Key Mechanics of Tackling in Football

  Tackling in football is one of the main components of the game. Proper tackling or form tackling in youth football is a core fundamental that must be practiced each and every practice at the youth football level. A team with good football tackling fundamentals is a team with confidence!
As a youth football coach there is several key elements of form tackling that you must emphasize prior to contact drills. Body position is probably the most important element of tackling in youth football. They have to be taught how to set up their body in order to safely and effectively tackle with confidence. So let's begin.

First of all it's important that they have a good tackling stance. What I mean by tackling stance is that they have a good foot base with feet about shoulder width and slightly staggered. The knees are bent with the butt down with a straight back. The head is tilted back with the neck bulled and the arms cocked back and bent slightly at the elbows. Get them to set up their body position for tackling over and over again until they get it. Once they understand their football tackling body position, its important now that you explain to them the mechanics of tackling, that is, how their body moves and explodes on contact so that they are effective tacklers. Explain to them that with their bodies in tackling position that they are like a coiled spring and all of its energy ready to explode up and through the ball carrier.
At this point it's important as a youth football coach to explain to them their point of contact. That is, what part of their body will contact the ball carrier first when tackling. We teach them at the youth level to make contact with the chest plate of their shoulder pads with the head back and neck bulled. The head is never in the equation as far as contact is concerned and is always, always, tilted back! You cannot emphasize this enough! We also emphasize a "chest on chest" contact during football tackling, again, with the head back. We do not teach shoestring type tackling as we believe that it teaches the youth football player to drop his head and expose the football player to more chance of being concussed or neck injuries. We believe that with good form tackling practiced over the season that if they are fundamentally sound in the mechanics of form tackling that they will be effective tacklers regardless of size.

Now, with these elements in mind the mechanics of tackling would fall in this sequence:

Stance and body position followed by a simultaneous explosion of hip rotation and leg extension driving up and through as the chest makes contact with the chest of the ball carrier, the head is back, and neck is bulled. As contact with the chest plate is made, the arms drive up under the arm pits of the ball carrier, the tackler locks in maintains his base while chopping his feet, driving his legs, with the head back until the ball carrier is taken down.
Coaching in football requires that you communicate effectively with your players. It's important to take the time and explain each element of tackling and body position to your football players so that they understand why they are being instructed to do things a specific way. If they understand the reasons for it the probability of them doing it increases.

Cheers!

Football Fundamentals: Blocking and Tackling

Youth Football Coach: Football Fundamentals Blocking and Tackling


As a youth football coach its important that in every practice that you focus in your group work specific fundamentals. More importantly this group work should include drills that cover what we refer to as core fundamentals such footwork, tackling, blocking, and block shedding drills. They are the cornerstones of our game

Plan your practices so that each week you cover all of these core blocking and tackling fundamentals. Include it in your group work and focus on at least 15 minutes per fundamental. Try and keep good flow to your football group so that players don't get distracted or fool around. Don't spend more than 15 minutes per fundamental as youth football players will become bored with it easily. Make sure that their blocking and tackling drills properly. The best approach is to have two football coaches work the group, one football coach runs the drills while the other coach points out mistakes and makes adjustments.

With so much to cover in your youth football practice each week to get ready to play, do not veer away from practicing core fundamentals. They are the center stone of good football. If they have good football fundamentals, it will reflect in your football systems, they will have confidence, and it will show in their performance.

A good block or tackle can spell the difference in any games.


Cheers!

Football: The 3-4 Defence

A lot of coaches in the NFL are currently switching to the 3-4 defence. The trickle down effect is that a lot of coaches in Middle School and High School are switching to the 3-4 schemes as well.

Why the change?

A lot of coaches like the way the defence has the ability to pressure the offence by showing many different looks, blitzes, and stunts. With only 3 down lineman, you can mask different coverage's and bring blitz's from all over the field confusing the O- line and quarterback, pressuring them into making mistakes, creating fumbles and turn-over 's. The defence also allows you to maintain good downfield coverage versus spread offensive packages as you have the extra backs on the field to adjust.

There are drawbacks to this scheme.

First of all you need to have a solid Nose-Tackle who is a football player and is strong enough can take on the double team. If you haven't got one of those guys, you're in trouble, especially against teams that like to zone-block. By zone-blocking they will double team one of the D-lineman at the point of attack and then one of them will chip off and get one of your linebackers. Or they will down block in the same direction get all the defence flowing in one direction and try to "wash down" the defence while the running back looks for a cutback. Your Nose-Tackle is more vulnerable to the double team and if he cannot take it on, then it will create problems for your middle linebackers.

This is usually what knocks you out of your 3-4 defence.

I like the 3-4 defence. When things are going good you can pile up the sacks and fumbles. But beware of the downfalls. It's a good idea to have a 4 man front somewhere in your defensive scheme to counter against a good zone blocking offence.


Cheers

Steelers Roethlisburger Sets Himself Apart From Brady and Manning

When you think of the best quarterbacks in the NFL most people would think of Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and of course the one and only Peyton Manning of the Colts. But how many of you would throw Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger into the mix as well as being one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and what sets him apart from Brady and Manning?

Probably the single element that separates him from the others is his ability to prolong the play. Roethlisberger can get himself out of trouble by being able to scramble out of the pocket when under pressure and either run or roll and throw his way out of trouble. Prolonging the play enables his downfield receivers the time to get themselves open so that they can bail out the big quarterback who has a great knack for finding these receivers open and turning what looked like a sack and loss into a huge gain. Even against one of the best prepared defences in the league in the New York Jets, Roethlisberger was able to do something that both Manning and Brady were unable to do and that's to beat the Jets!

So what does this tell us as coaches?

It tells us that a well designed and prepared defensive game plan will fall apart when a good quarterback is mobile and able to be creative and prolong the play. Normally, your defensive plan is based on the other team's tendencies, strengths and what they like to do offensively in a given situation. When teams are good they tend to do things consistently well all the time at a high level. As a defensive co-ordinator you are able to game plan for this as you know what they like to do. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning like to be in the pocket and they do not run the football when in trouble, they will hang in there until the last minute which was their demise against the Jets in both their play-off losses as they were sacked by the Jets defence. Big Ben separated himself by being able to be mobile. This mobility was not factored into the Jets game plan and in the end it cost them a trip to the Super Bowl as Ben made plays out of nothing that moved the chains and vaulted the Steelers into the Super Bowl.

Both Manning and Brady were not mobile against the Jets defence. Their usual surgical like approach was hindered by the Jets patient game plan of not being too predictable in their defensive schemes and blitz's. The Jets were able to create confusion and then pressure Brady and Manning into making mistakes and miscues and allowing them more of an option to run the football rather than throw which is not in their comfort zone. Roethlisberger, however, is comfortable running and rolling with the football which is what separated him from the other two great quarterbacks.



Cheers!

Steelers and Jets take Humble Approach

After the trash talk of last week between arch rivals New York Jets and the New England Patriots its interesting to listen to both the Steelers and Jets now pay respect to each other. Especially the Jets, who clearly seem to have a admiration for the Steelers.

Seems funny does'nt it?


Perhaps the NFL has stepped in after the drama of last week and has warned both teams that negative comments will not be tolerated this time around. It just seems so strange to hear the compliments. Certainly, its a lot better this way and a lot more professional.

Overall, last weeks comments put a black mark on the league standards. Kinda looked like bush league type behaviour. The post game antics were definately unsportsmanlike, something that you'd expect out of 10 year olds and not from the best athletes in the world! Probably, after some insight into last week all agreed it was not in the leagues best interest.

Anyway, expect a great football game on Sunday between two great football teams!

Cheers!

New York Jets Walk the Talk: Is this the new NFL?

I must admit that I was surprised on Sunday after the New York Jets defeated the New England Patriots 28-21 in what can be described as a defensive masterpiece versus Tom Brady's Patriots. With all the hype and the trash talk leading up to the game I thought for sure that it would motivate the Patriots. But in the end the Pats were motivated but were defeated by a more motivated and determined, well prepared football team.

But what about all the trash talk, character attacks, and call -outs between players? Is this the new NFL?

Clearly, the media fed on these comments and the build-up to the game was enormous but do we want this in our sport?  With all the social media thats available today do we want our ten year olds to trash talk each other the days leading up to the game?

Certainly Not! Wheres the professionalism and at the end of the day what are we teaching our youth?

Cheers!

Youth Football Systems

sAll youth football levels whether it is High School or Middle School, implement their specific systems in order to be organized and effective in both side of the football. Football systems are constructed in order to place your players and their abilities in the best possible situation so that they thrive and have a better opportunity to be competitive. All coaches have their football systems that they prefer to run each and every season, but, is the system that they prefer to run right for everybody? For instance, the local High School coach approaches the local Middle School coach about implementing his system. He explains to the Middle school coach that by implementing and practising the High School System that the players that learn it, will be more effective and be closer to the field once they arrive for High School.

Take a minute and decide if you agree with the High School Coach! Certainly there's a lot to consider!

For example, it's normal to have a favourite offensive system that you like to run year in and year out but is it practical to think that every season you'll have the personnel to run it? My opinion would be that it would be not practical. For the most part, probably with some tweaks you could run a similar system but not the same system each season. There are a lot of variables to consider such as athletic ability, size, and experience that you have to consider and they will be different every season as new players arrive and older players move on. If your system is one where you can recruit specific players for roles within your system then you can run it each and every season, however, if your players are limited to a specific area or region prepare yourself to tweak that package.

Now let's get back to the original question I posed earlier in this article. Is it right for the local High School Coach to ask the local middle school coach to implement his system? Well, I don't think it's wrong but I also think it's probably not practical. For the most part the terminology would be a benefit as the players that arrive for High School the following year would understand it, but if they do not have the tools to run it in Middle School then I don't think it will be effective.

It's not fair to ask players to do something that their not capable of doing. In fact it would be frustrating to play in it as well as to coach it. It would be more reasonable to evaluate your roster each season and determine where your strength's are and effectively implement a football system better suited to their strengths. I think it would benefit the high school coach more in the long run if they thrive in a system that's designed for them or tweaked for them as opposed to asking them to do something they cannot do. The coaches concern should be that they are getting and practising good football fundamentals so that when they do arrive in High School they are ready fundamentally and it's just a matter of fitting them into the system or tweaking the system so that they can thrive in it. It certainly makes it easier when they have good fundamentals!



Cheers!

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Youth Football Defensive Contain Responsibility

Defensive Line Fundamentals and Drills Vs the Run

One of the most difficult assignments in football is to contain the offence. That is, prevent the offence from getting outside to the side line, gaining the corner, and sprinting down the side-line. For the most part, a good athletic running back that gains the side-line will probably score the majority of the time as once they are in the open field will use their speed and athleticism to do damage.

The contain responsibility would be the assignment of either the outside linebacker or defensive end depending on your philosophy. My experience at the youth football level is that you will be more successfull assigning an outside linebacker with the contain responsibilty as opposed to the defensive end. A true defensive end would read the play and have both an inside and outside run responsibilty, be able to scrape off his block and contain the outside run. However, these type of players are hard to find at the youth level and once double teamed are ineffective and give up the corner on the outside run play.

I have had more success by using a outside linebacker with primary contain responsibilty and set up the defence so that the defensive ends work in tandem with the outside linebacker to maintain contain . Basically the outside linebacker would align on the line of scrimmage about two yards outside of the offensive tackle and on the snap of the ball would get up field to at least ball depth and turn in any outside runs or roll-outs, once they are disciplined on getting up field the next step would get them to collapse the pocket at ball depth and force the ball carrier to the inside.

I like to align the defensive ends on the outside shoulder of the Offensive tackles and on the snap of the ball they would engage the tackle and control the C gaps while at the same time reading the play in case of an inside run. The outside shoulder alignment gives them the edge on the outside run and by engaging the offensive tackle they can help with the inside run as well.

The offense now has to choose who to double team either the outside linebacker or the defensive end and with the end and outside linebacker working in tandem you should still have solid defence versus the outside run.


Cheers

Football and Troubled Youth

I have come across many troubled youth over the many seasons that I have been involved in coaching youth football. Youth from all different backgrounds, and social levels. Youth addicted to drugs and alcohol with poor attitudes.

Youth that nobody wanted to even be around!

I always gave them a chance

I figured that it was the least I could do, and if they didn't work out nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Most would quit on their own, but some stayed with it and football became an outlet for them. It became their family. It kept them busy, made them be responsible. It took idle time from them. It made them feel important!

Football has turned the lives around for many of our youth. It teaches commitment, and dedication and an opportunity for them to change. I had a small running back once play for me that was impossible to bring down and in the open field impossible to catch. He was driven, broken home, death, foster care, he had every reason to be bitter. He was a relentless machine, a good kid that turned it around. He managed to graduate, the first in his family to do so!

Yea, football can make the difference in somebody's life; don't deny any kid that opportunity! Besides why do we do what we do?

Cheers!

Coaching Tips:When Football Goes Bad!

Let's face it, it happens. After all the drills, practices, team building, reinforcing systems, etc, it's bound to happen. You're going to have a bad day! If you are involved in sports long enough you'll soon realize that there will be good and bad days and sometimes there's nothing you can do but to try and get your players to play through it.

Sometimes nothing can go right!

It can be frustrating as all the work comes unravelled. But don't give up ever and throw the towel in. Now's the time, more than ever, to reinforce team play and your systems. Go over it and over it again, even when it's going bad. Your team will need something each and every time they go out to compete. Look at it as a character builder and try to learn something from it.

Emphasize to your players the importance of battling and competing through it within the system. Bad days will test you as a coach and it's important that you lead your team through the bad weather. At the end of the day re-evaluate your team. Ask yourself are you asking your players to do too much within there limit. The main thing is don't panic, chances are it was just a bad day and nothing else.

Cheers

Football Defence: Don't be too Predictable!

One of the downfalls of being good is that you do things well consistently. So good in fact that it can be easy for your opponent to make adjustments, to have a plan that they can use to exploit your strengths.

Football is a game of reads and adjustments. You learn to do this well and you will be alright. If you cannot read and adjust then you're in trouble.

A great game plan can become unravelled in a hurry!

One of the things that we like to do at halftime as a coaching staff is discuss how we think our opponent will adjust to out attack and how we will counter attack? What plays were they successful with in the first half and what plays we think they will run against us.

Sometimes we just change our look up a bit by running another front. Put more linemen in the box or even less linemen and have better downfield coverage. We still pressure but maybe with different personal.
We read each play and try to figure out what the halftime adjustments were: Did they change their front? Is there a Tight End? Or have they switched to a spread formation? Are they trying to establish the running game? Or have they adjusted at all?

As an aspiring youth football coach, with plans to go up the coaching ladder. You need to learn how to read and more importantly how to adjust.

Cheers!

Flag Football vs Tackle Football for Youth

On some football forums I've read a lot lately about some parents that struggle with the idea of placing their 8-10 year olds into contact football with the biggest deterrent being, the level of commitment needed as far as practice time is concerned. If you compare practice time between the two there is a noticeable difference as in flag football you practice twice a week as opposed to contact football where you practice 5 times a week and play once.

I think that all in all at this age you can't really go wrong in which ever way you decide to go with your youth player. As long as they participate in football that is the main goal at this point. As they grow older they'll basically inform you of what they would like to try and do athletically. Participation is the key for this age group.

The reason the extra practise is longer in contact football is that fundamentally you need to practice more skills such as blocking and tackling ,for example. Your youth football player needs to practice these core fundamentals so that they can safely play the game. They learn how to hit and how to take a hit, head position, neck position and so on. A good youth football coach will have good drills that emphasize all of these factors and never would compromise the safety of a youth football player. These contact drills would be a slow progression until the coach is confident that the player can tackle safely.

The best thing to do if you're considering tackle football for your kid is to go and watch a youth football practice and observe the drills that are done for tackling. The drills should be a slow progression and are control drills not done at full speed. Players should be of equal size and ability and the emphasis by the football coach should be on technique and not speed at this point.


Cheers!