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Quality Offensive Line DrillsWe always hear the debate over what's more important to a team's success - great skill position players or great offensive line play. As kids, we heard about the lesson Knute Rockne taught his famous "Four Horsemen" backfield. The Four Horsemen were getting too full of themselves because of their press releases. Their offensive line were nicknamed the "Seven Mules". During a game, Rockne took the Seven Mules out for awhile and the Four Horsemen struggled mightily. It's obvious that without strong offensive line blocking skills, your offensive stats won't look good. That's why you need to use the line drills you'll find on this page to help develop solid offensive line play for your team. Tip - Teach blocks slowly at half-speed at first. Allow your players to understand first how it feels to be in a proper stance, how to take the first step with proper leg drive and "fit" into the defender. Line Drills1) Stance & Start Drill Objective - Teach linemen the correct way to "start", or fire out from their stance. Action - For this offensive line drill, position your linemen along the line of scrimmage. At the coach's signal, have the offensive linemen "fire out" of their stances. Coaching Details - In their stance, linemen's feet should be shoulder-width apart and pointed straight ahead. Teach offensive line players to step out with the back foot to maintain their base as the first step out replaces their down hand. The head should remain up, the back flat as they take quick steps out. Be sure your players stay low as they roll over the up foot with the knee pointing to the ground. 2) Fit Drill Objective - To teach the straight ahead base block. Action - Align three or four defenders in the standing "fit" position with three or four offensive linemen in front of them. The linemen should be set in their stances. At the snap, have the linemen explode either right or left into the defenders as they perform a basic drive block. Coaching Details - Watch for good stances and leg follow-through during this offensive line drill. Make sure players' backs are arched, butts are down and their heads are up "seeing" the defender's jersey number. On contact, the elbows should be in with palms near the bottom of the defender's shoulder pad breastplate. 3) Fit Follow-Through Drill Objective - To teach proper follow-through when blocking. Action - Instead of lining your linemen up in their stances, have the offensive line drill start with them already in the "fit" position against the defender. At the coach's signal, the offensive line players will roll their hips and accelerate forward. The idea is to teach the players to drive the defenders back until the coach blows the whistle. Coaching Details - Watch for proper hip roll and foot acceleration. Don't allow your blockers to over-extend and lose proper leverage during this offensive line drill.
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