I received this drill from Dirk, a professional football coach in Portland. This is a great football drill to teach players how to punch and how to react while in a Pass-Pro Set.
From Dirk…
Step Slide Punch!! Offensive Line Drill:
The focus of the drill is to teach players to punch with strength, target their Punch, deliver the blow and reset again. The key to pass blocking is not to rush out to meet the defense. Teach Patience…do not deliver the punch until the player comes. If you do you tend to lean forward, stand up, or get off balance:
Start the Drill with two lines: offense and defense. Get a very small pad like a Judo target if you are going in shorts and shirts. Otherwise no pads needed. Offense starts off in a good pass set: Feet shoulder width a part, slight stagger, Flat footed, BUT DOWN, Head Up. Hands should be in a coiled position making a W right in the middle of chest sternum. Not to low and not too hi! The offensive lineman should look as if he is sitting in a chair. Ankles should be kicked out…feet straight at line of scrimmage.
Defense will be facing down the line; hands behind their back. So they are 90 degrees to the O linemen. O linemen is looking at their shoulder/side.
Drill Begins by defense heading down the line at a slow pace. Offense will step with their right leg…a low step. The left Leg will slide to make up ground for the step. This replacement step maintains a proper width without getting too wide or too narrow. Feet should never get close to each other nor ever cross. O’line must maintain feet shoulder width and never ever get narrow.
Sitting back in that chair and stepping and sliding the offense will hold their hands coiled until the defense turns to square up. When they do the O’line fires the hands and delivers a blow to the sternum/target. The head must not bob or pop forward but should rather come back as the hands fire and the chest delivers the blow. Power also comes from the hips and low back. Prior to the Punch Elbows pointing down as if they are held together by a bungee: Hands are not out from the body and not pressed against the body. Thumbs together when coiled.
As soon as the PUNCH is delivered the the O line recoils and resets! The defense takes the blow and turns back down the line. Each defender should turn about 5-7 times and should head and shoulder fake to get the player to fire his Punch early. Switch lines after completing the drill.
Key points: Low base, step than slide, Feet Low, hands coiled, no leaning, do not chase the defense…be patient. Punch and explode and quickly reset. The Punch is a crucial part of the Pass Block. try using the martial arts type Chi energy to really let the punch fly. Imagine breaking through a wall with that punch.
This is not a love tap now. You are trying to put an imprint of a W on that D linemen!! Go get Em Guys:
D——-Turn——Turn————-turn———Turn—— Form new line here: switch to O
O—-Punch———-Punch——-Punch——-Punch——Form New line Here: Switch to D
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