It's a game of nanoseconds. The magic number is
1.3.seconds.
That's the target elapsed time from snap to kick. Get it into the 1.3's. That's the Eagles target time among many others. The low 1.3's are good. In kicking practice you'll hear a coach call out: 1=3=4, 1-3-2, 1-3-3, after the kicks.The snapper-holder-kicker unit will work together to shave a hundredth of a second off that elapsed time. The Eagles work to get that time down to 1-3-0. That's the goal.
The kicker has the final and most complex part of that operation. His mental clock. His perception of when the ball first moves on the snap starts his mental clock, honed to hundredth of a second, to start his approach.
To hit
1.3 seconds for the kick he must be in his approach while the ball in in the air on its way to the holder. He watches the ball hit the spot while his kicking leg is in motrion.
The kicker works for hours and hours in practive, year after year, to fine-tune and develop that acute awareness of his mental clock and when to start his approach. It has to be so precise that he's measuring it in hundredths of a second in his head.
Why 1.3 seconds?
An unchecked edge rusher cannot close the distance to block the kick within 1.3 seconds.
Given adequate blocking, pressure up the middle cannot penetrate far enough to block a kick within 1.3 seconds.
Karty had his approach time down to a steady 1.26 to 1.28 range when he checked in at the Ram camp as a rookie.
What happened next?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2025 08:53AM by mtramfan.
