Defensive Back Attack Force

Three different techniques – Shoot the Hip, Glove, and Catch-Hit – can help your defensive backs attack the football.

A DB has three things he can do when breaking on the ball – intercept the pass, knock the pass down, or make the tackle. We teach defensive backs three different ways of attacking the football when a wide receiver is being thrown the ball – “shoot the hip”, “glove”, and “catch-hit.” Each of these techniques can be taught whether your DBs backpedal, crossover run, shuffle, or use of another technique.

One of the most important things a DB must understand is when to use each technique when defending passes. We use shoot the hip when a DB is in position to make an interception. We use glove when a DB is not quite in position to make an interception, but can still knock the ball down. The third technique, catch-hit, is used when a WR has caught the ball.

Shoot the Hip

Shoot the hip is a phrase I use when a DB has broken forward, diagonally, or laterally on a WR and put himself in a position to intercept a pass. The most important thing I tell our players is getting their eyes on the WR coming out of his break. So many times you see a DB come out of his break efficiently and the first thing he does is look back to the quarterback. Doing this takes the DB off the path of the ball’s intended target, the WR. Teaching and reinforcing the DB to keep his eyes on the man coming out of the break will put the DB in better position to play the football. If a DB is letting his eyes go to the QB, he will inadvertently come off his path to the WR. Once the DB has broken on the ball, he must keep his eyes on the WR and shoot the hip. What this means is he does not look for the ball until he is about 1-2 steps from the WR at which point he runs in front of the WR or shoots the hip if the ball is still in the air.

We practice this technique a couple of different ways. Photos 1-3 illustrate the first way in which we teach shoot the hip. You use four cones as a way to work on footwork and you use a pop-up dummy as a WR. Place the dummy approximately three to five yards from the last cone. With this drill, you can work on footwork and simulate the DB coming out of his break after the last cone.

Photo 1: DB works through cones, simulating WR breaks and practicing sound footwork.

Photo 2: After last cone DB comes out of break and stays tight around WR, then shoots the hip of the WR.

Photo 3: After shooting the hip, DB slides in front of the WR to intercept the pass.

The key coaching point here is the DB’s eyes staying on the pop up dummy after he has come off the last cone and until he has reached the object. Once the DB gets to the dummy, he shoots his eyes to the coach (he has the football and plays the QB in this drill). Then the coach throws the ball to the dummy and the DB slides around the WR tightly to make the interception. It is important that the DB gets back in front of the dummy and not off to the side. You will see a similar drill used when we practice our “glove” technique.

The second way we practice shoot the hip is illustrated in Photos 4-6. Here we use two lines of DBs, the front acting as a WR and the back acting as the DB. This drill emphasizes covering a WR who has already broken on a slant or out route. The DB also has already made his break. The two lines are about two yards apart. For the sake of the drill, you want the DB to already be close to the WR and ready to make a play. Here the WR runs downhill toward the QB at a 45-degree angle as if he has broken on a slant or comeback. The DB chases him, maintaining eyes on the hip of the WR. Once the DB gets to the WR, he is taught to shoot the hip by tightly getting around the WR and sliding right in front of him. The DB should end up in the same position he would have been if the WR was never there by getting in front of him.

Often, DBs break around the WR and put their hands off to the side to try to make the play. The DB must get his body in front of the WR in order to ensure the ball is his. You can get creative with these drills and even incorporate multiple routes to break on such as a hitch, out, dig, slant, and comeback. The key coaching points for the DB are 1) keeping his eyes on the hip of the WR, 2) staying tight to the man when running around him, 3) getting his body in front of the WR and not to the side, and 4) seeing the ball into his hands and then tucking it away.
Glove

We teach DBs when they can and cannot intercept a pass and when they must break it up. If we do not teach them this skill, it is likely they will always try to make the interception and that can prove costly. I was first introduced to the “Glove” technique while visiting the Houston Texans during an OTA session in 2012. Coaches Vance Joseph and Perry Carter used this technique and practiced it daily during OTAs.

The glove technique incorporates many of the same principles as the shoot the hip technique. Where shoot the hip teaches a DB how to properly intercept a pass after breaking on a ball, the glove technique teaches them how to knock the ball down when they cannot get in position to intercept the pass. If the DB can shoot the hip and get in front of the WR, then he is in position to make the interception. If the DB cannot quite shoot the hip then he must work the glove technique to break the pass up.

The coaching points I use when teaching the glove technique are: 1) keep the eyes on the hip of the WR, 2) once the DB is one-two steps away, get his eyes up and see the hands of the WR where the ball should be close, 3) use the ballside hand to glove through the hands of the WR and not swat it, and 4) simultaneously use the offside hand to grab cloth and secure the tackle.

Many coaches teach DBs to swat the ball down when they cannot intercept the pass. The problem with that lies in the amount of space the DB’s arm covers when swatting. If a DB swats up and down he is likely covering a range of at least two to three feet with his arm. Swatting decreases a DB’s chances of actually knocking the ball down since swatting can waste motion. Conversely, using a glove technique provides the DB with a more exact location where he can put his hand as long as he has proper eye discipline on the hands of the WR. If you can target his hands, you will get the ball. Glove technique is a very simple technique to teach. In my two years of teaching this technique, it has been used effectively dozens of times on game day.

I organize drills for this technique in the same way as the drills shown in shoot the hip. Photos 7-9 are similar to the earlier photos, but here the DB is too far away from the WR to intercept the pass so he must work the glove technique. The difference between shoot the hip and the glove technique is that the DB wants to get his eyes to the hands of the WR since he cannot get in front of him. It is very important the DB transfers his eyes from the hip of the WR to the hands of the WR. When the DB gloves the ball, he must stick his hand in the hands of the WR and be aggressive in the process. We never want to stick a limp or soft hand in there. Securing the tackle with the back hand is just as important as gloving it with the front. This technique, like all techniques, is not 100% effective, so we must still be in position to make the tackle.

Catch-Hit

The third technique a DB must use after breaking on a pass is making a tackle for a “catch-hit” (Photos 10 and 11). This is a term many coaches use and it might not even need a description. It is the third part of this teaching progression. Limiting a WR’s yards after catch is very important, and any time we can get a catch-hit, we have a chance to get the ball out and limit the offense’s progress. Here, a DB has already made a break on the football and is not in position to shoot the hip or glove so he must make the tackle as a catch-hit.

This means the ball is caught and immediately tackled by the DB. The best way I have found to work this drill is to use a pop-up or another type of tackling dummy as a stationary object having the DB do the proper footwork and then break. Once the DB has come out of his break, his eyes must get to the hip of the dummy just like in shoot the hip and glove. I typically throw the football at the dummy when the DB is about three to five yards away. Throwing the ball this early at the dummy lets the DB know the WR has already caught the ball. If the DB’s eyes are in the correct place – the hip of the WR – he will see the ball bounce off the dummy, which simulates the WR catching a pass. Once this has happened, the DB knows he must make a tackle and from there we teach him to run right through the midpoint of the dummy and either execute a cut tackle or form tackle.