Page 1 of 1

Where do you kick the ball?

Posted: Sun May 26, 2002 3:44 am
by neoliminal
I've started kicking the ball rather deep, with good effect. Here's an exmaple:

Code: Select all

Line-of-Scrimage
----------------------------- 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
. . . .|. . . O . . .|. . . . 
-----------------------------
. . . .|. . . . . . .|. . . . 
-----------------------------
e-n-d-z-o-n-e
The ball can end up very very deep, I've had two occasions where it's ended up in the corner.

Where do you put the ball?

Posted: Sun May 26, 2002 4:19 am
by Anthony_TBBF
One of my first skills is always Kick for a Lineman, I kick the ball deep as well.

Dawg Kicks

Posted: Sun May 26, 2002 10:32 am
by NightDragon
Against slow teams I kick deep, against fast teams I kick short, from a D.Elf point of view. But these are general points it does depend on his set up.

Posted: Sun May 26, 2002 2:18 pm
by Acerak
In general, I'll kick the ball in the center of the pitch if my opponent hasn't used an asymmetric setup on offense. I dont' like to risk OOB kick-offs, as it removes the potential for a turnover.

Kick is nice. I usually kick it towards the open hole if I have it; deep, otherwise, two squares up and in from one of the end zone corners.

-Chet

Posted: Sun May 26, 2002 6:58 pm
by Zy-Nox
I usualy go dead center and seven in from the endzone,this way I cant get stung by bad kicks(hopefully),I have an uncanny nack of rolling a lot.When somebody gets the kick skill then its wherever is open, and I can exploit :evil:

Posted: Sun May 26, 2002 10:47 pm
by Deathwing
Symetric set up, normal situation, I'll usually go central.
Sometimes I'll vary depending on which race I'm playing and the situation. Two turns left to score or a full half?
It's no good kicking deep against Woodies if you're playing Dwarves for example. Reverse the teams and kicking deep makes sense though.
I've seen people kick deep and roll a blitz, and I've seen desperate people kick short, call the 10, roll the 10 and get under the ball.
So just how long is a piece of string?

Posted: Sun May 26, 2002 11:02 pm
by sean newboy
I tend to kick towards the center as well, im too good at giving away touchbacks.

Posted: Mon May 27, 2002 11:25 am
by voyagers_uk
in a different vein, once I have a player with kick I aim to get it on the LOS away from his players but near mine so that he has to GFI to pick up in TZ's it has come off 3 out of 4 now so not a bad tactic.

Posted: Mon May 27, 2002 4:26 pm
by Marcus
Back to first principles you have to establish exactly what you are trying to achieve with the kickoff. By trying to place the ball in a particular way you are trying to force the opposition's field position into a particular pattern for the beginning of your first defensive turn. The question then becomes one of how do you want that field position to look.

A rule of thumb that works well for me is, as dawg mentioned, to kick deep to slow teams and short to fast teams.

Slow teams work best when in a pack, by kicking deep you separate their hard hitting linemen from their fullbacks, forcing them to either make a risky play to move the ball up to the line quickly (turnover opportunity) or keep their fullbacks deep giving you a turn to interpose your passblockers and diving tacklers in between the front line and the backfield. This limits their backfield movement and splits their team up, opening the game up. If you're a fast team this is a Good Thing[tm]. But may not be your cup of tea if you're a slower, bashing team.

Against faster teams who can move the ball the length of a half in one turn, kicking short is often a good option. This pulls their fullback closer to the front line and prevents them from getting their team too spread out. With woodelves I generally kick very short to the weak side and set up linelves with passblock up close to the line. Often as not I will be able to interfere with any pass attempt to move the ball to the safety of the backfield or the pocket.

Kick is always my first lineman skill, it's too useful for regaining the initiative off kickoff to ignore.

Marcus

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2002 1:00 pm
by Mad Makz
It really depends on what I want to achieve. As a Skaven player I usually go central, as if they get a touch back I am screwed (never strong enough to ensure the ball carrier will go down unless the team is also a relatively weak team).

If I am ahead on points and have already totally pounded their line of scrimage I might kick short, try and break through with a linerat or Stormvermin and try and spread the SPP's around a little, rather than giving an already tooled up GR another touch down.

But ultimately it's a split second decision for every line of scrimmage with me, gut feeling rather than a real tactical consideration.

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2002 3:21 pm
by SBG
Without Kick in my lineup : central.
With Kick : deep corners.

I am the touchback king.

Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2002 10:23 am
by Ghost of Pariah
It doesn't matter where I place it because I almost always get a touchback. It's amazing! You've never seen anything like it! I AM the Touch Back King!!!!!!!!!!