Coach Tom Bass brings more than 30 years of coaching experience to USA Football. Along with answering youth coaching questions, he also receives emails from young players. You can email the coach at NFLAskTheCoach@aol.com.
The following question was sent:
I play both safety and corner. I am having trouble jumping routes on
pass plays, specifically the timing of the jump. How do I time it
better?
Hi,
The actual timing of when you should jump a route will depend on the type of defensive pass coverage (man-to-man or zone) that you are playing.
When you are playing man-to-man pass defense, you must let the receiver you have in coverage bring you to the pass route. When you see the receiver make his break and you recognize the pass route, the first thing to do is react and move to the receiver.
Once you can physically reach out and touch the receiver, you can look back to the quarterback for the ball. When playing this type of pass defense your first priority should be to cause an incompletion, your second should be to make the tackle, and third to make an interception on any poorly thrown pass.
When playing a zone pass defense, your thought process is just the opposite. Now as you drop into your zone, you focus on the quarterback and the ball and you allow the flight of the ball to take you to the receiver pass route and an interception point. In a zone pass defense, it is often easier to jump a route because you are moving directly to the ball and not initially closing the gap to a particular receiver.
Other considerations that may control your jumping a pass route would be the down and distance, the game score, location on the field, a good understanding of your opponents pass attack and particular pass routes, and if you have additional help deep.
I hope this gives you a few ideas concerning jumping pass routes as a defensive back.
Coach Tom Bass
Raymond from Omaha sent the following question:
I have three questions. I read one of your answers to a question and it said, "The one thing you never want to do is to sit and not be moving forward when you have to make contact." What do you mean by that? If you have to move forward how fast should you be going? Also if you're tackling someone smaller and quicker than you and he can juke, how can you tackle him hard without overrunning the play or getting shook?
Hi Raymond,
It is important that you never wait for the runner to come to you and you aren't flat-footed or stationary when he arrives. The speed you use as you come up will depend on your read and the defense you are playing, but it is important that you have momentum to match the runner so that he does not run over you. It is much better to be a consistent, sure tackler than one who may make the real hard hit on one play and miss completely on the next opportunity.
When the ball carrier is running laterally to the sideline, the easiest tackle will often be to go in low and wrap up his lower legs. This type of tackle can sometimes be used if you are a defensive player coming in from the side of the ball carrier.
When you meet a smaller runner, it is even more important to come up and as you near the runner, you need to shorten your stride and widen your base. You need to be stable, with good body control, to stay in position and make the runner declare where he is going to go. Once he makes his break, you need to open step with the foot on the side of his break and use your other foot and shoulder on the opposite side to explode into your tackle. A smaller player should not be able to run over you.
The main thing is to never lunge at the runner but maintain a body position with your hips over your feet, have your knees bent, back straight and head up so that you can step with ease to either your right or left. Never take his first fake and lunge or crossover step. Hold your position and take an open step, aiming two or three yards in front of his path when he crosses your nose to one side of your body or the other.
Coach Tom Bass
BT from Hot Spring sent the following question:
I play corner on my JV team, and I am very interested in getting playing time on the varsity team next season. What can I do to impress the coaches and get playing time or even a starting spot as a sophomore? There are some pretty good corners in the grades above me.
Hi BT,
I am going to answer your question in a very general way. Players who show up to practice in shape and ready to work impress coaches. They like players who are on time and ready to go.
During practice, coaches look for players who are eager to get into the drill and are the ones at the head of the line. They look for players who pay attention and focus on what the coach is trying to teach.
During games or scrimmages they are impressed with players who do not make mental errors, who know their assignments, who have mastered their techniques and who do not make needless penalties.
At corner, you will need to have good coverage technique, understand offensive pass routes and be physical in playing the receiver or coming up on the run.
You will impress your coaches when you can truthfully say to yourself after every practice that you practiced as hard as you could and that you are a better player than before practice started.
Coach Tom Bass
Rodrick from Fort Wayne sent the following question:
I've been interested in playing the RB position on our football team, and I've always worried about how to hold the ball correctly.
Hi Rodrick,
When you are holding the ball in one hand, you want the inside palm of your hand over the front point of the ball. Your fingers should then surround the ball with your first two fingers on the top of the ball and your last two fingers on the underside of the ball.
The back point of the ball should be tucked into the joint of your elbow, with your forearm on the outside of the ball on the underside. The front point of the ball should be up, high against your chest. The ball should be held tightly against your side. Coaches will often refer to this position as "high and tight."
When going through the line or when you see that your are going to be hit, it is good to place your other forearm over the top-outside part of the ball and grab the back point of the ball with the palm of this hand.
Always try to have the ball secured in the hand away from any potential tackler if you can, never wave the ball out away from your body and always try to anticipate any hit coming to you from the front, side or back as you move up the field.
Coach Tom Bass
The following question was sent:
I have read some of your answers to other people's questions, and I have a question to ask you also. How do you tackle?
Hi,
Tackling is a skill that is easy to master if you take the time to learn to do it correctly. Never sit and wait for the ball carrier to come to you - be moving forward to the ball carrier.
As you approach the ball carrier:
*Widen your feet and shorten your stride.
*Lower your hips by bending your knees.
*Keep your back straight and head up, slightly in front of your hips.
*Decide which shoulder you are going to use to make the tackle.
*Step and explode off of the foot on the same side as the shoulder you are going to use to make the hit
*Drive your shoulder into the center of the ball carrier.
*Drive up and through the ball carrier.
*As you make contact with your shoulder pad, wrap both arms around the ball carrier and grab his jersey in both hands.
*If you can, lift the ball carrier off the ground and drive him back into the ground.
*As your shoulder hits, your head should slide to the side of the ball carrier, preferably the side where he is holding the ball (a tactic referred to as "bite the ball")
*NEVER USE YOUR HELMET AS A WEAPON TO MAKE CONTACT.
Until you feel that you have good body position and follow through, always practice learning to tackle by going at half speed in a limited area and begin by tackling a standup dummy if one is available and then move to tackling a teammate.
Coach Tom Bass
Coach Tom Bass, the technical writer and advisor for USA Football, is a 30-year NFL coach who has also authored several books, including "Play Football the NFL Way" - the first "how to" book ever authorized and published by the NFL. Coach Bass is happy to personally autograph his books to you. Book ordering information can be found on http://www.coachbass.com/.
