How to Be a Good Cornerback

Preparing the Mind

• 1

  Learn about your team's defensive scheme in detail to go to a new level. Trying to wing it does not work for most football players. Talk with your coaches about the goals and expectations for the position. Not every coach wants the same thing from their cornerbacks, so knowing the defensive scheme is vital.

• 2

  Study the greats of the game. There is no easier way to learn technique than to watch footage of professional football players. By watching the best, you can zero in on how they line up, tackle and cover the best receivers in the game. It is like a free class for the position that plays out every weekend.

• 3

  Commit to regular study of your opponents. When you line up against the other team every week, you should already know who their best receivers are, what their weaknesses are and how you can best take advantage of them. Study all the receivers on the other team in case they line up someone unexpected. Doing this every week will boost your confidence and knowledge, making you a better player. Study game film whenever possible.

• 4

  Prepare to fail as a cornerback on occasion. No other position with the exception of quarterback is more obvious when you mess up, so mistakes are seen by everyone. Prepare to be embarrassed occasionally and have a short memory. If you get down about a mistake, you will make another one on the next play. No cornerback has ever played the game perfectly and neither will you.

• 5

  Build confidence in your game by knowing more than the next guy. The one area of the game that you can win regardless of size or ability is the game of the mind. If you show weakness as a cornerback you are destined to fail. Cornerbacks have to be a bit arrogant and let the receivers know that they will be there when the ball arrives. Sometimes receivers drop the ball simply because they expect to get hit and not because of the hit itself.

Preparing the Body

• 6

  Work out regularly with weights for strength. Nothing can replace pure strength on the football field and cornerbacks are no exception. Lifting weights will help your body to react quicker and with more power when you are tackling running backs or avoiding linemen almost twice your size.

• 7

  Maximize your speed as a cornerback by running plenty of wind sprints. Sprints build your speed better than anything else and they also build up your cardiovascular conditioning. One drill to help with this is the suicide. Line up on the goal line and run to the ten yard line and back. Then immediately run to the twenty yard line and back. Then the thirty and so on all the way down the field.

• 8

  Enhance your reaction time to the football by running the backpedal drill. This drill is done by having a quarterback line up opposite you and hiking the ball to himself. As he drops back to pass, you backpedal while keeping yourself low to the ground and your eyes on the ball. As he looks through his passing options, you should react by moving in that direction while continuing to backpedal. When he throws the football, you cut and go to the ball intercepting it if possible.

• 9

  Practice coverage skills by playing one on two. This easy game requires only two friends, making it attractive when you are in the off-season. One man plays quarterback, one plays wide receiver and you play cornerback. Have the receiver go out and try to get open with you covering him and attempting to break up passes.

• 10

  Realize that cornerbacks are smaller in stature as a rule than running backs and wide outs. This smaller size means that you need perfect technique when you tackle so that you are not hurt. The best way to learn this is to run tackle drills with dummies. Set up dummies in various places on the field and practice hitting them with proper form. When it is possible, practice tackling your teammates. Do not try to practice tackling without pads as it will lead to injury.