Staying Ready When You Have Been Waiting All Game

Readiness is something you build during the wait, not after it

A kicker can spend most of a game on the sideline and then have a few seconds to be sharp. You cannot control when the call comes, so the work is to be ready for it at any point. This post offers a way to think about the wait and questions to bring to your coach.

The wait is part of the job

Of 544 NFL team games in the 2025 regular season, 65 had no field goal attempt at all. In 133 the kicker attempted exactly one. The kicker's day is often long stretches of nothing, then a moment that counts.

There is good news in the numbers. Across 967 first attempts of a game by a kicker in 2024 and 2025, kickers made 84.7%, against 84.9% expected for those distances. Kickers who had been waiting did about as well as the model predicted. That is a league average and does not promise anything about one kicker's day, but it shows that waiting does not mean failing.

Three habits that help

1. Stay in the game, not just near it. Know the score, the field position, and the wind. Ask yourself on each drive: where would a kick come from, and into which end? Being able to answer takes you out of waiting and into preparing.
2. Keep a simple ready routine. Many athletes find it helpful to have a short checklist for each stage: early drive, midfield, in range. Keep it short enough to do when nervous.
3. Take care of attention between kicks. Look at the field, talk with the snapper and holder, and avoid watching the scoreboard as a mood meter. Quiet is not the same as being off.

What to do physically, such as stretching, swings, or how many warm-up kicks, belongs with your kicking coach and trainer. This article is about the mental side only.

Questions to bring to your coach

1. When should I begin warming up, and what do I do at each stage?
2. Who tells me when the drive is in kicking range, and what is our signal?
3. What is my cue for the final seconds before I step in?
4. How do the snapper, holder, and I check in before a kick?

Keep it honest and simple

No routine guarantees a make, and no one should promise one. The goal is to arrive at the moment as prepared as you can be. If you are building a routine, start with one habit and use it for a few weeks before adding another.

Related: Why kicking feels different and the kick after the miss.

Data: nflverse (CC BY 4.0), regular seasons 2024 and 2025; calculations by FKS.

Disclosure: FootballKickingStats.com is part of the A-Game network.