. Click the link to become a supporter if you haven’t already, and enjoy all the latest from Browns Film Breakdown.
What’s Going On at Browns Film Breakdown
Latest Podcasts:
Week 2 Practice Updates, and “Behind Enemy Lines” with Ken McKusick
Stefanski Updates, “What We Learned” W1, and All-22 Offense Breakdown
Latest Film Rooms:
Latest Articles:
Opening Drive 9/11: We Always Remember, and Cedric Tillman’s Ascension
Opening Drive 9/10: Stefanski After Losses, Nickel Role Defined, Salary Cap
Jake’s Appearances This Week:
Sports4CLE on Cleveland.com discussing Film Reviews
Visiting Ken McKusick on Film Study Baltimore for a Game Preview
Kicking, particularly field goal kicking or soccer kicks, is like golf because of shared physical mechanics. They have similar rotational power of the swing, the use of a planted lead foot for stability, and the need to keep the head down until after impact to follow through with the body. Both also require a similar process-driven approach picking a good line and maintaining tempo to achieve precision and consistency.
The biggest key similarity, for me, is the body rotation and weight transfer aspect. Both use body rotation and momentum to create lag and and send the body through the motion after the object is struck. If that timing is off, the kick or swing, will lead in a direction you do not want. That is what happens here to Szmyt.
Here are his first two made kicks — one PAT and one 45-yard field goal. Watch him strike through the ball, bring that back hip square, and confidently transfer the weight.
Now watch the two misses. You can see how Szmyt leaves the back hip open at impact and fails to stay on balance through the kick. The back kick is left open and that cause improper alignment at strike.
I figured so still shot photos could help as well. This is the 36-yard miss. Look at the hip angle at the moment of impact and you can see how it ends up going right.
Compare that to his first make of the day when the hips are square at impact and properly lagging through the strike zone.
The issue is an inability to fix this issue from the first second half PAT miss to the final missed kick in the 4th quarter. What the difference is for elite kickers vs those who bounce around organizations is diagnosing an issue and solving it before it hurts the team worse. Szmyt didn’t get that done in the second half — two kicks and the same issue. This has to be rectified with a better post-kick process and with a higher sense of urgency.
If you’re not subscribed over there, rectify that—the Opening Drive remains free, but there’s more quality content ahead of Week 2’s matchup with the Ravens. If you’re not with us in a supporter capacity, you’ll want to rectify that as well so you don’t miss any of the key content coming this week. Also, tell a Browns fan in your life about the miracles happening at Browns Film Breakdown. We appreciate all of you.
Browns Film Breakdown will return later today.
Thanks Jake - that's really insightful. I thought the first two kicks were solid and couldn't understand why it all went wrong. I guess it's a case of getting it fixed before it becomes a mental issue. Not really looking forward to his first kick in Baltimore though!!
I would have thought the special teams coaching staff would have seen this on film or stills and pointed it out during the game.