Hit the Hole Drill

Football: Hit the Hole Drill

Dick Moss, Editor, PE Update.com

The Hit the Hole Drill will teach your linebackers and defensive backs identify the running back's target hole, then move quickly to plug the gap.

Setup & Execution
Use six blocking dummies to simulate an offensive line. Line up a group of running backs on one side of the line, and a group of tacklers on the other side.

On your signal, a ballcarrier runs laterally down the line of dummies, then cuts into the hole of his choosing. The tackler must mirror the ballcarrier's movements from the other side of the line and make a tackle when the runner charges into the gap between dummies. The defender can make a tackle only when the ballcarrier is still in the gap. Once through the line of scrimmage, the runner is home free.

The ballcarrier can fake to draw the tackler into the wrong gap. The defender cannot reach across adjoining dummies to make a tackle.

This drill can be adapted to two-hand touch and flag football, with less emphasis on the defender getting directly in front of the ballcarrier as s/he cuts through the line.

References:
1. Earl Browning, The Ultimate Football Coaching Manual: By the Experts (2nd Edition), Coaches Choice, 2011.
2. Bob Reade, Coaching Football Successfully, Human Kinetics
Publishers, 1994.

To download the pdf version of this
article, click here: Download Now