Kaeding stronger than ever
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Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com
Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding says that he feels as strong and as confident as he ever has, and Saturday’s preseason opener provided the fifth-year kicker with an opportunity to show just how good he’s feeling.
Kaeding booted a 53-yard field goal in the second half of the Bolts’ win over the Dallas Cowboys Saturday to continue what has been an impressive training camp from the former Iowa Hawkeye.
“He’s kicking the ball so well,” Head Coach Norv Turner said. “It was nice to get in that situation where in a game situation we were able to give him that kick.”
The fact that Kaeding is feeling and playing so well is no accident. He spent an extensive amount of time this offseason targeting areas where he could improve his physical strength. He joined other NFL kickers, NBA players and an assortment of athletes at St. Vincent’s in Indianapolis where he trained for several weeks.
“It’s kind of a neat little collection of people training together,” Kaeding said. “They look at your kicking motion and figures out which muscles in your body you really need to work. I hope to do this for a long time so I try to keep it fresh and reevaluate things from year to year. I really think it paid off for me to go there and pinpoint areas I needed to work on.”
Kaeding’s strength work this offseason was particularly important considering how his 2007 season ended. He suffered a fractured fibula in his plant leg while making a tackle in the Chargers’ Week 16 win over Denver. The pain forced Kaeding to break his routine during the week, but he played through it for more than a month.
“Not being able to practice was a big thing and having the fracture hindered me physically,” Kaeding said. “It’s part of the deal. I was able to kick or I wouldn’t have been out there doing it. I just kind of fought through it and was able to practice before the New England game, which worked out well.”
Kaeding was a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals in the AFC Championship Game, just four weeks after suffering the injury. He took some time off to let his leg heal and then immediately went back to work.
In addition to improving his strength, Kaeding tweaked a couple of his techniques in hopes of improving his game. Perhaps the most significant came in his routine on kickoffs.
“I’m taking two fewer steps in my approach to allow myself to have a little bit better rhythm; a little bit more consistent ball contact,” Kaeding said. “I feel like I’m hitting the ball as well and as consistent as I ever have. We’re doing a lot with our kickoff coverage in terms of directionally kicking and things that I’m excited about. I’m trying to place the ball.”
It worked well Saturday as each of his five kickoffs were fielded inside the Dallas five yard line, and each time the Cowboys started a drive following a kickoff, they did so inside their own 25.
Kaeding has also tried to create more game-like situations for himself throughout the week. Prior to last season, he approached Turner about changing up the practice routine so his field goal work would be more like live game action.
“Norv has been really good to me and he’s really worked with me,” Kaeding said. “Kicking is probably as unique of a position as you can find in all of team sports. You practice all week and then end up kicking only two or three field goals in the span of three hours.”
During practice, Turner will somewhat spontaneously call for the field goal unit to run onto the field in the middle of team drills.
“We’ve tried to simulate how a game would actually go,” Kaeding said. “In a two-hour practice, instead of going out and kicking 10 field goals in a row, we’ll do four with 10 or 15 minutes in between each kick. That’s been really helpful, trying to simulate the game as much as possible.”
Kaeding enters year five of his career having hit 86.7 percent of his field goal tries, fifth best in the NFL over the last five years. He feels fortunate that he’s kicked in every weather condition, been faced with high-pressure situations in playoff games and even sees the good in having to deal with the injury.
“I feel strong and as confident as I’ve ever felt,” Kaeding said. “I feel like I’ve been in about every situation possible now so I feel like I can handle anything that’s thrown at me this season.”
Doug Pensinger, Getty Images North America
Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding once again dedicated himself to getting physically stronger this offseason, and he’s already starting to reap the benefits.
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Tuesday Training Camp: Norv TurnerAfter practice Tuesday Head Coach Norv Turner speaks with members of the media. |
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