Adrop kick is a type ofkick in various codes offootball. It involves a player intentionally dropping the ball onto the ground and thenkicking it either (different sports have different definitions) 'as it rises from the first bounce' (rugby)[1] or 'as, or immediately after, it touches the ground' (gridiron football).[2]
Drop kicks are used as a method of restarting play and scoring points inrugby union andrugby league. Also,association footballgoalkeepers often return the ball to play with drop kicks. The kick was once in wide use in bothAustralian rules football andgridiron football, but it is rarely used anymore in either sport.[3][4]
The drop kick technique in rugby codes is usually to hold the ball with one end pointing downwards in two hands above the kicking leg. The ball is dropped onto the ground in front of the kicking foot, which makes contact at the moment or fractionally after the ball touches the ground, called thehalf-volley. The kicking foot usually makes contact with the ball slightly on the instep.[5]
In a rugby union kick-off, or drop out, the kicker usually aims to kick the ball high but not a great distance, and so usually strikes the ball after it has started to bounce off the ground, so the contact is made close to the bottom of the ball.
Inrugby league, drop kicks are mandatory to restart play from the goal line (called a goal line drop-out) after the defending team is tackled or knocks on in the in-goal area or the defending team causes the ball to go dead or intotouch-in-goal. Drop kicks are also mandatory to restart play from the 20 metre line after an unsuccessful penalty goal attempt goes dead or into touch-in-goal and to score adrop goal (sometimes known as a field goal) in open play, which is worth one point.[6]
Drop kicks are optional for a penalty kick to score a penalty goal (this being done rarely, as place kicks are generally used) and when kicking for touch (the sideline) from a penalty, although the option of a punt kick is usually taken instead.
Inrugby union, a drop kick is used for the kick-off and restarts and to score adrop goal (sometimes called a field goal). Originally, it was one of only two ways to score points, along with theplace kick.
Drop kicks are mandatory from the centre spot to start a half (a kick-off), from the centre spot to restart the game after points have been scored, to restart play from the 22-metre line (called a drop-out) after the ball is touched down or made dead in the in-goal area by the defending team when the attacking team kicked or took the ball into the in-goal area, and to score a drop goal (sometimes called a field goal) in open play, which is worth three points.[7]
Drop kicks are optional for a conversion kick after a try has been scored. As in rugby league this is done rarely, as place kicks are generally used.
The usage of drop kicks inrugby sevens is the same as in rugby union, except that drop kicks are used for all conversion attempts and for penalty kicks, both of which must be taken within 40 seconds of the try being scored or the award of the penalty.[8]
In bothAmerican andCanadian football, one method of scoring afield goal,fair-catch kick (American only), orextra point is by drop-kicking the football through the goal, although the technique is virtually never used in modern play.[9]
It contrasts with thepunt, wherein the player kicks the ball without letting it hit the ground first, and theplace kick, wherein the player kicks a stationary ball off the ground: "from placement". A drop kick is significantly more difficult; asJim Thorpe explained in 1926 when both kick types were common, "I regard the place kick as almost two to one safer than the drop kick in attempting a goal from the field."[10]
The drop kick was often used in early football as asurprise tactic. The ball wassnapped orlateraled to a back, who faked a run or pass, then drop-kicked a field goal attempt. This method of scoring worked well in the 1920s and early 1930s, when the ball was rounder at the ends, similar to a modernrugby ball.
Early football stars Thorpe,Charles Brickley,Frank Hudson,Paddy Driscoll, andAl Bloodgood were skilled drop-kickers; Driscoll in1925 and Bloodgood in1926 hold a tied NFL record of four drop kicked field goals in a single game.[11] Driscoll's 55-yard drop kick in1924 stood as the unofficial record forfield goal range[12] untilBert Rechichar kicked a 56-yard field goal (by placekick) in1953.
The ball was made more pointed at the ends in1934; this change is generally credited toShorty Ray, a college football official at the time, and later the NFL's head of officiating.[13] This made passing the ball easier, as was its intent, but made the drop kick almost immediately 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. While it remains in the rules, the drop kick is seldom seen, and as explained below, is rarely effective when attempted.
In Canadian football, there are no formal restrictions on the circumstances under which a drop or a place kick can be attempted.[14]
Since 1941, the only successful drop kick for points in the NFL was byDoug Flutie, the backupquarterback of theNew England Patriots, against theMiami Dolphins on January 1, 2006, for an extra point after a touchdown. Flutie, 43 at the time, was given the opportunity to make a historic kick in what was his last play in the NFL. Flutie estimated he had "an 80 percent chance" of making the drop kick.[15]
The last successful drop kick before 2006 in the NFL was executed 64 years earlier in1941, on anextra point byRay McLean of theChicago Bears, against theNew York Giants in theNFL Championship Game at Chicago'sWrigley Field on December 21. The last drop kick for afield goal was a nine-yarder by player-coachDutch Clark of theDetroit Lions in1937 against theChicago Cardinals on September 19.[16][17][18][19] TheAll-America Football Conference (AAFC) saw its last successful drop kick in1948, whenJoe Vetrano of theSan Francisco 49ers drop kicked an extra point after a muffed snap in a 31–28 home loss to the undefeatedCleveland Browns on November 28.[20][21]
Still rarely but more commonly, kickers have attempted drop kicks from kick-offs or free kicks, especially in the case of onside kicks.Patriots kickerStephen Gostkowski took an onside drop kick on a free kick against thePittsburgh Steelers on October 30,2011.[22][23]Seattle Seahawks punterMichael Dickson, an Australian punter who considered himself more adept at drop kicking than place kicking, has drop kicked both kick-offs and onside kick-offs when called on to serve as back-up kicker.[24] In 2019,Baltimore Ravens' kickerJustin Tucker drop-kicked a short, high kick-off against theKansas City Chiefs with 2:01 left in the fourth quarter to force a fair catch and prevent the Chiefs fromrunning out the clock; it was later confirmed that this kick was illegal, as Tucker had kicked the ball not immediately after it bounced, but rather after it had bounced and reached the apex of its rebound.[25]
The last successful drop kick extra point in collegiate football was by Jensen Laughlin ofQuincy University Sprint Football on November 1, 2025.[26]
In the formerArena Football League, a drop-kicked extra point was worth two points, rather than one point, while a drop-kicked field goal counted for four points rather than three, a rule that has survived intoArena Football One.[27] The last conversion of a drop kick in the AFL was by Geoff Boyer of thePittsburgh Power on June 16, 2012; it was the first successful conversion in the AFL since 1997.[28] In 2022,Salina Liberty kicker Jimmy Allen successfully converted three drop kick PAT attempts against theTopeka Tropics in aChampions Indoor Football game.[29] Allen also converted a drop kick PAT playing for the Iowa Barnstormers in theIndoor Football League during a game against the Colorado Crush during a 2016 game.[30]
In 2018,Maine Mammoths kicker Henry Nell converted a drop kick as a PAT against theMassachusetts Pirates in theNational Arena League.[31] Nell went on to kick six drop-kicked PATs for AF1'sAlbany Firebirds in2025, against theCorpus Christi Tritons; the Tritons, playing with a decimated roster of mostlyreplacement players, were on the losing end of an exceptionally lopsided match, allowing Nell to experiment with the drop kick. Nell declined a seventh opportunity to drop kick a PAT, instead using a one-point placekick to round the Firebirds' point total to an even 100 points.[32] Nell had learned the drop kick as a professional rugby union player in his native South Africa and came to the United States after having a vision of himself playing the American game, despite not knowing what the game was.[33] Manny Higuera of theWashington Wolfpack would be the first AF1 player to kick a field goal via drop kick that same year, scoring the only four points in a 71–4 loss to the Salina Liberty, a rare (if notunprecedented) example of a professional gridiron football team finishing with a score of four points.[34][35]
Once the preferred method of conveying the ball over long distances, the drop kick has been superseded by thedrop punt as a more accurate means of delivering the ball to a fellow player.[36] Drop kicks were last regularly used in the 1970s, and by that time mostly forkicking in after a behind and very rarely in general play.[37] AFL historian and statisticianCol Hutchison believes thatSam Newman was the last player to kick aset-shot goal with a drop kick, in1980, although goals in general play from a drop kick do occur on rare occasions, including subsequent goals by players such asAlastair Lynch andDarren Bewick.[38]
Hutchison says drop kicks were phased out of the game byNorm Smith in defence due to their risky nature;Ron Barassi, a player Smith coached, took this onboard for his own coaching career, banning it for all butBarry Cable, who, according to Hutchison, was a "magnificent disposer of the ball". Similarly, in 1971, underPort Adelaide coachFos Williams, Williams had a rule that nobody playing in his side could do a drop kick. However, according to teammateBrian Cunningham, afterRussell Ebert kicked a couple of goals in a game with a drop kick, Williams acknowledged Ebert's skill and made a special dispensation for him—and him alone.[39][40]
in Sevens, drop-kicks replace place-kicks for all conversion attempts, and must happen within 40 seconds (instead of one minute).
