Check Out These Kickoff Return Drills

One of the most demoralizing things for your team is to give up a kickoff return for a touchdown.

Every year you think it won’t happen, but it does.

No matter how many times you tell your players to “Stay in their lanes” you find that your players do not stay in their lanes and you see the return man finding a hole and racing into the end zone.

The reality is that if you don’t drill special teams, you won’t have great special teams.

Trust me, I understand that it doesn’t feel like there’s enough time in the day to drill special teams.

Just getting players in the right places can be hard enough.

But with the Explosive Tight Ends Offenses’ kick off drills, you can practice efficiently and effectively.

Check out this drill they call the Hat and Hands Drill:

The bottom V is the kick off man in the drill.

Everyone else is there to support.

A coach will be behind the man in the drill and point to one of the two other Vs to attack the kick off man as he runs down the line.

The kick off man will then have to react to one of the two and get past him and get hat and hands to the bag (the colored in square).

Then there is another player behind the bag.

He will take off one direction and the kick off man will have to either tackle him, or just get hands on hips.

That’s how the drill works, but here’s a breakdown of how it teaches so well:

1. The kick off man learns how to AVOID the first line of defense.

There is no reason that your players should engage with the bigger guys ten yards off the ball. They have a running start and should be able to make one cut to get past these guys.

2. Get to the second level and ENGAGE to read the return man.

You have to engage the next level of defense in order to force the ball carrier to make a decision. The quicker your players do this, the quicker they can react and get to the ball.

You’ve got to take your special teams seriously. 

If you need extra help, take this course to beef up your kickoff return.