Creating fumbles: and converting them into recoveries & TD's.

The ultimate objective of every intelligently designed defense is to prevent the offense from scoring and to create turn-overs into touchdowns!

Few defensive players have the knack for creating fumbles and recoveries. They have to be trained for it. We believe it can be accomplished with a simple five-minute drill program twice a week. Think of it: For just 10 minutes of practice time a week, you can transform a good defense into a scoring defense!

The accompanying diagrams present three simple drills with which to train your defensive personnel to respond positively to fumble and recovery situations.

DRILL 1, ADVANCING FUMBLES:

Set up five step-over dummies about one yard apart in a horizontal line.

Have the players form a line behind the first step-over.

Position a coach, holding a football, about a yard behind the last step-over. Have him extend the ball, yell "Ball!" and then drop it to the ground.

The first player in line must then skim over the step-overs, pick up the ball, and spring 10 yards to a cone or bag set up at this point.

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Repeat the drill until everyone has had a chance.

Coaching points: Tell the players to skim over the step-overs as fast as they can. (Thought process: "There's a loose ball on the ground and the quicker we can get to it, the greater will be our chance to recover and run with.")

To recover the ball, the player must bend at the knees, not the waist, and pick up the ball with both hands. This is the quickest and safest way to do it. It will also prevent the player from kicking the ball and put him in the best position to fall on the ball and protect it whenever he is hit.

Always emphasize: "We want to advance the fumble whenever possible and score."

DRILL 2, STRIP & RECOVERY:

Set up three players in a horizontal line three yards apart, facing the same direction.

#1 carries the football loosely in one hand. At the coach's signal, he runs forward and #2 gives chase.

If the ball is being carried loosely away from the body, #2 will forcefully strip it.

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If #1 is carrying the ball close to his body, but exposed, #2 must punch it loose. He is given just one shot at the ball. If the ball is not dislodged, #1 must instinctively clamp down on it.

#3 must use good technique to recover the fumble--bend at the knees, not the waist and pick up the ball with both hands--and run 10 yards.

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DIAG. 3, STRIP THE BALL FROM THE QB AND ADVANCE IT:

Set up a player five yards from the LOS as the QB.

Have two players with shields serve as the offensive linemen (B's) and two other players as defensive men (D's).

On the first whistle, D-1 sheds his blocker and goes after the QB to strip the ball from him. (The QB keeps the ball high and cocks it up as if to throw.)

One the second whistle (one or two seconds after the first), D-2 sheds his blocker, recovers the ball, and sprints 10 yard downfield to a cone or bag.

Coaching points: Make the defenders understand that the player acting as the QB is NOT live. We don't need broken arms. The emphasis must be on techniques: stripping, recovering, and advancing the ball.

As you can see, it will take a position coach just minutes to put his players through these drills. Repetition is the mother of perfection.

What we are attempting to do is condition our defensive players to react instinctively in certain situations, so that when the opportunity arises in a game, they will respond accordingly. They will create a turn-over, recovery, and advance for a TD!

BY MICKEY HEALEY

Defensive Coordinator 

Toms River (NJ) North H.S.