So I was doing some Spring Cleaning today and ran across my old copy of John T Reed's GAM manual. Before tossing it, I decided to skim it and see if there was anything I could use. Aside from a "2 on/2 off" substituting method, I was intrigued by his "Lift" tackling method. In a nutshell, the tackling method is "Lift the ball carrier, carry him for 3 steps, then dump him on the ground." I got inspired and jotted down some notes on the topic for next Fall.
Tackling - pick him up. This is may solve several problems for us. Tackling instruction is "pick him up, carry him for 3 steps, then dump him on the ground without letting go". We should incorporate our "gang tackling" "11 men to the ball" approach as well.
Coaching points:
- Start at 1 yard distance and walking pace.
- Increase distance and speed as each player progresses. Never go past "half speed" until everyone is "perfect".
- If a player struggles, make him go again with less distance and speed until he does it right. Do not allow any player to get back in line after a bad tackle.
- Send any player to "remedial tackling" if they fail to tackle properly in ANY drill, Group or Team session. Have them hit and carry the heaviest full round we have around a cone 5 yards away 3-5 times.
I think this solves the following problems:
- "Wrap up"
- Letting to too early
- Diving
Why do I think the "lift" will work? For a tackler to lift a ball carrier, he needs:
- a tight wrap
- an upward thrust
- to start the tackle with his feet within inches of the ball carrier
Game plan? I got your game plan. We gonna run the bawl some. We gonna throw the bawl some. We gonna play some defense. We gonna run some special teams, but we better not run kick return but one time and we sure as heck better not punt.
We accomplish this with "toes on toes", we don't preach the "lift" bc everyone even adults will stop their feet and do just that, try and scoop slam a dude ,very seldom succeed (see my s&c section to be strong enough to this haha).
Toes on toes teaches to run your feet and roll your hips into a tackle or block. Your level dictates the ability to "elevate", which is why we use "up the nose" and naturally roll your hips.
Don't discard the book or sell it to me I only have a PDF copy 😉
I can explain it to you, I can't understand if for you.
Here's an excerpt from a post that I made to Bob Goodman in the Classic Forum on December 20, 2011
Second, what's ATK?
--ATK stands for "Art of The Kill" which was an approach I taught briefly after watching one of those Animal Planet shows where lions pursue and kill a gazelle. Since the gazelle had superior speed, the lion grabbed the gazelle and lifted it high enough where its feet were off the ground. No traction for the gazelle = no speed or power.
--We began practicing tackling by hitting on the rise and lifting the ball-carrier's cleats out of the ground. He was not only stopped dead in his tracks but when he hit the ground, it was going to hurt. And it did. It was a slow teach (to keep our guys from getting hurt) but it was very effective. However, I decided to stop teaching it although some players continued to implement it with success throughout the season (although not in practice).
--Dave
"The Greater the Teacher, the More Powerful the Player."
The Mission Statement: "I want to show any young man that he is far tougher than he thinks, that he can accomplish more than what he dreamed and that his work ethic will take him wherever he wants to go."
#BattleReady newhope
We accomplish this with "toes on toes", we don't preach the "lift" bc everyone even adults will stop their feet and do just that, try and scoop slam a dude ,very seldom succeed (see my s&c section to be strong enough to this haha).
Toes on toes teaches to run your feet and roll your hips into a tackle or block. Your level dictates the ability to "elevate", which is why we use "up the nose" and naturally roll your hips.
Don't discard the book or sell it to me I only have a PDF copy 😉
It's yours. PM me your mailing address.
Game plan? I got your game plan. We gonna run the bawl some. We gonna throw the bawl some. We gonna play some defense. We gonna run some special teams, but we better not run kick return but one time and we sure as heck better not punt.
However, I decided to stop teaching it
Why? Because your ball carriers were getting hurt?
Game plan? I got your game plan. We gonna run the bawl some. We gonna throw the bawl some. We gonna play some defense. We gonna run some special teams, but we better not run kick return but one time and we sure as heck better not punt.
However, I decided to stop teaching it
Why? Because your ball carriers were getting hurt?
Yes. Anyone who was running the ball in our drills were getting hurt because of our approach. Not every time. But enough to make me decide to stop teaching it. We couldn't make it through practice because of it.
--Dave
"The Greater the Teacher, the More Powerful the Player."
The Mission Statement: "I want to show any young man that he is far tougher than he thinks, that he can accomplish more than what he dreamed and that his work ethic will take him wherever he wants to go."
#BattleReady newhope
Greetings
The NFHS has some coaching tackling stuff by the Seahawks, basically keeping the head out of the tackle. Took the course work to get certified, then found out I didn't need the certificate after all. But, good stuff, recommend it.
https://nfhslearn.com/courses/blocking-and-defeating-blocks-shoulder-tackling-equipment-fitting
Umm.... why does that 6 ft tall 9 yr old have a goatee...?
Greetings
Our primary tackling drill....
- two snakes 5 -10 yds apart (its also a conditioning thing, when more conditioning is needed we set them further apart up to 10 yds.)
- off-set the snakes at 45 degrees
- Place 4 stand up dummies On the Ends and Guards spots of one snake.
- Line the kids up on the Ends and Guards of other other snake.
The kids take an angled approach to the appropriate dummy (Left End to the dummy on the corresponding left end, left G corresponding dummmy on the left G and so on)
Run to and tackle through the dummy. Have coaches or dads hold dummies. Can also have the tackler become the dummy holder. Have kids run around the drill, not through it. Its a fast paced drill. Really gets the kids huffing and puffing, but not so winded they can't be coached up.
Note: Be sure the dummy holder is off to the side so he doesn't get hit, just a hand on top of the dummy will do.
[] [] [] [] Dummies
___________________
\ \ \ \
\ \ \ \
\ \ \ \
___________________
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 kids
0 0 0 0
the diagram's a bit off, can't get figure out how to make a \ at a 45 degree angle to demonstrate the path better. But the end of one snake should be a little out past the end of the other snake more like:
___________________________ snake
COACH = does hard count but kids go when he moves the ball.
_______________________________________ snake
We run this going to the left about 10 -15 times then move the snakes to do another 10 to 15 running to the right. Depending on how far apart you set the snakes, and how many kids you've got, its 20 - 30 minutes worth of work. We really coach 'em up on the technique on every rep.
We believe in this drill. Hope this helps.
Umm.... why does that 6 ft tall 9 yr old have a goatee...?
@coyote What's a snake?
A snake is a long skinny animal that slithers on the ground and bites people.
I could not resist! ? Sorry Bob.
Greetings
The NFHS has some coaching tackling stuff by the Seahawks, basically keeping the head out of the tackle. Took the course work to get certified, then found out I didn't need the certificate after all. But, good stuff, recommend it.
https://nfhslearn.com/courses/blocking-and-defeating-blocks-shoulder-tackling-equipment-fitting
The first time I saw this taught was around 2020. Mahonz and his son called it the "Gator Roll". A year or two after that, USA Football and the NFL came up with "Heads Up Tackling", which was essentially breast plate tackling. I was a fan of it until I noticed that our physicality dropped off considerably. My son was the hardest hitter I've ever coached, but even he took about 40% off his hay makers. At some point, I came to realize that unless a tackler was significantly taller than the ball carrier, a breast plate tackle put the tackler's face into something hard. I started jokingly referring to it as "Headache Tackling". Around that time, I hooked up with Mahonz and went back to "Gator Roll". A few years later, Pete Carroll's "Hawk Tackling" videos came out and was all the rage. I looked at Mahonz and said, "Looks an awful lot like Gator Roll to me." 2 years later, USA Football partially adopted it, calling it "shoulder tackling" and insisted that it was only for HS players. 2 years later, it quietly became the official tackling method.
I no longer believe in it. The best tackling team I've ever had was last Spring (HS Freshmen with a handful if 8th graders sprinkled in). About the only instruction I gave them was that 3 is the absolute minimum that I will accept on a tackle. I implemented a "2 whistle" system that identified and punished any defender who wasn't in on the tackle, or sprinting to the downed ball carrier 2 seconds after the first whistle. If you get 5 on the ball carrier, it doesn't matter what their form looks like. We gave up 5 TDs in 9 games. Most of our opponents were inept, but 2 were very high octane. We held one of those teams to 2 TDs in 1 game and the other 2 TDs in 2 games.
Our current team of 3rd graders isn't quite ready for that. We've taught gang tackling, but we are just so freaking slow. We do very well in breaking them of bad habits in practice (shoving instead of tackling, diving instead of keeping their feet, etc.), but on game day, it's like "why do we even practice?"
So "lifting" the ball carrier seems like a way to teach a lot of things by only saying 1 thing. In order to lift someone that weighs about as much as you, you must:
* have a good athletic stance: knees bent, butt out, back straight, chest proud and be balanced.
* be damn near stepping on the ball carriers toes to initiate the tackle
* have a solid fit on the ball carrier
* have a firm grip on the ball carrier
* Roll your hips
If I can break down the tackle into a progression that works each of those points at a time WHILE USING AS FEW WORDS AS POSSIBLE, I think I can make good tacklers out of every player we have. Part of it is convincing them that the only way to lift the ball carrier is to check all of those boxes.
Game plan? I got your game plan. We gonna run the bawl some. We gonna throw the bawl some. We gonna play some defense. We gonna run some special teams, but we better not run kick return but one time and we sure as heck better not punt.
Greetings
Our primary tackling drill....
- two snakes 5 -10 yds apart (its also a conditioning thing, when more conditioning is needed we set them further apart up to 10 yds.)
- off-set the snakes at 45 degrees
- Place 4 stand up dummies On the Ends and Guards spots of one snake.
- Line the kids up on the Ends and Guards of other other snake.The kids take an angled approach to the appropriate dummy (Left End to the dummy on the corresponding left end, left G corresponding dummmy on the left G and so on)
Run to and tackle through the dummy. Have coaches or dads hold dummies. Can also have the tackler become the dummy holder. Have kids run around the drill, not through it. Its a fast paced drill. Really gets the kids huffing and puffing, but not so winded they can't be coached up.
Note: Be sure the dummy holder is off to the side so he doesn't get hit, just a hand on top of the dummy will do.
[] [] [] [] Dummies
___________________\ \ \ \
\ \ \ \
\ \ \ \
___________________
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 kids
0 0 0 0
the diagram's a bit off, can't get figure out how to make a \ at a 45 degree angle to demonstrate the path better. But the end of one snake should be a little out past the end of the other snake more like:___________________________ snake
COACH = does hard count but kids go when he moves the ball.
_______________________________________ snake
We run this going to the left about 10 -15 times then move the snakes to do another 10 to 15 running to the right. Depending on how far apart you set the snakes, and how many kids you've got, its 20 - 30 minutes worth of work. We really coach 'em up on the technique on every rep.
We believe in this drill. Hope this helps.
Sorry, but I can't tell what any of this is.
--Dave
"The Greater the Teacher, the More Powerful the Player."
The Mission Statement: "I want to show any young man that he is far tougher than he thinks, that he can accomplish more than what he dreamed and that his work ethic will take him wherever he wants to go."
#BattleReady newhope
"The Greater the Teacher, the More Powerful the Player."
The Mission Statement: "I want to show any young man that he is far tougher than he thinks, that he can accomplish more than what he dreamed and that his work ethic will take him wherever he wants to go."
#BattleReady newhope
”Sorry, but I can't tell what any of this is. ”
He’s angle tackling dummies 4 lines at a time.
My linebacker coach in college would always say, it's easier to make tackles when you hit hard.
I can explain it to you, I can't understand if for you.
Latest Post: 2023 7th Grade Outlaws Our newest member: ajrago Recent Posts Unread Posts
