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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
Warrior kicker
hopes to end bogeysKICKERS are mental.
No, not kicking is mental (although much of it probably is). No, no. Kickers are mental.
You know what I mean.
"Well, there's that stereotype of us being all alone," Hawaii kicker Justin Ayat said this week, seeming remarkably sane.
But no, he said. He's one of the boys. He runs, he lifts, he hangs out with the guys.
He's perfectly normal.
That can't be right.
Kickers are on their own, under pressure. On the sideline by themselves waiting for those single deciding plays that have very little to do with the rest of football.
And Ayat has always been a kicker, since he was a sophomore in high school -- a soccer player who decided to give football a try. But he said he was told to forget blocking and tackling, son, just concentrate on putting that ball through the H.
A job so small, and yet if you miss ... well, let's not talk about it.
Besides, golf is a game that has driven every man who has ever played it crazy (and quite a few women, too). And as everybody knows, a kicker's leg is just a human golf club.
"Yeah, I hear that all the time," Ayat said, "being that most of our coaches here golf.
"They always give me the golfing analogy of, 'Justin, it's just like a golf swing.' "
And they all have great golf swings?
"I'm like, 'Yeah,' " Ayat said. " 'What's your handicap?' "
But in the end, Ayat admitted, they're right. Kicking is golf. An inch off, the slightest change, and you've got hooks or slices or fades. You can lose your touch and not know why. But golfers have lessons and magazines and commentators. And an entire television network.
(Not to mention new Big Bertha technologically advanced graphite super clubs.)
"Versus me," Ayat said, "I'm just kind of out here on my own by myself."
Well, let's not forget all the pau hana duffers telling him to keep his head down.
"Yeah, every coach has their little case on what to do, but in the end I have to find it out for myself," he said.
"I take some of that in, but you (already) know all that stuff, it's basic stuff."
And if you still miss it's enough to drive you nuts.
Right?
Uh, no, Ayat said. Not quite.
But he did say this recent cold streak (and if you're breathing, you've heard of this recent cold streak) had finally started to weigh on him.
"Recently, yeah," he said, "it kind of gets to me."
Of course, every UH fan has also heard by now that this was the week Ayat finally detected the hitch in his swing.
How? His very own Golf Channel. He and special teams coach Tyson Helton watched tape after tape until finally it was Helton, of all people, who spotted it.
"Which I was surprised at, but ..." Ayat said. "Because honestly, and he will admit to it, he doesn't know much about kicking, like anybody else."
So that's the report from UH kicker camp heading into tomorrow's game at Nevada. Ayat: not insane. The hitch: fixed. I guess we all can breathe easier now. And yet, I'm still a little wary.
I still have one question:
How good is Helton's golf game?
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com
