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Here is one of my favorite [tag]conditioning drills for football[/tag]. I use it at the beginning of the season to introduce hitting and then later throughout the season to get them to go full speed when hitting, to work on their leg drive and conditioning and to have fun.

Equipment needed: 4 hand held blocking shields
Start with all of your players in a large circle that is about 30 feet in diameter.   Pick a point on the circle and hand out blocking shields to two players next to each other.   Go to the opposite side of the circle and hand out the remaining two blocking shields to two players next to each other. Select the two players that are going to go first.

The way the [tag]football drill[/tag] works:
On the [tag]football coach[/tag]’s whistle two players from opposite sides (one from each side) of the circle charge at each other and make contact with the blocking pads. The object is to try and knock the other player down to the ground on the initial contact, getting low and driving through the hit with your legs.

If no player gets knocked down then the goal is to drive the other player out of the circle or knock him to the ground with another hit using the bag.   Once a player is knocked down or driven out of the circle the coach blows the whistle and the drill is over.

Let this go for about 30 seconds before blowing whistle and declaring no winner if there is no knockdown or drive out.

If a player gets knocked down or driven out of the circle then they owe 10 push-ups.   If no one gets knocked down or driven out of the circle then they both owe 10 push-ups. (You can vary what you have them do from push-ups to crunches to jumping jacks, etc.)

Once the [tag]football[/tag] drill is over the players quickly exit the circle and give the pad to the next player to the right and do the required exercise.   As soon as the circle is clear the coach blows the whistle and the next two players go.

The players love this drill and you get some really good pops.   We also mix it up and occasionally let the kids pick who they want to go against or as coaches we pick the match ups we want to see.

It is a good way to introduce hitting without the fear of getting hurt as you have the pad in front of you.   It also gets them to chop their feet and keep driving, working on their conditioning.

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