ByCoach Martin|Football Routes
An Out Route is one of the basic passing routes all football receivers learn.
It’s a relatively simple route to teach, but it takes a lot of skill, practice, and precision to run effectively.
The “out route” is a passing route that starts out looking like a deep route down the field, only to end up with the receiver finishing out toward the sideline.
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ByCoach Martin|Football Offense
What once was a formation in football reserved only for pass-heavy teams or passing situations is now used prolifically throughout football.
We’re talking about the Shotgun formation.
Here, the quarterback lines up about 5-7 yards behind the center instead of crouching down directly behind.
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ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
Not all rules are this straightforward and easy to understand.
One of these more complicated penalties in football is clipping.
Clipping is one of the more serious penalties in football.
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ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
Football leagues have rules that protect players who find themselves in vulnerable positions.
Whether this be receivers waiting for a pass, kick returners waiting for the ball, or punters in the act of kicking, there are different rules that are set to reduce the chances of injuries in the game.
The Roughing the Kicker is one of those rules meant to protect both place kickers and punters while in the act of kicking.
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ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
To simplify the game on defense, coaches came up with a number mechanism to describe the various pre-snap alignments on the line of scrimmage.
A different number is assigned (in ascending order) from heads-up on the center on down the line of scrimmage.
Teams call each of these numbers “techniques.”
These techniques not only describe pre-snap alignment, they have also come to signify the type of player you are talking about.
One of these examples is a 3 Technique.
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ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
A 5 Technique who lines up on the strong side may be a little bigger and a little stronger to take on those extra blocks and extra contact, while the weakside may be a little smaller, a little quicker, and be the pass-rushing specialist.
Either way, all of them will be strong, agile, fast, and quick players who love to run their high motors and cause disruption along the line of scrimmage and in the backfield.
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ByCoach Martin|Football Positions
A center in football is often an undervalued position, but there may be no important position along the offensive line.
If you want to be a great center, you’ll need to have unique traits that help you accomplish your roles and responsibilities on every play.
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To be successful, offenses have to incorporate misdirection plays to keep defenses off balance.
If teams only called straight running plays up the middle and short passing plays, the defense would catch on and key in on the play before they even happened.
That’s why offensive coaches come up with plays that make the defense think a play is going one way — when in fact it’s doing the exact opposite.
One of the most common misdirection plays offenses run is the bootleg play.
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ByCoach Martin|Football Basics
Every offensive lineman dreams of executing pancake blocks.
It’s the outcome coaches hope for in every block by every offensive lineman on every running play.
While there is no official statistic for pancake blocks in football, it’s one of the most celebrated plays by offensive line coaches and offensive line groups.
It’s a great individual accomplishment and something definitely worth celebrating.
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ByCoach Martin|Football Defense
Over the last few years, a lot of football leagues have been adding different rules to protect the health and well-being of players.
One of those rules is the horse collar tackle.
The horse collar tackle is one way defenders used to be able to take down ball carriers if they were unable to wrap them up as they are normally taught.
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