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Maximizing Your Defensive Circuit Drills – Turnover, tackling, and block destruction drills can improve your defensive play.by: Scott YoderHead Coach, Shenandoah University © More from this issue Every year we try to create themes for our team that we can use throughout the year to refocus our players no matter how our team is performing. We are also always looking for ways to maximize reps and be more efficient in practice time. One of the ways we do this is our SU Defensive Circuit (See Diagram). Defensive Circuit Drill On defense, it is important to remember how important the fundamentals are, regardless of what scheme you are trying to run. Our coaches believe that our players will be good at what we emphasize. One of the best drills we do on defense is our defensive circuit. We don’t focus on many stats with our players. However, we do emphasize creating turnovers, tackling and block destruction. We know if we create turnovers, if we are the best defense in the league at getting off blocks, and the best team at tackling, we are going to be a very good defense. The drill is designed to last 15 minutes with three stations that last just under 5 minutes each. This allows our entire defensive unit to work on the fundamentals every day and get a good amount of reps. Our defensive backs coach will run the turnover (fumble/interception) drill on one sideline. Our defensive line coach will run our block destruction drill on the goal line and on the other sideline our ILB coach will run the tackling drill. Our general rule is if you are in the open field, it is a great time to scoop and score. Anytime we are in heavy traffic and there is a fumble, we simply want the player to secure the ball. The next step is to teach “the rip”. A teammate jogs out in front of them with ball in his right hand. The defender closes the distance, secures the tackle from behind, and tries to rip the ball out. The most important teaching point is to secure the tackle. You also want to emphasize how violent the rip needs to be. Depending on your group size you can have multiple lines going at once to maximize reps. The next step is to teach “the punch”. The drill starts in the same manner but now the defender will secure the tackle and try to punch the ball out. The teaching point here is to try to get the ball carrier’s elbow away from his body to dislodge the ball. Once the ball is loose, the defenders are working on “scooping and scoring”. While emphasizing the key fundamentals, this is also a great drill to have some fun. Defenders do not always get a chance to get their hands on the football so we like to coach this drill with enthusiasm and have fun with it. There are variations for each position group based on stance and how far they start from the offensive player. While giving our players the physical tools to defeat blocks, it is imperative that we develop a strong mindset as well. We do not allow players to use the excuse of being held. Offensive holding is going to happen in a game and we need to still make plays. It is important to emphasize to the defenders that throughout the course of a game they will get blocked, but the key is to get off that block and disengage as quickly as possible. As we slowly progress we will add various changes to the drill to make sure we cover all possible scenarios. We will work on a sideline tackle, an angle tackle, two defenders converging on a ball carrier, and an open field tackle. In all of our drills we will not take the ball carrier to the ground. We can have a quality rep without risking having players on the ground. As a head coach, there is a great benefit from this drill. It allows me to go to each group and make sure our tempo and focus are at the right levels. Once I feel comfortable with this drill it gives me some flexibility to be involved with the offense and feel confident we are getting solid work done. We do this drill every day in preseason and throughout the season. This drill has helped us to maximize our time in practice and make sure we are teaching the defensive fundamentals in practice. Young players will respect what you emphasize and this drill always returns us to the roots of good defense. Advanced Tackling Circuit Drills – March, 2012 |
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