June is upon us, and I hope you all get a chance to catch your breath. This month, I will continue with my 3 Quick Drills series. For June, I’d like to share drills I use to work on to our techniques in zone coverage. Back in September, I posted a couple of drills we use for our underneath coverage. Those are great drills, and have been very effective for us, but I’m going to focus this post on some other drills I like to use.
Zone Turns
The main purpose of this drill is get guys working on flipping their hips, and using good technique in their transitions. I stand on the sideline, and put two LBs facing me, approximately 4 yards away, 5 yards apart (on a yard line). On the “snap” I point either left or right. The LBs will take their read steps, and open 45 degrees to the direction I have pointed, getting into their zone drop. They’ll follow this angle for 5 yards (until they hit the next yard line), then I’ll blow a quick whistle. On this whistle, they will flip their hips and snap their heads around, working on the same 45 degree angle in the opposite direction. When they’ve again covered the 5 yards between yard lines, I blow another quick whistle. On this whistle, the LBs will flip their hips again, this time opening “90” degrees and working a vertical drop. They’ll travel about 5 yards before I blow a quick double whistle. On the double whistle, the LBs stick their feet in the ground and break downhill, completing the drill.
Behind the Ear
This drill is the next step in working on getting our LBs to flip their hips around and get under routes. I put one LB facing the sideline, at proper linebacker depth. The remaining LBs will form a single file line on a yard line as “receivers”, on the sideline, facing the field. I place a cone approximately 7 yards vertical, and another cone 7 yards beyond that. Both cones are on the yard line. On the “snap”, the receiver will run a route vertically. When he reaches the first cone, he can either continue vertical or break off to a slant. The LB drops to the route. If the receiver continues vertical, he’ll carry the route, then choke his drop and settle underneath it. If the receiver breaks into the slant, he will flip his hips and work back inside under the slant route.
Step In Front
The final drill for this month I call “Step In Front”. This drill is designed to get the LBs to break on the ball and make a play (interception) without drawing a pass interference call. I use a pop up dummy, but you can use a player if necessary. The LB aligns facing the coach (who has a ball), with his heels even with the front edge of the dummy. On the “snap”, the LB works around the entire circumference of the dummy, staying square to the coach the whole time. When the player reaches the opposite edge of the dummy, the ball is thrown directly at the center of the dummy. The LB needs to step in front and intercept the ball without making any contact at all with the dummy.
These are three quick and easy drills I use to emphasize and reinforce some of our zone coverage skills. I hope that something contained in this post can help you and your program.
If you have questions, concerns, or even criticisms, I can be reached at wrussel1@norwich.edu.