kicking vs place kick

kicking and place kick both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
kicking	Yes	No	No	No
place kick	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, place kick is a hyponym of kicking; that is, place kick is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than kicking:

kicking: the act of delivering a blow with the foot
place kick: (sports) a kick in which the ball is placed on the ground before kicking

Other hyponyms of kicking include goal-kick, goal-kick, punt, punting, place-kicking, dropkick.

kicking (noun)	place kick (noun)
the act of delivering a blow with the foot	(sports) a kick in which the ball is placed on the ground before kicking
a rhythmic thrusting movement of the legs as in swimming or calisthenics