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Drake Nevis

hockey878

By hockey878
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JCPatriot Walk On

JCPatriot

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Our LBs havent been the best at tackling once the runner gets to their level, esp if a big back, Here size may play a role

Yes, size plays a role, but technique also plays a role. Over the past six or seven years, our defenders have not practiced sound tackling technique, especially for small players. Their method of tackling seems to be to lower the shoulder and cannonball into the ball carrier hoping to knock him down with momentum. Not only does this lead to injuries for both defenders and ball carriers, but it is also not effective. Half the time the ball carrier gets knocked off balance and falls down or gets knocked out of bounds, but the other half of the time the defender just bounces off the ball carrier and alters his trajectory as he goes on for another 5 to 15 yards before the next defender cannonballs into him. I have pulled my hair out in frustration over this for years.

If I was trying to teach small defenders how to tackle, I would teach them to come in fast and hit with the upper body. When contact is made, wrap your arms around the ball carrier like a grappling hook and hang on for dear life. Try to bring him down with your momentum, but if you can't bring him down with initial contact, hold on tight and either go dead weight or dig in to try to stop him from going forward. Make him drag you forward so that you slow him down enough for your fast teammates to get there and gang tackle him. If you are not in the area to make initial contact, you should always be looking to assist with a gang tackle if the ball is in your area. The goal is not to make a highlight-reel tackle that makes people cringe when they watch it but to get the ball carrier on the ground with the minimum number of yards after contact. The Colts have one of the fastest defenses in the league from top to bottom. They should take better advantage of that.

Celsius or Fahrenheit?

Kelvin (but not Hayden).

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21isSuperman Walk On

21isSuperman

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Yes, size plays a role, but technique also plays a role. Over the past six or seven years, our defenders have not practiced sound tackling technique, especially for small players. Their method of tackling seems to be to lower the shoulder and cannonball into the ball carrier hoping to knock him down with momentum. Not only does this lead to injuries for both defenders and ball carriers, but it is also not effective. Half the time the ball carrier gets knocked off balance and falls down or gets knocked out of bounds, but the other half of the time the defender just bounces off the ball carrier and alters his trajectory as he goes on for another 5 to 15 yards before the next defender cannonballs into him. I have pulled my hair out in frustration over this for years.

If I was trying to teach small defenders how to tackle, I would teach them to come in fast and hit with the upper body. When contact is made, wrap your arms around the ball carrier like a grappling hook and hang on for dear life. Try to bring him down with your momentum, but if you can't bring him down with initial contact, hold on tight and either go dead weight or dig in to try to stop him from going forward. Make him drag you forward so that you slow him down enough for your fast teammates to get there and gang tackle him. If you are not in the area to make initial contact, you should always be looking to assist with a gang tackle if the ball is in your area. The goal is not to make a highlight-reel tackle that makes people cringe when they watch it but to get the ball carrier on the ground with the minimum number of yards after contact. The Colts have one of the fastest defenses in the league from top to bottom. They should take better advantage of that.

Kelvin (but not Hayden).

The most important thing about tackling (from my experience) is wrapping up. It doesn't matter if he is bigger, faster and stronger than you. Wrap him up and if you fall down, that will likely cause the other person to fall down too. And if it doesn't, it'll slow him down enough that your teammates can come in and lay a good lickin' on him. While I'm sure the Colts coaching staff emphasizes the importance of a proper tackle and of wrapping up, I haven't been seeing it with our players. Like you said, our players tend to lower the shoulder and try to plow over the running. One play that really stands out for me last year was in game 1, Bullitt had the chance to tackle Foster on a play, but instead just hit him with the shoulder and Foster kept running while Bullitt hit the ground.

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JCPatriot Walk On

JCPatriot

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While I'm sure the Colts coaching staff emphasizes the importance of a proper tackle and of wrapping up...

I'm not so sure that they do. The tackling technique is so consistent across the defense (especially the LBs and secondary) that it almost looks like they have been taught to tackle that way. I was hoping that would change with a new head coach and defensive coordinator, but it hasn't. If I was a defensive coach (and there is definitely a good reason that I am not), I would be drilling tackling technique into my defense every day in practice until I started seeing it on the field during games. Yeah, it may be fundamentals and they may not want to devote practice time to it, but for this defensive scheme to function even moderately well, sound tackling fundamentals are critical.

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