Sharpening Professional Football Learning Routines

Hand off drill

Because hand offs are such a vital part of a running offense, running backs should practice hand off skills every day. One great hand off drill starts by having two separate lines of players facing each other: 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. At this moment another player leaves line A and accepts a handoff from player B. The motion should be constantly moving from one line to another in this drill, almost like a juggling pattern. Practice this drill every day to ensure that your running backs are effective on their hand offs.

Conditioning: Five dot jump

Conditioning drills are effective in training and helping athletes be strong and reactive. For this reason, coaches like this drill for its focus on speed and accuracy. The drill set up is a mat or place on the field with 5 dots about a foot away from each other forming an X shape, exactly in the same shape as you would see diamonds arranged on a number five card in a poker deck.

This drill begins with the player starting on two of the outer dots and jumps feet together to the middle dot and then out again to the edge dots separating their feet. The second phase is having the player touch each of the dots with only one foot, and then switch to the other foot. Then continue around the dots with both legs together. The last phase is really returning to the original starting phase of jumping together and apart, however this time the athlete will change directions after they have jumped to the outer dots. Remember that speed and accuracy are important on this drill so coaches should start players off slow and then proceed to full speed constantly watching accuracy.

Strip Tackling

In order to win football games you need to have possession of the football. The fastest way to gain possession of the ball is to force an offensive player to fumble the football. Practice dislodging the football on the field in pairs of players. The point is to have the defensive player throw the fist into the football causing the offensive player to fumble the football. This drill is most effective if you start it slow focusing on the motions needed to be effective, and then speed up over time.

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. Basic ball security can be broken down into four steps. 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. The third point is securing the other point of the football with your bicep making sure that it is right up against it. 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. By reducing the risk of a fumble you will increase the offensive strength in effectively driving across the field and scoring touchdowns.