A great Handoff Drill
Because hand offs are such a vital part of a running offense, running backs should practice hand off skills every day. A simple drill for a hand off is to line up all of your running backs in two lines facing each other in what we will call line A and Line B. At the coaches signal player A leaves line A running with the football towards line B. At the same time a player leaves line B, and when they meet in the middle Player A hands off the ball to Player B. Now player B has the ball and will hand off the ball to the next person in Line A who will hand off to the next player in Line B. The motion should be constantly moving from one line to another in this drill, almost like a juggling pattern. This is a great drill to help running backs practice hand offs, and should be run every day.
Points on tackling safely and effectively
Tackling is fundamental to football, and should receive proper attention at practices. Tackling can be fun and exhilarating, but done improperly and it can be dangerous. Here are three important steps to practice:
First is to cut off your opponent by placing yourself directly in front of them. An excellent technique is to plant your foot in the middle of your opponents. At the same time you want to bring your arms back in anticipation for the next phase.
Second, thrust your other foot again squarely in front of your opponent and with all the momentum that you have brought to the tackle grab 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. Tell yourself, or your players to imagine that they are biting the football.
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 squarer you are in the first step the easier it will be to perform the third step.
Dehydration is an enemy to football success
Sufficient water intake on and off the field for athletes should be a concern for both the coaches and the players. Make sure that during the football practice players have their water bottles handy and are drinking often. Water should never be used as a motivational or reward type basis. When players are hydrated and energized they will practice harder and learn more.
Making and effective Angle Tackle
The reason for angle tackles is simple, cover the shortest area to get to the tackle, but there is still a great need to practice this technique. Accomplish this drill in pairs, having one teammate act as the offense, or ball carrier, running in a straight line and the other as the defender coming in at any angle. As the opponent comes toward the defender he will need to adjust his body position and shorten the angle, put his foot in front of the opponent, and make sure that he put his head in front of the opponent. The defender follows through with the tackle by straightening his knees in a lunging type motion, wrapping his arms around the ball carrier to pull him down to the ground or push him off sides.
Because hand offs are such a vital part of a running offense, running backs should practice hand off skills every day. A simple drill for a hand off is to line up all of your running backs in two lines facing each other in what we will call line A and Line B. At the coaches signal player A leaves line A running with the football towards line B. At the same time a player leaves line B, and when they meet in the middle Player A hands off the ball to Player B. Now player B has the ball and will hand off the ball to the next person in Line A who will hand off to the next player in Line B. The motion should be constantly moving from one line to another in this drill, almost like a juggling pattern. This is a great drill to help running backs practice hand offs, and should be run every day.
Points on tackling safely and effectively
Tackling is fundamental to football, and should receive proper attention at practices. Tackling can be fun and exhilarating, but done improperly and it can be dangerous. Here are three important steps to practice:
First is to cut off your opponent by placing yourself directly in front of them. An excellent technique is to plant your foot in the middle of your opponents. At the same time you want to bring your arms back in anticipation for the next phase.
Second, thrust your other foot again squarely in front of your opponent and with all the momentum that you have brought to the tackle grab 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. Tell yourself, or your players to imagine that they are biting the football.
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 squarer you are in the first step the easier it will be to perform the third step.
Dehydration is an enemy to football success
Sufficient water intake on and off the field for athletes should be a concern for both the coaches and the players. Make sure that during the football practice players have their water bottles handy and are drinking often. Water should never be used as a motivational or reward type basis. When players are hydrated and energized they will practice harder and learn more.
Making and effective Angle Tackle
The reason for angle tackles is simple, cover the shortest area to get to the tackle, but there is still a great need to practice this technique. Accomplish this drill in pairs, having one teammate act as the offense, or ball carrier, running in a straight line and the other as the defender coming in at any angle. As the opponent comes toward the defender he will need to adjust his body position and shorten the angle, put his foot in front of the opponent, and make sure that he put his head in front of the opponent. The defender follows through with the tackle by straightening his knees in a lunging type motion, wrapping his arms around the ball carrier to pull him down to the ground or push him off sides.