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- For a move in professional wrestling, see dropkick.
Rugby football
Originally in Rugby, a drop-kick was one of only two ways to score points along with the place kick.
Drop kicks have exceptionally been up to 60-70 metres long in the past in rugby, though being able to perform a 50 metre drop kick is considered a significant achievement. Various anecdotes from some of the elder clubs suggest that drop-kicks as far as 75 metres have been successful, such as a famous early St Joseph's College, Hunter's Hill/SJC game "where the ball was kicked 80 yards up a significant gradient to win the game", but no such feats have been performed before recorded imagery. Anecdotally, leather balls formerly used could fly further than the synthetic balls used currently, although it has been shown that today's synthetic balls are more aerodynamically suited to give extensive flight to the ball and also they, unlike leather balls, do not become heavier in wet, muddy conditions.
In rugby union and rugby league, a drop kick is used to restart play and to score a field or drop goal.
Drop kicks are used in rugby union:
- from the centre spot to start a half
- from the centre spot after points have been scored
- for a 22-metre drop-out when the ball is touched down or made dead in the in-goal area by the defending team, the attacking team having kicked or taken the ball into the in-goal area.
- from a penalty kick to score a penalty goal or after a try to score a conversion, although the option of a place kick is usually taken instead.
- when kicking for touch (the sideline) from a penalty, although the option of a punt kick is usually taken instead.
In rugby league, a drop-out ensues from underneath the posts on the goal line when:
- the defending team forces the ball in the in-goal area
- the defending team is tackled or knocks on in the in-goal area
- the defending team causes the ball to go dead or into touch-in-goal.
- an unsuccessful penalty goal attempt goes dead or into touch-in-goal.
In each game, a player may attempt to score a goal from open play by drop kicking the ball over the crossbar and between the posts. A goal scored this way is called a dropped goal, abbreviated to "drop goal" in speech. A dropped goal scores three points in rugby union but only one point in rugby league, where the option is usually only taken late in a tied game.
American and Canadian football
In both American football and Canadian football, one method of scoring a field goal or extra point is 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 1934, the ball was made more pointed at the ends. This made passing the ball easier, as was its intent, but made the drop kick obsolete, as the more pointed ball did not bounce up from the ground reliably. The drop kick was supplanted by the place kick, which cannot be attempted out of a formation generally used as a running or passing set. The drop kick remains in the rules, but is seldom seen, and rarely effective when attempted.
The only execution of the drop kick in recent years in the NFL was by Doug Flutie, reserve quarterback of the New England Patriots, against the Miami Dolphins on January 1, 2006 for an extra point after a touchdown. Since Doug Flutie estimated that he had "probably an 80 percent chance" of making a drop kickand regular place-kicked point after attempts have a much higher probability of being good, the kick was not a strategic move. After the game New England coach Bill Belichick said "I think Doug deserves it"*" target="_blank" >This was the first successful drop kick in the NFL in over 64 years since it was executed by Ray "Scooter" McLean of the Chicago Bears in their 37-9 victory over the New York Giants on December 21, 1941 in the NFL championship game at Chicago's Wrigley Field. Though it wasn't part of the NFL at the time, the All-America Football Conference saw its last drop kick November 28, 1948 when Joe Vetrano of the San Francisco 49ers dropkicked an extra point after a muffed snap against the Cleveland Browns.[http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2006/01/29/a_get_rich_kick_scheme_fails/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+New+England+Patriots+news
Prior to Flutie's historic drop-kick, the only recent vocal proponent of the drop-kick in the NFL had been Jim McMahon, quarterback for several NFL teams. During the 1980s, while playing in Chicago, McMahon regularly practiced the drop kick, and was known to frequently petition Bears head coach Mike Ditka for an opportunity to use the maneuver. Ditka, who regarded the play as an anachronism, never allowed it.
In August 1974, Tom Wilkinson, quarterback for the Edmonton Eskimos, attempted a drop-kick field goal in the final seconds of a 20-2 romp over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He missed. This may have been the last time the play was deliberately attempted in the CFL.
Exclusively in Canadian football, the drop kick can be attempted beyond or behind the line of scrimmage. Any player on the kicking team behind the kicker, and including the kicker, can recover the kick. A drop kick that goes out of bounds is considered a change of possession.
During one game in the 1980's Hamilton Tiger-Cats wide receiver Earl Winfield was unable to field properly a punt and in frustration he kicked the ball out of bounds. The kick was considered a drop kick and it led to a change of possession and the team that punted regained possession of the ball.
The drop kick is most often used as a desperation play at the end of a game.
Arena football
In Arena football 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 inventors 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. However, the additional incentive has not been enough of an enticement to produce many drop kicks after the first few years of Arena play. The absence of drop-kicking with any degree of frequency from any other level or variety of gridiron football in the present day (see above) 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.
Australian Rules football
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 as the game became played at a faster pace.
See also
American football plays | Rugby union terminology | Rugby league terminology | Australian rules football terminology
"Drop kick"