Special Teams - Getting your Kicks!

In the next segment of Tips of the Day, we'll be covering special teams. 

Early on, we'll focus on three players who must work together as one unit - the placekicker, short snapper, and the holder. After, we'll cover the two-unit team comprised of the punter and the long snapper. Later, our Tips will cover the kickoff man. Finally, we'll end up spotlighting the returner role.

The rest of this introduction should be of special interest to any player who is or wants to be the punter or placekicker for their team.

Being a punter or placekicker is a responsibility-laden role on a football team. Other players may have the luxury of making a mistake on a play and still have the knowledge that they'll have many more opportunities during the game to makeup for their gaffe. As a punter or placekicker, your opportunities may be more limited during a game and the pressure will be on to get it right every play. If you can handle this type of pressure, you're already one step closer to becoming a successful kicker.

The most important beginning attribute you'll require as a kicker is being able to focus on the kick you're about to attempt. It's vital you're able to run out onto the field and only think about making one kick at a time.

Having the physical ability to punk or kick will not guarantee your success unless you can mentally block out everything but the kick you need to make. Mental toughness combined with physical prowess (and the hard work to achieve that prowess!) are vital.

In the beginning, punting and placekicking will seem very difficult. Your punts may not have distance. Your drop might be wrong. You may find yourself preoccupied with the rush. As a kicker, you might have trouble with your steps, power, and accuracy.

Every kicker starts out with these problems. Work hard, focus, stay positive and LISTEN CLOSELY to what your coach is telling you in order to become a better, more complete player. Staying in peak physical condition is an underrated but VERY important part of game-preparedness and effectiveness.

Next time, we'll start getting into technique. Stay tuned!

Defensive Back: Playing the Run

As a DB, your first concern must be pass defense. Second, but still vital, is knowing what to do when the offense runs the ball. Your action and technique will be determined by the defense your coach has called for the play. In this situation as a DB, you must:

1. Understand your responsibility during the play
2. Know what the offense must do for you to leave your pass coverage and attack the line of scrimmage
3. Know where and what your responsibilities are when you force the run
4. Understand which offensive player can block you
5. Know how to meet the blocker

When the defense is called, you'll be playing either zone or man-to-man pass defense. If you're covering a deep zone, you must go to that zone until the ball carrier crosses the line of scrimmage. When you're in man coverage, you'll need to run with him until he blocks OR the ball crosses the line of scrimmage - whichever happens first. In both cases you will be chasing the ball carrier after you are certain the ball can not be passed.

Tune in next time as we wrap up Playing the Run for Defensive Backs!

Defensive Back: Four Deep Zone

You'll probably find yourself playing a four deep zone when your coach knows the offense has to throw deep for a shot at winning the game or when four or more wide receivers find their way onto the field at once.

In either case, both corners and both safeties will be asked to drop deep and cover only a quarter of the field each. Any ball thrown deep should be either knocked down or picked off.

All the techniques discussed for defensive backs covering in a deep zone previously should be used for a four deep zone defense.

In general, when you play zone, the main rules are that you:

1. Recognize that the play is a pass
2. Get to your zone immediately
3. Get as deep as you can before the QB sets to throw
4. Focus on the QB and the ball
5. React to the pass and let the ball direct you to the receiver

One challenge, that you'll face in playing zone defense is that you'll often be taking your eyes off the QB to look at a receiver running into your zone. Another will be the urge to come up before the ball is thrown to cover a receiver running in front of you.

Both challenges can be overcome. If you practice alone, go to your zone and look in at where the QB will set up. Stop and settle in your backpedal and react to the right or left. Focusing on the QB and the ball gives you a much better chance at making a gamechanging play such as an interception.

Defensive Back: Three-Deep Zone

Three of the four DBs will be dropping into a deep zone when your team employs a three-deep zone coverage. One of the DBs, usually the strong safety, will be moving up and to the outside to cover the under zone on one side of the field.

Instead of only having two defensive backs to cover deep, we now have three. Each DB, typically the two corners and the free safety, will have the responsibility of covering a third of the field.

The two corners will have the outside thirds of the field while the free safety positions himself to cover the middle third. This ensures that passes will be much harder to complete in the deep zone.

All three cover men should play the same way as the two we discussed in the two-deep section earlier - backpedal quickly, get as deep as possible, keep the receivers in front of them, watch the QB, and react the instant he releases the ball.

For safeties not in deep coverage, you'll need to use a different technique. This will depend on how wide from your original position you'll have to go to get into your zone. The wider you go, the more you'll have to sprint to get there. When you sprint:

1. Roll over the foot in the direction you need to go
2. Run as fast as you can to get there
3. Watch the QB over your shoulder

Once you arrive in your zone, swing your inside leg around to get into your backpedal. As you backpedal:

1. Focus on the QB
2. Cease your backpedal when you see the QB is ready the throw
3. Keep running in place with your feet moving in short choppy steps
4. Prepare to move to either your right or left once you see the QB begin his release
5. Break to the ball by rolling over the foot in the direction you need to go

Defensive Backs: More on Zone Coverage!

Zone defenses will usually be broken down into three different types of zone pass coverages. There's the two-deep zone, a three-deep zone, and an occasional four-deep zone. In all three zone defenses, the first rule is, if you're in coverage, that you can backpedal deep enough so that you stay between your goal line and the deepest offensive receiver in your zone. Before the play begins, make certain you know what type of pass coverage has been called - zone or man. If it's zone:

1. Know where you need to go and/or which zone you must cover
2. Know how you're going to get to your zone
3. Know what your responsibilities are once you reach and are set up in your zone

A two-deep zone will usually involve both safeties dropping deep, each covering half of the field. It's important they backpedal as quickly as possible, get as deep as they can, stay deeper than any receiver in their half of the field, look at the QB, and react the instant the quarterback steps and throws.

At the same time, both corners, who will be covering the outside underneath zones with the linebackers should:

1. Leave their original alignment before the play began
2. Move up to five yards from the line of scrimmage
3. Take a position just outside the offensive receiver as he moves up field
4. Bump the receiver to the inside, interrupt his run up the field, and force the receiver in toward the safety
5. Drop back to 12 yards using a backpedal
6. Focus on the QB
7. React when the ball leaves the quarterback's hand

Next time we'll be covering the three-deep zone!

Defensive Back: Zone Coverage

Playing zone coverage is much different than man-to-man. In man-coverage, you're concerned with covering one receiver potentially all over the field through the entire play. You focus on the receiver, recognize the pass pattern he's running, and react properly to that pattern. By watching the receiver, he tells you where to go. Your only chance to look for the ball is when you're in position to see the receiver and the ball at the same time during your coverage.

Playing zone requires you change your way of thinking and understand that your priorities must change as well. The main differences you'll discover when switching to zone coverage is that:

1. On the snap of the ball you'll move to a predetermined area of the field
2. Your focus will be on the QB, not necessarily a receiver
3. The direction the ball is thrown will tell you where to go, not the receiver's pattern

This doesn't mean you should discard all you know about man-to-man coverage to play zone - far from it! You can backpedal into your zone or angle-backpedal if necessary to stay in the proper position on the field. Once the ball leaves the QB's hand, you should implement your rollover to leave the backpedal. There are no new physical techniques for you here, just knowing where you have to cover and that your focus will shift more to the QB than the receiver.

More to come!

Defensive Back: Route Recognition

Start with short pass routes. Covering wide receivers, these will be the slant, hitch, and quick out patterns. Covering tight ends, you'll need to recognize the look-in, short, and flat routes. 

Line up in your normal defensive position and stance. As the receiver starts off the line, enter your backward run. The moment you recognize the pattern, you should call out the name of the pattern and point to where the receiver should be catching the ball. Continue moving backward as you point out and call the pattern.

The point where you recognize the pattern being run in any zone is called the "Recognition Point." The spot where you point where the ball should be caught is the "Interception Point." To figure out the latter, you must understand where the receiver can first catch the ball. On any short or medium pattern coming to the inside of the field, the receiver will run at least six yards (ideally) from the recognition point before he can catch the pass. For a short or medium route headed toward the sideline, the receiver will cover at least eight yards from the recognition point before he can make a reception.

It will take intense concentration on the receiver to recognize the pattern as soon as possible and indicate the interception point correctly.

Once you're confident with short patterns, you should progress to medium and then deep routes. It's exceedingly important on deep routes that you try to keep a three-yard separation between you and the receiver.