Prevent fumbles with strong techniques

A team that prevents fumbles is a team that wins. Football teams have lost many games because a couple of players were lax in there ball carrying and fumbled the football. Basic ball security can be broken down into four steps. First grab the football with your carrying hand with the tips of the football being covered with your fingers. The second point is making sure that your forearm is wrapped tightly on the outer rim of the football. The third point is securing the other point of the football with your bicep making sure that it is right up against it. The final point is keeping the football high and tight against the ribcage. Practice holding the football and having defensive players try and knock out the football by any means possible. By reducing the risk of a fumble you will increase the offensive strength in effectively driving across the field and scoring touchdowns.

Secrets to a good hand off

Learning the basics in a handoff is essential to a strong offense. Lets look at a simple hand off between a quarterback and a running back to point out the fundamentals of this skill. The running back starts the hand off running towards the quarterback with his arms open creating a pocket for the quarterback to slide the football right into the running backs chest. When the running back receives the football he clamps down both arms hard on the football to protect it. As the running back runs off with the football it is important to stay low to increase agility and speed.

Conditioning: The five dot drill

Conditioning drills are effective in training and helping athletes be strong and reactive. This drills intention is to help quickness and accuracy on the field which will reduce errors and increase the chances of great plays. In order to execute the drill you will need a place with five dots, either marked on the grass or on a mat, forming an x shape much like the dots for the number five side of dice.

The athlete starts at the edge of the mat placing their feet on two of the outer dots and proceeds to jump with feet together on the center spot and then out again quickly to the outer dots similar to a simple hop scotch motion. The second phase is having the player touch each of the dots with only one foot, and then switch to the other foot. After this, the player will touch all of the dots with both feet together. The last phase is really returning to the original starting phase of jumping together and apart, however this time the athlete will change directions after they have jumped to the outer dots. Because this drill is intended for accuracy and speed, it is recommended that players start out slow and deliberate and then speed up to their maximum time.

Practice can help turnovers

The faster your defense is at getting the ball back into the offensives hands the more likely you are to win a game. Forcing a fumble is one of the quickest ways that you can turn the tides and retain possession of the football. Practice dislodging the football on the field in pairs of players. The point is to have the defensive player throw the fist into the football causing the offensive player to fumble the football. Start the drill slowly, and reward for a strong tackle that affectively tackles and makes an attack to dislodge the offensive players grip on the ball.