Football Agility Drills Using Large Dummies

Football coaches at all levels use large dummies in their practices. Large dummies are big pads shaped as players or cylinders that are used during football drills to teach and help players work on the essential functions of football such as tackling and blocking. During drills, players hold up the large dummies or the pads can stand alone, be strapped onto machines or laid on the ground.

  1. Blocking

    • Large dummies are used for players to practice their blocking techniques. For example, one football drill calls for a row of players to get in their stances while another row of players, directly in front of them, holds large dummies. When the whistle is blown, the row of players in their stances attacks the dummies to simulate blocking.

      Another football drill uses a machine called a sled. Large dummies are attached to the sleds and players push them across the field to simulate blocking and driving the opposing players off the ball.

    Tackling

    • Football tackling drills also use large dummies. To simulate tackling during these drills, large dummies are held upright by players or, if possible, stand alone. Players practice their tackling by keeping their heads up and wrapping their arms around the pads, driving them to the ground. Because of the violent nature of tackling drills, dummies are generally used in place of players to prevent injuries.

    Agility

    • Agility drills improves the football players' quickness and speed by working on their legs, hands and feet. Large dummies are laid on the ground in a row during these drills. This simple layout is vital to various agility drills. For instance, players can run across or between the dummies normally, sideways or backwards. Players jump across the dummies as well. To increase the intensity, coaches elect to throw footballs at the players to catch or instruct players to carry them through the agility drills.

    Other Drills

    • There are other types of football drills that incorporate the use of large dummies. Coaches can stand up or lay dummies down to show where the offensive line would be positioned. Offensive play drills are run with the running backs carrying the footballs through the holes created by the dummies. Another football drill sets the large dummies at various spots on the field for quarterbacks to hit or avoid hitting when throwing to wide receivers to improve accuracy.