Drop kick Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
A drop kick involves the kicker dropping a ball onto the ground, nose first if it is an oval ball, and then kicking the ball when it bounces off the ground. It contrasts to a punt where the kicker kicks the ball without letting it hit the ground first.
In American football, one method of scoring a field goal was by drop-kicking the football through the goal.
The drop kick was often used as a surprise tactic. The ball would be snapped or lateraled to a back, who would perhaps fake a run or pass, but then would kick the field goal instead.
This method of scoring worked well in the 1920s and 1930s, when the football was rounder at the ends (similar to a modern rugby ball). Early football stars such as Jim Thorpe and Paddy Driscoll were skilled drop-kickers.
In the 1930s, the ball was made more pointed at the ends. This made passing the ball easier, as was its intent, but made the drop kick obsolescent, as the more pointed ball did not bounce up from the ground reliably. The drop kick was supplanted by the place kick, which meant that a field goal could no longer be attempted out of a formation generally used as a running or passing set. The drop kick remained in the rules long after this, but was seldom seen, and rarely effective when attempted, until, with the exception noted below, it was dropped from the rules entirely. The Drop kick still exists in Canadian Football.
Drop-kicking is still technically part of the rules of Arena football. In fact, in the Arena rules a drop-kicked extra point counts for two points rather than one; a drop-kicked field goal counts for four points rather than three. Seemingly the game's promoters hoped that a team trailing by four points on an apparent final play might attempt a very dramatic drop kick in order to tie the game. In practice this has very seldom occurred for the reasons noted above. The current shape of the ball used in American football of all kinds, including Arena, is not conducive to drop-kicking, as the end is too pointed for it to bounce up sufficiently on a consistent basis. Also, the absence of drop-kicking from any other level or variety of American football in the present day means that there is no pool of experienced and capable drop kickers for the Arena league to draw from, and the play would in any event occur too seldom to seem to be worth the amount of practice time that would have to be devoted to it for it to be executed at any real level of proficiency; in practice a pass off of the rebound nets above the endlines which, if completed, would result in six points and a win for the team down by four points, rather than a tie and overtime, probably has at least an equal and possibly a superior chance of success.
In Australian Rules football, a similarly named and executed kick was used in general play, particularly after a free kick was awarded.
It was popular as players could kick the ball long distances, and the ball's backwards rotation was reasonably easy for teammates to catch (a major feature of the game).
A variation known as the "stab pass" or more poetically, the "daisy cutter" involved an abbreviated follow-through and travelled on a notably low trajectory, which made it very useful for short-range passing.
The drop kick and stab pass gradually disappeared from the game by the 1980s, as it was unreliable, particularly on wet grounds, and players were coached to always use the drop punt kicking style to avoid having to make a decision on what kind of kick to perform.
In Rugby Union and Rugby League, a drop kick can be used to score a goal by kicking the ball above the crossbar and between the uprights. Typically it is only used for goals scored during open play - place kicks are usually used for penalties and conversions. A drop goal is worth 3 points in Rugby Union and 1 point in Rugby League.
Two finals in the Rugby Union World Cup have been decided by drop goals in extra time. South Africa's victory margin in 1995 came from a Joel Stransky drop goal in extra time. Jonny Wilkinson duplicated the feat for England in 2003.
Drop kicks are used to restart play (1) after points have been scored from the centre spot and (2) for a 22 drop-out when the ball is touched down in the in-goal area by the defending team, the attacking team having kicked or taken the ball into the in-goal area. The game is however restarted with a place kick at the start of each half (kick-off).American Football
Australian Rules football
Rugby football