Gauntlet Drill for Ball Security
There is nothing more important for offense to learn great ball security. Quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers should work on this skill constantly. One drill that has been used several times to improve ball security is called the gauntlet drill. The drill starts with a player protecting the ball as best as he can while running through several opponents. The opponents can line up in any scenario, the most common being two lines and the ball carrier must run through them. Run each of the gauntlet drills slow and then speed them up as each player gets better at effective ball security.
Tackling Fundamentals and Safety
Learning how to perform a proper tackle is fundamental to the game of football. If you, or your players dont take tackling seriously you will not stop the offense and could also cause injuries. Here are three important steps to practice:
First, plant yourself in front of your opponent. You can do this by placing your foot between your opponents feet. Also, at this time thrust your arms backward to prepare for the next step.
Second you want to bring your other foot into the mix, and at the same time throw your arms up and around your opponent. As your feet plants your head should be making its first contact. The one golden rule in making a safe tackle is to never, ever lead with or try to tackle with the crown of your head. A great way to insure that you are in the right position is to practice touching your facemask to the football of the opposing player.
Third, at this point you have successfully grabbed your opponent and all thats left is to lunge your hips forward and bear all of your momentum against your opponent. The more momentum that you bring to the table on steps two and three the more effective your speed will be in this last step.
Conditioning: The five dot drill
Strength and reaction time is what makes a great football athlete. This drills intention is to help quickness and accuracy on the field which will reduce errors and increase the chances of great plays. Setting up this drill is very simple, you will need five markers placed about a foot apart in an x formation with one of the dots being in the center surrounded by four other dots in a square formation.
The player will start by placing a foot on the back two dots and then jumps together to the middle dot and then out separating his legs to the outer dots, much like you would see in hop scotch. Next the player will jump touching each dot with on leg only, and then switch using the other leg. The next step is jumping on all five dots with both feet together. The last phase is really returning to the original starting phase of jumping together and apart, however this time the athlete will change directions after they have jumped to the outer dots. Remember that speed and accuracy are important on this drill so coaches should start players off slow and then proceed to full speed constantly watching accuracy.
Drive Block
Simple drives are important for linemen to practice and perfect. The most traditional or basic block is a drive block. When you want to remove an opponent effectively you will use the drive block again and again. The first step of this block is the scrimmage alignment, in order to drive to the right or left this basic block will push your opponent in the way that they are aligned, so if they are aligned to the right the drive will push them to the right. When driving start with your play side foot. Move quickly and in a speed bursting motion, make solid contact with your opponent to drive them off in the direction that you want.
There is nothing more important for offense to learn great ball security. Quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers should work on this skill constantly. One drill that has been used several times to improve ball security is called the gauntlet drill. The drill starts with a player protecting the ball as best as he can while running through several opponents. The opponents can line up in any scenario, the most common being two lines and the ball carrier must run through them. Run each of the gauntlet drills slow and then speed them up as each player gets better at effective ball security.
Tackling Fundamentals and Safety
Learning how to perform a proper tackle is fundamental to the game of football. If you, or your players dont take tackling seriously you will not stop the offense and could also cause injuries. Here are three important steps to practice:
First, plant yourself in front of your opponent. You can do this by placing your foot between your opponents feet. Also, at this time thrust your arms backward to prepare for the next step.
Second you want to bring your other foot into the mix, and at the same time throw your arms up and around your opponent. As your feet plants your head should be making its first contact. The one golden rule in making a safe tackle is to never, ever lead with or try to tackle with the crown of your head. A great way to insure that you are in the right position is to practice touching your facemask to the football of the opposing player.
Third, at this point you have successfully grabbed your opponent and all thats left is to lunge your hips forward and bear all of your momentum against your opponent. The more momentum that you bring to the table on steps two and three the more effective your speed will be in this last step.
Conditioning: The five dot drill
Strength and reaction time is what makes a great football athlete. This drills intention is to help quickness and accuracy on the field which will reduce errors and increase the chances of great plays. Setting up this drill is very simple, you will need five markers placed about a foot apart in an x formation with one of the dots being in the center surrounded by four other dots in a square formation.
The player will start by placing a foot on the back two dots and then jumps together to the middle dot and then out separating his legs to the outer dots, much like you would see in hop scotch. Next the player will jump touching each dot with on leg only, and then switch using the other leg. The next step is jumping on all five dots with both feet together. The last phase is really returning to the original starting phase of jumping together and apart, however this time the athlete will change directions after they have jumped to the outer dots. Remember that speed and accuracy are important on this drill so coaches should start players off slow and then proceed to full speed constantly watching accuracy.
Drive Block
Simple drives are important for linemen to practice and perfect. The most traditional or basic block is a drive block. When you want to remove an opponent effectively you will use the drive block again and again. The first step of this block is the scrimmage alignment, in order to drive to the right or left this basic block will push your opponent in the way that they are aligned, so if they are aligned to the right the drive will push them to the right. When driving start with your play side foot. Move quickly and in a speed bursting motion, make solid contact with your opponent to drive them off in the direction that you want.
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