Unlocking Kicking Power: The Yoga & Flexibility Advantage

As a professional kicking coach at The Kicking System, I’m constantly exploring new avenues to enhance our athletes’ performance. My recent experience at a Yoga Retreat offered profound insights into how dedicated stretching, balancing, and posture exercises can revolutionize a kicker’s game. This practice, often overlooked in traditional strength programs, significantly increased my range of motion, sharpened my focus, and provided crucial mental grounding. For every Pop Warner, high school, college, and professional kicker, integrating these principles can be a game-changer for extending distances and boosting consistency.

The internal breathing techniques in yoga proved surprisingly effective, leading to a deep warm-up and mental clarity essential for precision. I’ve distilled six transformative exercises that can directly elevate your kicking and punting performance.

Important Considerations Before You Begin:

Always dedicate 5-10 minutes to a light warm-up before performing these exercises. Additionally, please consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program.

Key Movements for Kicking Excellence:

Here are six exercises to enhance your flexibility, balance, and core strength:

1. Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
   • How to: Begin on hands and knees. Gently lift your hips by straightening arms and legs, forming an inverted ‘V’. Keep hands and feet shoulder-width apart, pressing firmly into the ground to lengthen your spine. Release head and neck. Focus on deep, full breaths.
   • Kicker Benefit: Stretches calves, hamstrings, lower back, and shoulders – all critical for leg drive and a smooth, powerful follow-through.
   • Focus Areas: Calves, hamstrings, lower back, shoulders.
2. Upward-Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
   • How to: From a plank position, slowly lower your body, flipping your feet so the tops are on the ground. Gently lift your upper torso, pulling shoulders back. Hands remain pressed evenly into the ground. Gaze towards the ceiling. Hold for 4-5 breaths. Alternate with Downward Dog for dynamic loosening.
   • Kicker Benefit: Improves flexibility in lower abdominals, hip flexors, and lower back, which are essential for generating explosive power and maintaining posture during the kick.
   • Focus Areas: Lower abdominals, hip flexors, lower back.
3. Pigeon Pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana)
   • How to: Start in Downward Dog. Bring your right leg across your body, placing your right shin near parallel to the front of your mat, and gently extend your left leg back. Carefully lower your body onto your right leg. Support yourself with hands on the ground, or deepen the stretch by lowering onto your forearms. Hold for 4-5 breaths per leg. (Be mindful of knee comfort.)
   • Kicker Benefit: Deeply stretches the piriformis, glutes, and hip flexors, crucial for hip mobility, rotational power, and preventing common kicking-related injuries.
   • Focus Areas: Piriformis, glutes, hip flexors.
4. Foam Roller Hip & Tennis Ball Foot Release
   • How to (Foam Roller Hip): Lie on your side with the foam roller underneath your hip bone. Support yourself with your forearm under your shoulder. Gently roll an inch forward and back until you find a tender spot. Hold on tender spots, allowing the roller to sink in. Roll from just below the hip bone down towards the knee. Spend 5-10 minutes per side.
   • How to (Tennis Ball Feet): Remove shoes and socks. Place a tennis ball under your foot on a firm surface. Apply weight and roll the ball across the entire sole, from toes to heel. Hold on tender spots for a few seconds. Spend 3-5 minutes per foot.
   • Kicker Benefit: Releasing hip tension (foam roller) and improving foot mobility (tennis ball) directly enhances range of motion and strengthens the intrinsic muscles of the foot and ankle, vital for kick impact stability.
   • Focus Areas: Piriformis, hip flexors, quads (foam roller); entire foot, especially arch and heel (tennis ball).
5. Triangle Pose (Utthita Trikonasana)
   • How to: Stand with feet wider than shoulder-width apart. Turn one foot out 90 degrees. Hinge from your hip, reaching one hand down to your shin, ankle, or the ground (use a yoga block if needed for support). Extend the other arm straight up, gazing towards the sky. Hold for 4-5 breaths per side.
   • Kicker Benefit: Stretches hamstrings, groin, and side obliques, improving lateral flexibility and stability crucial for rotational power and a balanced follow-through.
   • Focus Areas: Hamstrings, groin, side obliques.
6. Frankenstein Walk
   • How to: Stand with both hands outstretched in front of you. Kick your right leg straight up to touch your left hand, then alternate with your left leg to your right hand. Keep your leg as straight as possible. Start slowly and gradually increase height as you warm up.
   • Kicker Benefit: A dynamic warm-up exercise that actively promotes flexibility in the hamstrings and hip flexors, vital for the high leg swing required in kicking.
   • Focus Areas: Hamstrings, hip flexors.

Integrating into Your Routine

These exercises are designed to complement your existing strength and conditioning. Consider replacing a running session or another workout with this routine to avoid overtraining and allow for optimal development. At The Kicking System, our athletes who incorporate this functional training consistently report feeling more flexible and observe significant gains in kicking distance and consistency. Your body’s development extends beyond the weight room; proper rest and targeted flexibility are paramount.

About the Author:

John Matich, a distinguished former collegiate and professional kicker, leads The Kicking System with over 16 years of coaching expertise. As a former U17 and U20 USA Youth National Soccer Team member and Boston College’s 3rd All-Time Scoring Leader, John brings firsthand experience from the highest levels of competitive sport. He holds an MA in Sports Management from the University of San Francisco and has provided extensive coaching to NFL kickers, college athletes, high school athletes, and beginners across numerous elite football programs in Southern California. His background includes a stint with the Minnesota Vikings and impactful coaching roles at institutions like San Diego State University and Mira Mesa High School. John’s global perspective was further shaped by an internship at GNK Dinamo in Zagreb, Croatia, providing unique insights into elite youth football development. He is also a former NIFL All-League kicker for the San Diego Shockwave.