Coach Goldboot

Coach, you asked about blocking and there's a picture right on this page that shows what a youth lineman wants to do. It's right in the upper left hand corner and shows kids in blue unforms with # 02 coming offsides big time with obvious enthusiasm. Here are his mistakes:

HELMET TOO HIGH: This boy has "stood up" out of his stance. The top of his helmet is virtually even with the top of the QB's helmet. He has directed his force, referred to as "uncoiling", at about a 70 degree upward angle. This would be fine if there was a defender 70 degrees above him, but there isn't. This kid is "blocking clouds". He's so high that his waist is exposed to the defender's helmets. What this means is not only is his blocking force being directed at the sky, but the only part of his body that can block a low charging, "bear crawling" defender are his knees, thighs, and belt buckle. This player has to get lower. My "12 Perfect Blocks" drill, "tennis ball" drill, and "frog hops" will teach this player to fire out low and hard. You'll find both drills in my manual.

FEET WRONG: Next, look at his feet. He led with his left foot and he took a BIG step to do it. We can tell it was a BIG step two different ways. First, look at his right foot. It's only one shoe length short of his right foot. Assuming he took a long step with his right foot, this kid's first step was only one shoe length short of a long step. Second, you can't see the feet of the other offensive linemen, which shows how far he must have stepped. His left foot is ahead of the left tackle's helmet. Get in a 3 point yourself and figure out how far you'd have to step forward with your left foot to get it ahead of your head. This kid had to step out further than where his down hand was planted. This is just plain awfull form. Here's what that first step did to him. Once again, get into a 3 point stance with your down hand underneath your head. Now step with your left foot such that the back of your left heel comes down even with, or ahead, of your down hand. Then place your right foot one shoe length ahead of your left foot. Now check your posture. Guess what? You're nearly standing up! You're duplicating that same 70 degree upward movement # 02 is in. You can't avoid it. Notice also, that you feel weight on your knees. Try and hold that position #02's in for 30 seconds. Pretty tough, huh? That's because you're applying your force in an upward direction. Absolutely NONE of that energy used is being applied to an opponent in front of you. ZERO! The only way to alleviate that strain is to stand all the way up. If we had a picture of #02 on his third step, he'd be rising even higher and he'll keep rising until he's standing. Now! After you've gotten over that near heart attack from trying to hold that position for 30 seconds (Give yourself plenty of rest), repeat again only using a 6 inch step with the left foot. You'll find you're in a lower position now on the second step. Keep your head up and eyes ahead. You should be able to hold that position 50-100% longer (time yourself) than the other position. You've basically cut that wasted energy expenditure in half which, in turn, reduces the need to stand up by half. We want the defender to stand up. Whoever stands up first, LOSES! The short first step keeps us low and it takes place quicker than a long step. This is important because we want both feet down on contact with the defender. Let's say you're going to have a shoving match with your son or wife. You should win, right? Okay! But now lift one foot off the ground and try and have that same shoving match standing on one foot. Oops! You're in trouble. This means if we make contact on our second step, and the defender makes contact on his second step, we want to have both our feet down BUT WE WANT THE DEFENDER TO STILL HAVE ONE FOOT UP! Let him try and engage in the shoving match with one foot off the ground. If we take shorter steps than he does, we'll have both feet down while he still has one foot up EVERY SINGLE TIME. When that happens, we win EVERY SINGLE TIME. To further reduce the the time our feet are in the air, we barely lift our foot off the ground as we step. That gets it down faster.

IMPROPER HANDS: Okay! Notice #02's hands. His right arm is extended high and to the outside while his left hand has a "droopy" palm. We want both hands in front of our body, hands in loose fists, and at about shoulder height ready to strike a blow (forearm if shoulder block, uppercut if "hands" block). # 02 looks like he's going out for a pass. Make sure your kids do this and they'll be fine for the very simple reason that your opponent isn't teaching it to his kids. He's coaching his backfield. # 02's coach was either coaching his backfield or this kid was uncoachable. There are defensive coaches on this board that would be going right through this kid and I'm one of them.