"THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO PUNTING"
written by FortyFPS

(MAX - 40) + (Y x 5) = Punt Distance 
 
The touchback killing formula that you'll always use, but never have to remember! 


To explain:

I started my Tecmo Bowl career in March and, knowing the competition was the best players in the world who have been studying the game for decades, the initial idea was to try and discover unconventional quirks in the game that could be used to substitute for experience or ability.

From filming The Tecmo Bowl Documentary, I kept hearing 2 x Omaha champion Nate Merz's interview in my head stressing how "punting is winning", and while the majority of my punts came as a result of 3 & Outs , I had subconsciously put a premium on them.

One day in April, I discovered something about the power bar and it set me off on a manic trial run with each of the punters and watching old league streams to confirm/deny my theory.

So, now that you've skimmed past all that: 

Here is the punting secret!

The kicking power bar is broken up into 8 segments using the field markings underneath!
   
Each of these segments adds 5 YARDS to your punt!

So knowing the potential 40 yard boost the power bar gives, you can:

1. Find your punter's maximum kicking distance and subtract 40 yards (the list will be below)

2. Using the 8 sections x 5 Yards , you are now able to drop a punt wherever you want!

EXAMPLE:

I've selected a random moment from Drewmanster's KotH stream:

F1DL5TYX is Miami and lined up to punt from his own 44 yard line.

1. Reggie Roby has a MAX KICK of 72 yards, meaning a kick of zero power will travel 32 yards and will land on Indianapolis' 24 yard line.




This gives Roby a 24 yard window to avoid a touchback.

Knowing every section of the power bar adds +5 yards:

Roby will need to kick it anywhere before the 5/8 section on the power bar!


Here is an isolated clip with the result:

Roby actually does a perfect 4.75 powered kick and the ball lands mere pixels before a touchback!


So:

Had Roby kicked a 5/8 power kick, it'd have landed one yard deep in the endzone.

Had Roby kicked a 4/8, or half power kick, it'd have landed on the Indy 4 yard line.

Had Roby kicked a 3/8 kick, it'd have landed on the Indy 9 yard line and on and on.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The computer rounds up half yards!

Had Roby kicked a 4.5/8 power kick, the computer rounds up the expected 22.5 yards to 23.

BUT:

This actually makes accurately placing kicks easier!



As you now know, a 4.5/8 kick would be 23 yards and a 5/8 kick would travel 25 yards...so:

The fairly large area between any half and full sections on the power bar will only add 1 yard!

So in the Roby example:

F1DL5TYX simply had to press the button anywhere after 4.5 and before the 5.0 to land it 24 yards perfectly, as he did!

ONE MORE EXAMPLE:


Drewmanster is lined up to punt from his own 29 yard line.

1. Stark also has a MAX KICK of 72 yards, meaning a kick of zero power will travel 32 yards and will land on Indianapolis' 41 yard line.

This gives Stark a 41 yard window to kick with no fear of a touchback

Drewmanster gets off a 5/8 power kick, which adds 25 yards.

This will be a 57 yard punt and should land at the Miami 16....

Here is an isolated clip with the result:

*** Last important thing to note!

Occassionally the yard markers are slightly misaligned to the power bar, but once you are used to visualizing the 8 sections, it is simple to eye ball the required adjustment.








PUNTER'S BASE DISTANCE, PRE-POWER BAR:

New York: 37 yards
Indianapolis: 32 yards
Miami: 32 yards
Washington: 31 yards
San Francisco: 31 yards
Cleveland: 25 yards
Los Angeles: 25 yards
Minnesota: 25 yards
Dallas: 21 yards
Chicago: 21 yards
Seattle: 15 yards
Denver: 15 yards