Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillio and the perfect CFL kick

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Sports Football CFL Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Published Jul 29, 2025 • Last updated 11 minutes ago • 3 minute read

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Bombers Castillo Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo (14) celebrates as he kicks a field goal against the Calgary Stampeders during second half CFL pre-season action in Winnipeg. Photo by Kevin King /Winnipeg SunArticle content

The perfect kick for points does exist in football, but it is a near biomechanical miracle to fully execute.

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“To create the perfect kick is just an oddity where you connect with everything, from your jab step, to your head placement, to your shoulders, the plant, the foot to the ball, the contact and the hit,” Bombers kick Sergio Castillo told The Winnipeg Sun.

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Castillo has split the uprights on 428 separate occasions (234 field goals and 194 extra-point converts) in his career heading into Week 9 action against the Toronto Argos. In total, he has attempted 485 kicks in his nine-year stint north of the border. His overall success rate is 85.4 per cent.

Keep in mind ‘split the uprights’ is key here. More on that later.

His success rate in executing the perfect kick is rare, like a blue rose or a blue moon.

“I have had, maybe, six or seven kicks where everything was perfect,” he said.

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And so, those memorable moments tend to stand out among the not-so-memorable yet successful moments.

When interviewed, Castillo was standing at his locker in the Bombers dressing room with a wistful look on his face, trying to recall what the perfect kick feels like physically and emotionally, perhaps also wondering why kicks like that can’t happen every single time.

For now, two memories from his lengthy Rolodex will suffice.

“I remember hitting a 53-yard field goal two years ago when we were playing in Edmonton, and I absolutely crushed it,” Castillo said, with an ounce of satisfaction as he extended the pronunciation of the word ‘crushed’ for maximum effect.. “Last year, I hit a 56-yard field goal in Saskatchewan in the fourth quarter, and I think it went 18 yards deep into the end zone.”

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Castillo said there was a qualifier for the lengthy boot in Regina.

“Now, we had some wind in the back, but to go 18 yards deep like that, it was like ‘wow.’ Everything on that kick connected,” he said.

The 35-year-old says there are, depending on the peculiarities of the kicker, five to seven body markers that need to sync up to create alignment and momentum going forward.

“For me it is a nice jab and soft on my feet,” he said. “If I am hard that means I am too fast and if I am too fast that means I am opening my shoulders, where I need to be square. I need a good plant foot, solid foot to ball contact and then on balance (through the kick) … All that togetherness creates smoothness.”

A ‘jab step’ is the short initial step with the plant foot that serves to shift body weight forward and prepare the kicker for the drive and plant steps of the approach. The purpose is to create a smooth and consistent rhythm to create better contact with the ball. Castillo’s jab occurs with his left foot.

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Beyond the six or seven perfect kicks, the remainder of Castillo’s successful field goals and PAT’s are considered ‘mishits.’

“If the ball is between the sticks, it is a good mishit,” he said.

The quality of Castillo’s mistakes has determined the length and stability of his career. Chances are good the 39-yard field goal he made against the Argos on Saturday night was a mishit.

“The name of the game is how bad do your mishits look,” Castillo said. “If I can get five or six components to a perfect kick, everybody is different, but if you can get five to seven you are creating a good mishit, and that is what separates people who are consistently in the pros and people who are trying to get there.”

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Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillio and the perfect CFL kick

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