While a lot of the time they may be the biggest, slowest players on the field, there is no denying the fact that foot quickness is a huge asset to offensive lineman – whether that’s a guard pulling for an outside run, or a tackle doing his best to keep a speedy pass rusher from getting to the quarterback.
That’s why I like to run my players through a series of drills designed to keep them nimble on their feet, as well as a way to keep track of their improvement.
Mirror Drill
In the mirror drill, two players will line up facing each other, one defender, and one blocker. The defender is going to move from side to side, with an array of shimmys, fakes and spins. The blocker will move from side to side, keeping themselves directly in front of the defensive player.
At first have the offensive player focus solely on his footwork, but once they have the hang of it, you can add some contact in, having the blocker extend and push the defender away whenever they get to close to the mirror line.
Beat ”˜Em Drill
This is similar to the mirror drill, but in a more game like situation. Here we’ll set up two cones about 5 yards apart, and a defender and blocker lined up facing each other.
One your go, the defender will try to run past the defender, without using their arms. This portion of the drill should be at about 75% speed, with the blocker easily taking care of the defenders attempts.
But after about 5-10 seconds of this, one of the coaches yells out ”˜Beat ”˜Em!’ and the defender is going to use a move to get past the blocker – whether that’s a swim or a rip, or even a spin move is completely up to them.
This portion of the drill is at full speed, and the defender only gets the one attempt to
beat the blocker.
Shuttle Drill
This is a great drill for your players to do at home on their own, and be a great measuring stick for their improvement. Simply set up 3 cones (or whatever you can use to replace cones; shoes, rolled up towels, anything!) and line them up each 5 yards apart.
Then have the player step up to the middle cone and get down into 3 point stance. On your whistle, they will pull out of stance, sprint down to one cone, touch it, sprint past their starting point to the far cone, touch it, and then sprint back to where they began.
Remember to remind them to use proper pulling technique, and to pulling to the left and much as to the right.
If you found this article helpful, you should check out this post with even more offensive line drills!
