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Secure the ball with the Gauntlet drill

This is an excerpt from Coaching Youth Football 6th Edition by Joe Galat.

GAUNTLET

Seven players are actively involved in this drill. Set up additional stations as necessary to ensure that you are keeping all of your players engaged. Defensive players line up three to a side, parallel to one another, for a total of six defensive players (two lines of three facing each other). The defensive players should be a yard apart and a yard across from one another. The running back starts a yard or two in front of the first set of defensive players. The ball is handed off to the running back, and the running back runs through the double lineup of defensive players, who are trying to pull the ball out of the running back’s hands.

This drill teaches players how to secure the football and develop practical running skills while preventing a fumble. Players should cradle the ball like a baby, with four points of the body securing the ball: the elbow, the hand that has the ball, the ribs, and the hand opposite the ball. The player should keep the shoulders round and the legs digging.

You can change the gauntlet drill to a short-yardage situation by having the defense set up shoulder to shoulder. The offensive player runs through the defenders’ shoulders while the defenders try to punch the ball out from the bottom or pull it out from the top. This can add some intensity to the drill for older, more experienced players.

A number of variations exist with this drill. You can ask the running back to do any of the following:

• Touch the line. After clearing the gauntlet, the running back leans forward and touches the ground twice—the second time, he may need to push himself back up.
• Cut back. After clearing the gauntlet, the running back cuts at a sharp angle to the right and then to the left. On the next repeat, the running back should cut to the outside, first right and then left.
• Spin off a tackler. After clearing the gauntlet, the running back spins off a tackler to his right, then spins off a tackler to his left.
• Achieve short yardage. Gaining that needed yard has more to do with mind-set than technique. Have the running back drive through the tacklers, who are now shoulder to shoulder. The running back should come out the other end of the gauntlet with legs driving.
• Perform a Heisman Trophy run. The running back takes a handoff or pitchout and puts all the previous skills together on one run for a touchdown. Remind players of some great runs they may have witnessed in the pros or college—Steve Young and Marcus Allen made these kinds of runs for touchdowns.

More Excerpts From Coaching Youth Football 6th Edition

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