Progressing Professional American Football Defensive Habits
Prevent fumbles with strong techniques
One of the fundamental aspects of running with a football is ball security. Nothing is worse for your offensive team then turning it over carelessly to the other team in a fumble. There are four points to protecting the football. First grab the football with your carrying hand with the tips of the football being covered with your fingers. The second point is your forearm wrapped around the ball and shielding it from the defense. Third point is to have the ball held tight against the bicep to prevent defenders from punching up through from behind. The final point is keeping the football high and tight against the ribcage. As a player, you will want to make sure that you are well practiced in this skill, and as a coach you should dedicate some time to ball carrying skills. In this way you can practice great defensive moves to force a fumble, and also focus on offensive ball protection.
Traditional Driving Block
Driving and blocking are the bases for a good lineman. The drive block is the most fundamental and should be practiced often. This drive block means that you are going to push the opponent in the direction that they are aligned. 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 executing this block start with your play side foot, meaning if the play is on the right side of you it will be your right foot. Connect hard against your opponent, bring your other foot into play and continue to drive in the aligned direction.
Conditioning: Cross jumping
Conditioning in football is meant to help you react quickly on the field moving in a variety of directions. The point to this drill is having players practice quick directional changes on the field. Start out by placing the player on any crossing lined area on the field, anything like a small for square area. Then the player will proceed to jump from on area or box to another, thus forcing the player to jump laterally, diagonally, frontwards, and backwards. Changes can be made so that the player will only use one foot and then the other while they run the drill.
Catching the ball low
Great plays are made through dedicated practice of the fundamentals. Making the plays means that you have practiced the non-optimal situation and know how to react to them. One situation that most offensive players will face is the low catch. Here are some great techniques in coaching and learning the low catch. First, keep your hands down low in a scooping or shovel position; you can even cross your pinkies. First, keep your hands low and lock your pinkies. Second, keep your knees bent low and in extreme cases you should be flat on the ground or diving. Third, once the ball touches your hands scoop it up into your chest and tuck it away into a secure position. Third, once you have caught the ball, tuck it away as soon as possible. Never use your body to catch a football. And always see the ball through, meaning that you are watching it into the tuck.
One of the fundamental aspects of running with a football is ball security. Nothing is worse for your offensive team then turning it over carelessly to the other team in a fumble. There are four points to protecting the football. First grab the football with your carrying hand with the tips of the football being covered with your fingers. The second point is your forearm wrapped around the ball and shielding it from the defense. Third point is to have the ball held tight against the bicep to prevent defenders from punching up through from behind. The final point is keeping the football high and tight against the ribcage. As a player, you will want to make sure that you are well practiced in this skill, and as a coach you should dedicate some time to ball carrying skills. In this way you can practice great defensive moves to force a fumble, and also focus on offensive ball protection.
Traditional Driving Block
Driving and blocking are the bases for a good lineman. The drive block is the most fundamental and should be practiced often. This drive block means that you are going to push the opponent in the direction that they are aligned. 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 executing this block start with your play side foot, meaning if the play is on the right side of you it will be your right foot. Connect hard against your opponent, bring your other foot into play and continue to drive in the aligned direction.
Conditioning: Cross jumping
Conditioning in football is meant to help you react quickly on the field moving in a variety of directions. The point to this drill is having players practice quick directional changes on the field. Start out by placing the player on any crossing lined area on the field, anything like a small for square area. Then the player will proceed to jump from on area or box to another, thus forcing the player to jump laterally, diagonally, frontwards, and backwards. Changes can be made so that the player will only use one foot and then the other while they run the drill.
Catching the ball low
Great plays are made through dedicated practice of the fundamentals. Making the plays means that you have practiced the non-optimal situation and know how to react to them. One situation that most offensive players will face is the low catch. Here are some great techniques in coaching and learning the low catch. First, keep your hands down low in a scooping or shovel position; you can even cross your pinkies. First, keep your hands low and lock your pinkies. Second, keep your knees bent low and in extreme cases you should be flat on the ground or diving. Third, once the ball touches your hands scoop it up into your chest and tuck it away into a secure position. Third, once you have caught the ball, tuck it away as soon as possible. Never use your body to catch a football. And always see the ball through, meaning that you are watching it into the tuck.
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