Enhancing Collegiate Sports Running Back Habits
Points on tackling safely and effectively
Learning how to perform a proper tackle is fundamental to the game of football. Tackling can be fun and exhilarating, but done improperly and it can be dangerous. Some points to remember when tackling:
First, you need to stop the opponent quickly so make sure to place yourself directly in front of the opponents path. Plant your cleats in the grass squarely in front and in the middle, bisecting the player in half. At the same time you want to bring your arms back in anticipation for the next phase.
Second you want to bring your other foot into the mix, and at the same time throw your arms up and around your opponent. Now is the time that injuries can happen. To protect yourself never, ever try to tackle with the crown of your head, but instead keep your head back, and your head square. You need to literally imagine that the football is a big hamburger and you want to bite it and not slam your forehead against it.
Third, at this point you have successfully grabbed your opponent and all thats left is to lunge your hips forward and bear all of your momentum against your opponent. The squarer you are in the first step the easier it will be to perform the third step.
Some benefits to Weightlifting
Lifting weights is a fundamental requirement to improve your football skills. Not only will it add muscle to your body and increase your strength, it will also help you to increase your maximum power. Maximum power differs in importance to strength due to the fact that it is exertion during play and not just muscle mass. It is the quickness and exertion that will enable a football player to accomplish their plays with skill on the field. Weight lifting can cause injuries, and as such we highly recommend having a professional coach on hand during weightlifting sessions. You trainer will also help you accomplish your weightlifting goals and teach you new techniques.
Hand off drill
Drills practicing fundamentals like an effective hand offs can make the difference between a mediocre team and an excellent one. One great hand off drill starts by having two separate lines of players facing each other: line A and line B. A player leaves line A with the football and runs at 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. It should be a constant motion. This is a great drill to help running backs practice hand offs, and should be run every day.
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. The drill takes place in small four corner area that you can draw out or use the lines of the field. 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.
Learning how to perform a proper tackle is fundamental to the game of football. Tackling can be fun and exhilarating, but done improperly and it can be dangerous. Some points to remember when tackling:
First, you need to stop the opponent quickly so make sure to place yourself directly in front of the opponents path. Plant your cleats in the grass squarely in front and in the middle, bisecting the player in half. At the same time you want to bring your arms back in anticipation for the next phase.
Second you want to bring your other foot into the mix, and at the same time throw your arms up and around your opponent. Now is the time that injuries can happen. To protect yourself never, ever try to tackle with the crown of your head, but instead keep your head back, and your head square. You need to literally imagine that the football is a big hamburger and you want to bite it and not slam your forehead against it.
Third, at this point you have successfully grabbed your opponent and all thats left is to lunge your hips forward and bear all of your momentum against your opponent. The squarer you are in the first step the easier it will be to perform the third step.
Some benefits to Weightlifting
Lifting weights is a fundamental requirement to improve your football skills. Not only will it add muscle to your body and increase your strength, it will also help you to increase your maximum power. Maximum power differs in importance to strength due to the fact that it is exertion during play and not just muscle mass. It is the quickness and exertion that will enable a football player to accomplish their plays with skill on the field. Weight lifting can cause injuries, and as such we highly recommend having a professional coach on hand during weightlifting sessions. You trainer will also help you accomplish your weightlifting goals and teach you new techniques.
Hand off drill
Drills practicing fundamentals like an effective hand offs can make the difference between a mediocre team and an excellent one. One great hand off drill starts by having two separate lines of players facing each other: line A and line B. A player leaves line A with the football and runs at 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. It should be a constant motion. This is a great drill to help running backs practice hand offs, and should be run every day.
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. The drill takes place in small four corner area that you can draw out or use the lines of the field. 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.
