Steering for Kick Off Return

In today’s video blog post, we are going to demonstrate a fantastic special teams drill for “Steering”. This drill will help your players to understand the concepts behind this important technique and how to implement it successfully.

Breaking Down the “Steering” Drill for Special Teams

1. The players are going to facing each other on the line, one player being the kickoff coverage and the other being the kickoff return.
2. The players will be locked up, and on the “Go” command, the kickoff coverage player is going to try to force the other player backwards, and either to the right or to the left, while the kickoff return player is going to try to block him and maintain that block throughout the play.
3. You can also put a returned behind them so players can get comfortable with the amount of time it takes to hold the block. (generally 4-5 seconds)
4. The focus of this drill is for the players to focus on staying with each other as they block and steer, while moving down the field with to the right or left.
5. The most important element of this drill is the get the hands on the player early, and keep hands on him the entire time while keeping the feet moving.

Coaching Tips:

• Lock out the other player while keeping your hands inside
• Your base shouldn’t be too narrow or too wide
• Be sure to include a re-trace for situations when the player escapes the blocker