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Posted June 7, 2007
Ryan takes two steps to success
Second-year punter loses a step in hopes of improving consistency
By Rob Demovsky
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com
For 18 years, Jon Ryan punted pretty much the same way — catch the ball, take three steps and fire away.
"I've been a three-step punter since I was 7 years old," the 25-year-old said.
In the last five months, the Green Bay Packers' punter has undergone an overhaul of his mechanics. In that time, Ryan eliminated one step from his approach, and he believes the change will make him more consistent than he was last season.
"It's still a work in progress," Ryan said last week when the Packers opened their organized team activity workouts.
"But I really like how it feels so far."
The transformation into a two-step punter was born out of a season wrap-up meeting with special-teams coordinator Mike Stock only days after Ryan finished his first season as an NFL punter.
The strong-legged Ryan, a former CFL standout, ranked ninth in the NFL in average (44.5 yards) but was tied for 26th in net average (35.7), in part because his hang times were inconsistent.
In Stock's evaluation of Ryan, he determined the change in mechanics was the best way for his punter to improve his hang times.
"It was Coach Stock's idea, but I recognized last year there were times when I could have been more consistent," Ryan said.
"If you look at it on film, my steps were getting too long, and I was too out of control. We thought if I could eliminate that first step and just take two steps, everything would be more compact and more consistent."
So, Ryan left Green Bay after the season and began the change five months ago, when he began his offseason workouts at home in Canada on Jan. 6.
He resumed his work with Stock when the Packers' offseason program began on March 19.
"It's a big change, but I think I put enough hours into it this offseason that the more I reps I got, the more comfortable I got," Ryan said.
"I'd say I'm about 90 percent comfortable with it. I think it will increase hang time. I don't think power is my problem. It's just harnessing that power a little bit more and trying to be more consistent."
Changing a punter's steps can be a difficult task. When the Packers picked B.J. Sander in the third round of the 2004 draft, he struggled so badly during his rookie training camp that they tried to get him to shorten his steps. John Bonamego, then the Packers' special-teams coach, thought Sander's 2½-step motion might not allow him to get the ball off fast enough, so he tried to get Sander to change to what he called a 2¼-step delivery.
Sander, who didn't play as a rookie, never fully grasped that technique and struggled in 2005 — his only season as the Packers' punter. He has not kicked in the NFL since.
Ryan doesn't believe the change will cause him problems.
"I feel more comfortable with this than I did last year at this time with the three steps," Ryan said.
"Hopefully, that's going to show come training camp and during the season that I worked on it and improved a lot."
It showed last Thursday, when Ryan punted "live" with his new motion for the first time during a team (11-on-11) setting.
During a pair of special-teams periods, Ryan punted from the opponent's 45-yard line into a slight wind. The goal of the drill was to kick directionally — once left and once right — and pin the opposing team deep in its territory.
In 16 punts in the first period, Ryan had 13 inside the 20 (including five inside the 10) and two touchbacks.
In the second period, Ryan kicked 10 times and had eight inside the 20 (including four inside the 10) and one touchback.
After last week's session, Ryan said he was pleased with the results.
"It's more mental than anything, believing that you can still get the same amount of power with shorter strides," Ryan said.
"The toughest thing is just getting over that mental hurdle. Once you get over that, you're fine."
The only other punter on the Packers' roster is Australian David Lonie, who was in training camp with the Washington Redskins last year but never has appeared in an NFL regular-season game.
Lonie looked shaky early in last week's practice but improved as the session went on.
"We need to be more consistent in the punting," coach Mike McCarthy said during the Packers' last minicamp.
"That's something we addressed in our team goals for the upcoming year."
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