What it is

A place kick is a kick of a ball that is held in place on the ground or on a tee. A drop kick is a kick where the player drops the ball and kicks it just after it bounces.

In a game

Field goals, extra points and kickoffs are place kicks. Drop kicks are very rare, though they are still legal.

More detail

The drop kick was common in football’s early days, when the ball was rounder. Today the pointier ball bounces unpredictably, which is why it vanished from regular play.