COACHING KIDS Football: Defense

6/1/08 6:19 AM

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COACHING KIDS Football:Defense

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A Four Station Tackling Circuit

Time. No coach on Earth has enough of it. Wasting it is a sin as far as I'm concerned. There are too many skills that need to be practiced, too many details to be honed. One of those details is tackling. As I've said before, the number one most important skill in football, no matter what the level, from Pee Wee to Pro, is tackling. If you can't tackle, then you can't stop the offense. Every defensive system ever devised has been built around one simple principle: get a defender to the ball carrier. What he does when he gets there is a reflection of your system. Players that play for good coaches make secure and crunching tackles that bring the ball carrier to a halt at the spot where he was touched. Nobody gets hurt, but the ball stops here. Players that play for bad coaches get dragged by the ball carrier, or run over, or they grab hold of his jersey and swing him around in a dos-e-dos until they reach escape velocity and one of them is thrown into the parking lot. Occasionally, players that play for bad coaches get hurt. They get hurt because they weren't taught how to make a proper tackle to begin with, and they lowered their backs, or put their heads down, or hit with their helmet. And, sometimes, a player was taught how to tackle, but he just wasn't given the practice time to get it right, and so, on game day, he stepped in to "lay a hit on 'em" just like his coach told him to, and now he's injured. Ten minutes a day is not too much to ask to keep your players safe. The bonus to this four station tackling circuit is that it will also improve your team. Just do the math. If you can get each player six reps at each station, that's twenty-four tackles. In a week of practice, that's 96. In two weeks, that's 192. In three weeks, 288. Two hundred and eighty-eight reps of the most dangerous, and yet most important, skill in football. Two hundred and eighty-eight chances to hone your skills. You don't need to be using a specific tackling system to make this four station drill work. Whether you prefer chest plate or waist tackling is irrelevant. All you need are some tackling dummies, five coaches, two gymnastics pads (or worn out mattresses), and ten minutes per practice. Do it. Click on the link below to view the diagram of the four station drill.

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COACHING KIDS Football: Defense

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By clicking on this link, you agree to indemnify and hold Coach Wade not responsible for any and all injuries that may occur. Football is a dangerous sport, and no amount of training or protective padding can completely eliminate all dangers. All players must be properly outfitted and trained before engaging in drills or competitions.

All right, here's the skinny. Station #1: Head-on mat tackle Equipment needed: 1 gymnastics mat, old mattress, or other padded landing surface, 1 tackling dummy, 1 "impact shield". Place the tackling dummy lengthwise across one end of the landing surface as shown in the diagram. The ball carrier holds the impact shield to protect himself. At a coach's signal, the tackler attacks the ball carrier with a form tackle, lifting the ball carrier over the tackling dummy and onto the landing surface. After the tackle, the ball carrier goes to the end of the line, and the tackler becomes the next ball carrier. Incorrect form results in the tackler being sent to the remedial tackling coach for further reinforcement of the problem area (i.e. head down, no wrap, etc.) As the season progresses, have the ball carrier charge forward at the tackler. Get A PLUS Site Be A Member Tips & Drills Email A Friend Sports Tip Emails Standings About ePointz ePointz Hints Coaching Points: Form tackle, good lift, drive hard. The tackle should be made at 1/2 speed, but while moving into and out of the drill, keep players moving at high speed, and try for a minimum of five reps per player. If a player has a problem with a certain area, such as forgetting to keep his head up, remind him with positive reinforcement before his rep. For example, say "Johnny, remember to keep your head up," rather than, "Johnny, don't drop your head." Station #2: To the hole tackle Equipment needed: At least four tackling dummies. Optional: Have ball carrier use an impact shield. Place the tackling dummies in parallel about three feet apart. A coach stands behind the tackler and points to the hole he wants the ball carrier to attack. At the coach's signal both players shuffle sideways until the ball carrier gets to the hole indicated, where he charges forward. The tackler should meet him in the hole and drive him backwards with a good form tackle. Optional: "Thud" tackle, without taking the ball carrier to the ground. (Only effective with chest plate tackling.) Coaching Points: Form tackle, good lift, drive hard. Although this tackling is "full speed" the short distance between the players will limit acceleration. Players should not be at greater than 3/4 speed at impact. While moving into and out of the drill, keep players moving at high speed, and try for a minimum of five reps per player. If a player has a problem with a certain area, such as forgetting to keep his head up, remind him with positive reinforcement before his rep. Station #3: 2 X 2 box Equipment needed: 4 cones or other items for marking a two yard by two yard square on the practice field. Optional:1 football. Arrange the players around the outside so that each player is facing across from a player of roughly equal size. The coach will signal to a set of two players. At his gesture, the object is for one player to make it across the box, while the other player must tackle him to prevent this. Optional: "Thud" tackle, without taking the ball carrier to the ground. (Only effective with chest plate tackling.) Optional 2: Coach throws a football to his selected ball carrier. Player directly across from the ball carrier is the tackler. Coaching Points: Concentrate on reinforcing secure tackles. This is an "open field" drill, so expect missed tackles.

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This drill will probably send more players to remedial tackling than any other. Although this tackling is "full speed" the short distance between the players will limit acceleration. Players should not be at greater than 3/4 speed at impact. While moving into and out of the drill, keep players moving at high speed, and try for a minimum of five reps per player. If a player has a problem with a certain area, such as forgetting to keep his head up, remind him with positive reinforcement before his rep. Station #4: Angle tackle mat drill Equipment needed: 1 gymnastics mat, old mattress, or other padded landing surface. 1 tackling dummy. Optional:1 "impact shield". Similar to the head-on mat drill, one player is a tackler, and one is the ball carrier. The ball carrier jogs slowly (1/2 speed). The tackler moves as fast as necessary to make the tackle. Players must be coached to remain at a slow and controlled speed, rather than trying for the "big hit". As in the head-on drill, the tackler should lift the ball carrier up over the tackling dummy and onto the landing surface. Coaching Points: Form tackle, good lift, drive hard. The tackle should be made at 1/2 speed, but while moving into and out of the drill, keep players moving at high speed, and try for a minimum of five reps per player. If a player has a problem with a certain area, such as forgetting to keep his head up, remind him with positive reinforcement before his rep. Use two lines, one for ball carriers and one for tacklers, rather than rotating the tackler and ball carrier. (That takes too long.) Vary the angle and shoulder at least every day, from 120 degrees to the front, to around 30 degrees to the rear.

Remedial Tackling Equipment needed: 1 tackling dummy or "Popsicle stick" hitting sled Remedial tackling is what makes this series of drills so effective. One of your assistant coaches should be the tackling guru. He must be thoroughly trained and experienced in your tackling system. Almost more important than his technical proficiency is his ability to communicate with the players and motivate them. Players will feel that remedial tackling is a punishment. This is not the case. Remedial tackling is a reinforcement of the correct tackling procedure. Upon incorrect execution of a tackle, the player will be sent to the remedial tackling coach with the phrase, "Billy, go over to Coach Norm and work on keeping your head up while you tackle." The player then sprints to the remedial tackling coach and informs him what portion of the tackle he needs to work on (sometimes the remedial tackling coach will get too busy to hear the original mistake.) The player will then execute five correct tackles, (start to finish) using the tackling dummy/"Popsicle" stick before sprinting back to catch up with his drill mates, who may have moved on in the interim. If there are more than two players waiting to execute remedial tackles, they can use each other for slow motion tackling practice. Coaching Points: Execute each of the points to a correct tackle as slowly as necessary to perform each step perfectly. Incorrect iterations do not count. Key points: Locate the four tackling stations about ten to fifteen yards apart. One coach takes a group of players to a station. When the players rotate to a new station, the coach remains. At each station players execute the specific tackling drill for two minutes. The have thirty seconds to rotate to a new station. Other drills can be substituted as necessary, or to give a change of pace. Attempt to keep with the drill's purpose,

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however. (Such as substituting the "Bull in the Ring" for the 2 X 2 square drill.) Position players (DBs, LBs, DEs, DL) together to ensure close physical match-ups. The remedial tackling coach, located where he is in the center of all the drill stations, is the ideal person to control the timer. In just ten minutes of practice time per day, you can turn your players into a group of tackling machines. If you want to get really crazy, use three minutes at each station, with a thirty second rotation period. That's just fifteen minutes a day. As the great Qui-Gong Jinn pointed out in The Phantom Menace: "Either way, you win." Good luck. ~D.

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