WüRZBURG, Germany — Rex Robinson of Marietta, Ga., a former All-America place-kicker for the Georgia Bulldogs’ 1980 national championship team, arrived at this week’s DODDS-Europe football camp with a clear objective.
“Our main goal is to help everyone get better,” said Robinson, 45, a sports equipment and apparel salesman for Atlanta-based Prosports.
“I’ve been really pleased with the progress we’ve made.”
Although there are 425 high school football players in this year’s camp, only a handful have been able to attend every kicking session that Robinson has conducted. The others have to divide their time among their position classes.
That fits nicely into Robinson’s style, developed when he got involved with the football program at Marietta High School a few years ago.
“Some guys were not extremely happy with the kickers’ camps they had attended,” Robinson said. “They said there were too many people there, so I started working with small groups.”
And tailoring his instruction to their styles.
“There are certain fundamentals which should be there, but there can be personal style preferences. I try to help a kicker perfect his style,” Robinson said.
According to London Central coach Fredo Ontiveros, the personal touch works wonders.
“He’s fantastic,” Ontiveros said. “He gives each kid just one minor adjustment to work on for each repetition. He gives them time to absorb it and then he’ll give them another tweak.”
Does it work?
“We had kids kicking 45-yard field goals last night,” Ontiveros said Thursday.
Robinson’s most diligent pupils here are also DODDS soccer stars, including All-Europeans Lones Seiber of Wiesbaden, Mike Preston of Lakenheath and Christian Peel of Bamberg.
“This guy’s teaching me a lot,” said Seiber, a junior who’s playing football for the first time this season. “He’s shown me some warm-up drills that are way better than the ones we have for soccer.”
Robinson tries to develop accuracy, derived from consistency.
“‘Accuracy Is Job No. 1’ might be the title of my book,” Robinson said. “We start our drills close to the goal post and actually try to hit the upright. Some guys get frustrated with our drills, which stress accuracy over power.”
Consistency pays off in preparation, too, he said, especially in dealing with the pressure of a game-ending kick which can be the difference between a team’s winning and losing.
“The main thing is to develop a pre-kick routine,” he said, “something that is easy to repeat and perform under pressure. It makes an unpredictable situation seem familiar. It calms you and makes you feel that you’ve been here before.”
It’s also important, he said, for kickers to visualize success and not worry about failing.
Robinson said he’d welcome the opportunity to work this camp again.
“If I can find a way to get over jet lag, that is.”
