Boosting Elementary Team Strengths

Protecting the football as you run

A team that prevents fumbles is a team that wins. There is nothing worse than almost getting a first down or even a touchdown and fumbling the ball, for this reason there is a great need for ball security. A great way to teach tight ball security is with four points. The claw position is the first point, meaning that you grab the football clawing at the point of the football with your fingers. Second, wrap your forearm completely around the football. Third point is to have the ball held tight against the bicep to prevent defenders from punching up through from behind. Last point is to hold the back of the football right up against the ribcage and as you run keep it high and tight. Practice holding the football and having defensive players try and knock out the football by any means possible. As your ball carrying continues to improve you will insure less turnovers and greater success on the field.

Hand off drill

Running backs should constantly practice the hand off. 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. The player from line A leaves the line with the football running 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. At the point of the hand off another player leaves line A and runs towards player B, who hands off the ball to the new player. It should be a constant motion. This is a great drill to help running backs practice hand offs, and should be run every day.

Up Downs Conditioning Drill

The popular conditioning drill known as up downs is a very effective way to increase cardiovascular activity and endurance. This drill consists of having players run in place as fast and as hard as they can. Then at random a coach will yell, down or blow a whistle at which the players must dive to the ground do a push up and then jump back into running in place. This drill is an excellent workout and should be worked in slowly at first and then increased in intensity and length over time.

Forcing the Fumble

There is a golden rule in football defense, get the ball to the offensive team as quickly as possible. Win your games by training your defense to use a strong tackle that strips the ball from the opponent. A great way to practice is have two players line up, one as the defense, the other with the football as the offense. The point is to have the defensive player throw the fist into the football causing the offensive player to fumble the football. Practice these movements slowly to start muscle memory and to correct bad habits.