THE QUARTER EAGLE – A forgotten drill.

Every coach knows you can’t play football without bending your knees and moving your feet. The trick is how you get your players to that point. Oftentimes, coaches confuse “telling” with teaching. As a coach, you must get your players comfortable in this bent knee “hit position”. In order to do this, the coach must break it down into its finer points and drill, drill, drill. Past experience tells me that players can spend all day in the weight room doing squats in the off season. However, in the end, they must still work on the “quarter eagle” drills to get into condition to play from this critical stance.

Obviously, these drills can give a player the much needed power base we’re looking for in blocking and tackling.

As the man said: “Lend me your ear and I’ll tell you the secrets of the world”.

Upon the coach’s command “hit”, players assume the following position:

1. Feet:

a. Toes pointed straight downfield. Almost “pigeon toed”.

b. Weight evenly distributed on balls of feet.

c. Heels touching the ground. Not in the air

d. A little wider than shoulder width apart.

2. Knees:

a. Bent over the toes. At 90 degrees.

b. Not pointed inward.

3. Thighs:

a. Parallel to ground.

b. The major part of the power base.

4. Hips/Waist:

a. Bent at 45 degrees.

b. Gives stance distinctive “lean”.

c. Second part of power base.

5. Back:

a. As straight as possible.

b. Bending the back causes a player to lift with it instead of thighs and hips.

6. Shoulders:

a. Drawn back. Don’t roll the shoulders forwared.

b. With chest out.

7. Head:

a. Up with neck bowed. Any blow is absorbed by helmet and shoulder pads.

b. Neck is more likely to be injured with the head down

Once the players are in their proper hit position, we move on to the next phase…..

8. Upon your command, players as a group, snap their feet and turn one quarter turn to their right throwing their right elbow. Don’t allow them to stand up as they do so!

9. You, as the coach, need to get eye level to check for “cheating”. I repeat, the players must not stand up. If they try to “cheat”, start over and continue until they do it right.

10. You can see right away it can be punishing. In fact, those players doing it correctly will soon encourage the others to do the same. Especially when you start over!

11. Continue for one to two minutes depending on their stage of conditioning, then “shake the legs out”. After a short rest, do the same thing to the left. If there is not a severe “burning” in the thighs, they are either cheating or they’re in great shape.

12. From the quarter eagle drill move right into your stance and start session. The foundation of the stance comes from the quarter eagle.

To be most effective, players should work on the quarter eagle drill almost year around. Obviously, you should discontinue the drill during the season because it saps leg strength. Perhaps replace it with light squats.

See Photo Capsule Diagram

HIT PROGRESSION- A second forgotten drill.

Secret number one actually “morphs” into secret number two. It is called the hit progression drill. I know, I know. You all do hit progression drills. Well, read further and see if that’s really true. Teach the following with the a two-man Crowther machine if possible. You will soon learn who can deliver a blow and who can’t. Obviously, on a two man sled, only two players can work at a time and is much better than shields or a five man sled. This allows the coach to see mistakes and make corrections immediately. Players must do it right every time or they do it again and again until they get it down. Don’t let them “slop” through it. Line up the first two players angled in. –On a Crowther machine, the direction of the pads are angled toward the middle of the sled—.

(1.) On the command “hit”, they quickly assume the quarter eagle position. Upon a simulated snap, each player quickly jams the pad with his hands and arms “locking out” both arms. (In the past coaches taught the use of the "flipper" or forearm, but with all the zone blocking and pass protection these days, the flipper is little used). They must not “wind up”. They quickly reset their hit position and repeat two more times. Everyone goes through all the phases of the drill from both sides of the sled. If you follow this teaching method, you’ll find that you’re able to see and correct two individuals at a time fairly quickly.

(2.) Same as above, except step with a six inch step "power step" with the right foot on left pad and the left foot on the right pad. Strike the pad only once. Don’t over stride. Feet should end up almost parallel. They must not stand up until they get off the sled.

(3.) Players get on their knees, sitting back on their heels with their back straight and toes under them. Their hands are relaxed on their thigh pads. They line up tight to the pad. On ball movement, players strike with their hands up-through the pad without “winding up”. At the same time they “bring” their hips with their backs arched. Look for their knees coming off the ground when they do it right. This puts their groin on – or very near – the pad. In doing this, the players will lift the sled up and back using the strongest muscle groups in their bodies.

(4.) Upon command, players assume a great stance. – 3 point for linemen, all others a 2 point—. Left handed stance on the right pad and a right handed stance on the left pad. On ball movement, fire out and strike the pad simultaneously with your “face” and hands. Lockout your arms and leave your feet in place. The “firing out” will knock the sled backward. When done correctly, this will cause the players to land on their stomachs. If the players don’t get off together, the sled will turn on the slower man. For this reason, they must work as a team.

(5.) Same as step four, except the players must “snap” their feet up under them. Strive to get the feet hitting the ground at the same time the hands strike the pad. Although blockers would not actually do this in a game, it teaches them to "bring their feet".

(6.) Same as step five, except the players must “buzz” their feet simultaneously as they strike the ground. The coach keeps them moving their feet in a bent knee position without trying to move the sled for six seconds. Coach calls “break” and players sprint off the sled.

(7.) Same as step six, except players when given “break” command, must come off the sled and find a second and third man downfield five yards to block or tackle. Second effort is a major part of the drill.

Again, I can’t stress enough how important it is to correct your players on the spot. Make them do it right every time. If you demonstrate how important it is to you, it will become important to them. Once they get the routine down and know what’s demanded, this drill should not take more than 15 minutes.

If you’re not presently using the quarter eagle and hit progression drills, and are searching for something concrete you can do to get your players to block and tackle better. Quite honestly, there are not any better drills than these to achieve those goals.

If you practice the above drills and your players want to be the best, I guarantee these drills will give them a chance to become just that. If you have average football players, they’ll become good. If you have good players, they’ll become outstanding. The better they get at doing these drills, the better football players they will become.

I hope all of this has been helpful and thanks for reading the article. Please feel free to leave comments. Also, if you would take a moment and click on an ad, it will be greatly appreciated.

.