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AFM Magazine


The Speed Report: Developing Reaction Speed for DBs

by: Dale Baskett
Football Speed Specialist
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When developing a defensive back for speed we must consider the multitude of athletic speed requirements they must perform:
•     Linear burst speed for short distances.
•     Linear speed for lengthly distances.
•     Backpedal speed at varying velocities and angles.
•     Change of direction speed at high velocity, sudden angle changes.
•     Multi-movement combinations, backpedal to lateral to sprint, etc!
•     Curve speed, abitity to sustain velocity while sprinting on an arc trajectory.
•     Lateral speed with multiple accels and decels.
•     Change of pace speeds, dictated by receiver movement (pure athletic speed reaction).
•    Closing speed, coming off one angle and accelerating to another angle.
•     Open field acceleration and breakdown capability.

    Clearly the job of a defensive back requires multi-speed talent capabilities. The subject of DB speed is deep when you consider the speed variables required.

Train Like the High Caliber Players

    I am very fortunate as a speed specialist to have had the opportunity to train many DB’s who have played in the NFL. A few who were the best at their craft and several others with great talent. Old vintage players such as All-Pro Bill Bates of the Dallas Cowboys, All-Pro Eugene Robinson, and Saftey Kenny Easley, a four - time All-American DB at UCLA.

    As for the new era, I’ve worked with All-Pro safety John Lynch, now with the Denver Broncos. Going back twenty years ago I also had the good fortune to work with All-Pro Dave Brown of the Seattle Seahawks, the last 7 years of his incredible 17 year career as a cornerback. I learned a ton from him by applying many defensive back speed techniques. He would always give me outstanding feeback.

    Dave could feel the upside or downside of a drill technique as he went through the skill movements I applied. Working with Dave helped me establish criteria that was meaningful for clarifying defensive back speed methods and worthy drills. Dave Brown was the most disiplined and analytic athlete I’ve ever worked with. Everything he encountered he evaluated, either as useful or negative. I will miss Dave Brown as a friend, a person and as one who helped formulate my craft. Dave died a few months ago with a massive heart attack at age 52. Oddly enough he was in great physicial condition. What I’ve learned by working with high caliber DB’s is that they complete drill tasks they’re given with specific precision. Just ok is not good enough for a truely professional athlete. Your young men can train the same way – mentally.

     You can teach them to visualize the task before doing it, perceive a mental game plan, then carry out the drill. Each of your DB’s must be constantly reviewing their movement procedures on everything they do. As coaches we need to ask our players to give us feedback as they perform. Give them the game plan for execution, then ask what did they feel and see. Equally important is  teaching them to take pride in knowing what they know. Over the years coaches would often ask, what’s it like working with pros? I always gave them the same answer – “you don’t have to tell’em twice!”

Do your players have to be Elite?

     An elite athlete in most cases is endowed with unique instincts and natural gifts genetically. Those who have been blessed with these traits usually do well with reactional speed movements. However they’re the exception not the rule. As coaches we can teach kids to focus, visualize a procedure and then react rapidly. Repetitive execution, sound information, and skill development are the keys.

     We must strive to teach all of our players to: (a) Focus (b) Feel and understand the skill procedures we are implementing (c) Enable them to understand how to self-correct errors they make during high speed movement activities (d) To take pride in execution of body control functions during all drill performance sessions (e) and understand the material being presented.
“Your players can become what they think they can be.”

    A clear example of this principle is Eugene Robinson, the former NFL star, who believes,  that using time wisely for speed and running skills are vitally important to an athlete’s progressive development. Robinson says that the DB speed and running skills he was taught helped his career. I worked with Eugene privately for 14 of his 16 years while in the league as a free saftey. He is the epitome of what can be accomplished when you set goals and believe in yourself. He was an undrafted free agent, out of Colgate. He came from being a non-scholarship college player to becoming a 16 year veteran in the NFL, a four time All-Pro who is still the all-time leader in interceptions. In January of 2000 he was voted by players and coaches as one of the best two free saftey’s to play in the decade of the 90’s. All this from a 5’4”, 128 lb. freshman in high school and a 5’10”, 148 lb. senior who was not offered a football scholarship. However, Eugene believed in Eugene, and the only way he could accomplish his goals was to walk on while working to help pay his way through college. Someone forgot to tell him he couldn’t do it.

DB Speed Drills - Transitions

    Let’s be crystal clear: each position in football has unique movement requirements. Most football speed is not straight ahead speed as discussed in our past articles. However linear speed work for DB’s has its value and is recommended as part of your DB speed training. The following drills and applications will help you develop your DB’s position specific speed requirements. Transition speed is the most important ability for a DB. The reactive demands that a DB must deal with requires excellent body control in order to make the speed of angle changes effective. The drills described are based on speed changes from one running angle to another angle. The control of the mechanical functions during transition is the key to maintaining velocity on the change. What makes transition speed effective (fast) or ineffective (slow) is the ability to apply correct skill techniques during the angle changes.  Anytime you have momentum in a given direction it can be disturbed drastically if the technical application is incorrectly applied. The drills that follow will be centered on a few  movement techniques that allow transition speed to be sustained by your DB’s during reaction speed challenges. Plug in the ideas to all your DB agility activity and you’ll see marked improvement.

Drill - A  / Back Pedal / to 90 Burst
• Back pedal
• Break to 90 – Turn foot again on the last step to the direction of the break: remember force is always from the ground up and arms keep leg cycle activity alive.
• The first step is the foot that turns and that foot will always be the foot opposite of the direction you break: left foot breaking right and right foot breaking left. The first turn step is quick but the second step is the power step- one directs hip angle change from the ground up. The second one delivers ballistic force.
• Arm action, same on the back pedal, continuously active on the first position  turn step but front to back quickly at the shoulder on the power step (simultaneously) with the down force action of the second step.

Drill - B  / Back Pedal / to 45 Burst
• Everything the same as above with one exception: the quickness to the new angle will be a much faster transition because of being a lesser degree of angle.  Short quick plant on foot turn step and don’t drop the hips or your plant and leg cycle will be slow. p

Over the last 25 years, Dale Baskett has trained over 100 NFL players representing every NFL team. This includes 21 All-Pros and two members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Additionally, he has worked with both high school and college football programs at all levels and resides in San Diego. He can be reached at dbspeedt@hotmail.com.





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