Pinegar Keys in on Mental Approach to Kicking

Moments into Joe Lorig’s introductory press conference as Penn State’s new special teams coordinator, he was asked to share his impressions of kicker Jake Pinegar.

Pinegar, fresh off a debut season in which he became the first true freshman Nittany Lion in program history to score 100 points, had been impressive, Lorig said.

A weapon to be utilized by Penn State’s special teams, Lorig said Pinegar had an impressive approach to his craft and, more importantly, was honest about his own strengths and weaknesses.

“I really wanted to find out, ‘You tell me where you think you're at. You tell me where you think you struggle. You tell me where you think the issues were.’ And I was impressed with his responses,” said Lorig. “I was impressed that he didn't make excuses. He took accountability for the things that he thought he didn't do very well at and he was proud of the things they did do well. And he has a good plan… of how he can get better.”

As Pinegar himself described it, his first season with the Nittany Lions had both highs and lows.

Knocking home a 32-yard field goal attempt and six extra points against Appalachian State, the Iowa native was named Penn State’s Special Teams Player of the Week. As the Nittany Lions rolled through the next three weeks of the schedule, however, Pinegar had just two attempts and missed both. And by the time losses to Ohio State and Michigan State had taken place, Pinegar connected on a combined 3 of 5 attempts, but both misses might have helped upend the outcomes of those games.

Said Pinegar, “Obviously, I think I started a little shaky, kind of getting used to everything.”

A combined 4 of 8 through the first six games of the season, Pinegar turned the page to find new levels of comfort with the team’s rebound wins against Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin Rutgers and Maryland to close out the regular season. Connecting on five consecutive attempts against the Hoosiers and Hawkeyes, Pinegar would go 3 of 5 against the Badgers before collecting himself for a 3 for 3 combined performance against the Scarlet Knights and Terrapins.

“In the second half of the season, I thought I hit a groove, finished well,” said Pinegar. “And then in the bowl game, I didn't finish the way I wanted to. So there were ups and downs, but a lot of learning too, coming into this next season.”

Confident in his abilities, Pinegar acknowledged that much of his growth through the 2018 season had everything to do with the mental side of the game.

Managing to focus just on one play, and only one play, proved to be a challenge on this stage. And even physically, Pinegar added, consistency in his approach was tied to having the right mental makeup to compete at this level.

Needing to take each kick as it comes, and not letting the last kick - be it a make or a miss - affect the next kick proved to be a challenge.

“It's difficult. It's easier said than done when you have one play that kind of sticks in your head,” said Pinegar. “But it's kind of a self-taught thing. You can't really have anybody else do it for you. They can help you, they can say things, but you gotta do it on your own. And I'd say over the spring, I kind of worked a lot on that and got better with it.”

Determined to produce more highs ear his sophomore year than the up-and-down nature of his first season at Penn State, Pinegar believes himself to have developed some mental toughness for the experience.

And with it, thanks also to the arrival of Lorig, growth and improvement can come too.

“With Coach Lorig coming in here, he did some good things for us, brought some different energy,” said Pinegar. “I'd say it was a good spring for me personally. I was hitting kickoffs really well, I was kicking field goals really well, and a lot of growing from that and moving on.”