National Football League

Washington Redskins kicker gets special new toy for practice

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:45 p.m. ET

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By Sam Gardner, FOXSports.com Kicking in the NFL is task that requires a supreme level of precision, so what better way for a kicker to prepare for the rigors of the job than to kick on a set of uprights that’s half the regulation width? That’s what Washington Redskins kicker Kai Forbath has started doing after finally convincing the team to install one set of Arena League goalposts on the team’s practice field.

  Whereas a standard set of NFL uprights measure 18 feet 6 inches wide, Arena League posts are separated by just nine feet. So the thought is that if a kicker can master field goal kicking in practice, it should be a cinch in the games. “It just makes you focus more,” Forbath told the Washington Post. “It’s a small margin of error to get it through there, and it just makes it that much easier when you go back to the big ones. I warm up on those, and then go back to the big ones when we kick field goals with the team.” According to the Post, the use of Arena League uprights isn’t uncommon around the NFL, but it took the Redskins until this week to get on board. “When I was in Dallas they had them on their field, and when I was in Tampa they had them on their field,” Forbath told the paper. “It’s something that they had tried in other ways here. Maybe it was removable ones. But we just finally talked them into it, and I think it’ll help with consistency and a mental thing to practice on that, it’ll just make it a lot easier in the game.” After making 17 of his 18 field goal attempts last season, Forbath is 4-for-6 on field goals this season, with a long of 38 yards and misses from 40 and 49. He is also 13-for-13 on extra points. Washington hosts the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.

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