New and Improved!
Football teams all across America are practicing in full pads by now which brings up a question: In light of the new awareness to concussion and other head and neck injuries, does your coach teach your children the new "Heads Up" football tackling fundamentals presented by USA Football and sponsored by the NFL?If so, this will not be new to you but maybe give you a reinforced understanding of the steps involved. If not, then this will be a good resource for you to cite when you approach your coach on this topic.
Sometimes coaches, especially youth football coaches will teach and describe drills that kids have never heard of and/or use terminology that the kids have never heard of. We have to remember that most of these kids have never played football or may not have received detailed coaching such you are giving by teaching these fundamentals. We shouldn't assume they know what we are talking about, even if they are a good player. So having said that, let's talk about the most basic fundamental that is not taught to kids and the 1st step in making a safe and correct tackle, the breakdown position.
The Breakdown Position:
there are 4 commands to teach the breakdown position. They are FEET, WINGS, SINK, ARMS.Feet - Players should keep their feet at shoulder width apart.
Wings - Players should extend their arms behind their back with palms up and while keeping their chest straight.
Sink - Players need to keep their arms raised behind their backs while bending their knees and slowly sinking their hips while creating an inward curve of the spine which forces the head to stay up. Players should stop sinking when their body is at 45 degrees. Chin will be up and over their toes.
Arms - Player will pull arms forward with elbows staying near their side with their hands above their knees while keeping chest spread and shoulder blades pinched to they keep the inward curve on their spine keeping their heads up.
The video describing this entire movement is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBsyS41rX9s
Another overlooked basic fundamental when teaching tackling to youngsters is the correct posture needed to make a safe and correct tackle. So let's talk about the HIT position.
The Hit Position
The 2nd step, the "hit position", is the body position we want the player's body to be in at the moment just before they make contact with a ball carrier.The player will step forward just as if they were stepping downhill or into an imaginary hole. The player needs to make sure that their chin is over their front toe and their tail end is over their heal. At the same time, they should pull their hands down into what I call the "quick draw position", just as if they were doing the quick draw in a gun fight in the old west.
At this point, with one foot forward, chin and butt in the positions described earlier, and the hands in the quick draw position, they are at the correct posture needed to make a safe and correct tackle.
Here is the video that describes this movement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr2GMW_FZXs
Buzz To Hit
Step #3 is called "Buzz To Hit". Some coaches will tell the player to use short choppy steps which is just about the same thing, but this terminology helps the player keep their momentum moving forward so that they maintain themselves as the aggressor and initiate contact so that they are in control of the hit.The player should start out in the breakdown position. The coach will have 3 or 4 cones set up in a straight line about 5 yards up field. On the coach's command, the player will walk, jog, or sprint toward the cones (all depending on the players age and skill level). When they reach the cones, while keeping their feet shoulder width apart, the player will "buzz" their feet (short choppy steps) while keeping their movement going forward. At the end of the cones, the player will stop and freeze in the HIT position which was the previous step in this sequence.
Here is the video describing this step: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr2GMW_FZXs
Step 4 in the process is usually the most fun for the players. We call it, "Air Buddy". The coach will need a tackling dummy or a hitting pad for this drill.
Air Buddy
The objective of the 4th step, the "air buddy" drill, is to teach the fundamental of shooting the hips and how the arms and hips work together to keep the player's head from making the initial contact with the ball carrier.The player will place themselves at the end of the tackling dummy or pad which is laying down on the ground. They will get on their knees and at the coach's command, will get in the "wings" and "sink" positions. Their feet should be straight behind them, toes not curled up under them so they cannot use their feet to launch. Then on the "hit" command, the player will launch himself forward, thrusting and opening his hips and throwing his arms up in the air and landing on the pad while keeping his eyes and chin up. Basically, attempting to take off like Superman, but landing safely on the pads below.
Multiple coaches can stand where the players can see them and in the launch, the coach will hold up fingers. If the player is looking up properly in the launch, they will be able to correctly identify how many fingers his coach was holding up.
Here is a video showing this drill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_v4IzIvri4
The 5th and final step in this process is called the "RIP Tackle". This will teach the players the proper fundamental of ripping their arms upward like double uppercuts while making the tackle.
The RIP Tackle
The coaches will need hitting dummies (bags) and multiple coaches or player volunteers for this drill. The coaches will hold the bags in a horizontal position in front of the player and the player will rip his arms in an upward motion ripping the bag out of the coaches hands and carrying it forward driving their feet.One of the mistakes coaches make when teaching their players to tackle is you will hear the coaches holler at the players to "Wrap Up!", but they won't teach them the proper techniques in wrapping up. First, the biggest thing to avoid is the player wrapping their arms around the ball carrier like a hugging motion. This is an old and archaic way of tackling. If the player wraps his arms around the ball carrier, this causes him to lower his head exposing the crown of the helmet thus opening him up for a head and neck injury. Once this drill is taught and repeated, that mistake will be avoided and you will see your players make more tackles and in a safe manner.
This video shows the RIP Drill:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD5QKb66ZkI
Once your players learn these drills and you and/or your coach make them a regular part of your practice schedule each week, you will see a dramatic improvement in the safety of your players but also the effectiveness in their tackling.