Advancing Nfl American Football Players Drills

Conditioning: The Quick Jump

Football is all about action and reaction, and those that practice reacting quickly in a variety of directions will dominate the field. This practice drill is intended to increase reaction speed and the ability to quickly change directions. Start out by placing the player on any crossing lined area on the field, anything like a small for square area. Once a players positions themselves in one of the corners they will proceed to jump from one corner of the area to other in either a patterned function or randomly. Changes can be made so that the player will only use one foot and then the other while they run the drill.

Ball security: The Gauntlet Drill

There is nothing more important for offense to learn great ball security. This is especially true for a running back or wide receiver as they will carry the ball more often than others on the field, but it is a good idea for all positions to practice a little ball security. A great drill called the gauntlet practices ball security. The point to the gauntlet drill is to have a player run through several opponents that try to dislodge the football. The opponents can line up in any scenario, the most common being two lines and the ball carrier must run through them. Make sure to take the drill slow at first, and to also have the ball carrier hold the ball in several differing positions.

Prevent fumbles with strong techniques

A team that prevents fumbles is a team that wins. There is nothing worse than almost getting a first down or even a touchdown and fumbling the ball, for this reason there is a great need for ball security. There are four points to protecting the football. The first point is the claw, meaning that your fingers are wrapped over the tip of the football. The second point is making sure that your forearm is wrapped tightly on the outer rim of the football. Third point is to have the ball held tight against the bicep to prevent defenders from punching up through from behind. Fourth, pull the football up and tight against your ribcage closing the gap on the football from all four sides. Run a couple of drills were the ball carrier runs through a pack of defenders to practice. In this way you can practice great defensive moves to force a fumble, and also focus on offensive ball protection.

Conditioning: The five dot drill

Conditioning is meant to increase speed, endurance, and reaction time on the football field. The intent of this drill is to increase accuracy, timing, and speed. 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 player will start by placing a foot on the back two dots and then jumps together to the middle dot and then out separating his legs to the outer dots, much like you would see in hop scotch. Next the player will jump touching each dot with on leg only, and then switch using the other leg. The next step is jumping on all five dots with both feet together. The end step is similar to the first jumping jack step except that this time the player will turn 180 degrees after jumping on the two dots. Remember that speed and accuracy are important on this drill so coaches should start players off slow and then proceed to full speed constantly watching accuracy.