Football Tackling Drill

Here is an advanced tackling drill that I actually learned from my high school coach!   This drill places a premium on sound tackling fundamentals but also instills toughness.

Advanced Tackling Drill
Form groups of three; one a tackler, one a blocker, and a ball carrier.

Position the three as follows:
The tackler is on his back, head pointed toward the impact line, the ball carrier has a football and the blocker is in position just ahead of the ball carrier.
Two cones are placed to form an imaginary line 3 yards from the tackler on the ground and 5 yards from the “offensive” blocker and carrier. The tackler and the blocker/carrier are separated by 8 yards.

With the three in position, the coach blows his whistle. The objective of the tackler is to tackle the ball carrier before he crosses the line between the cones while the blocker and carrier rush to the line attempting to cross it.

Subjective variations that the coach can implement are using a scoring system to create a competition between the offensive group and the defensive group, such as 5 points for each successful tackle and one point for an offensive success. If a tackler not only makes the tackle before the line but causes a fumble in the process he can get double or triple “defense points”.

The coach can also scale back the intensity of the blocker/ball-carrier to 3/4 or 1/2 speed depending on the skill level of the tackler.

This drill places a premium on sound tackling fundamentals but also instills toughness as the tackler must get off his back, get across the line between the cones, take out the blocker and tackle the carrier before he can cross the line, with a premium on causing a fumble. It also gives the blocker/carrier practice in their respective roles, and the ball carrier additional work on protecting the ball.