21-29 DRILL FOR HB'S

[poof]

Coach, we are having trouble with our halfbacks blocking 21-29. The drill we use is that , we line a de outside a te alignment and we tell him to shoot the gap , thus leading to the hb gap blocking him. But we seem to struggle , and seem to be stepping up field on our first step. We do birdogs and etc, but I was hoping if you can help me out with any kind of drill that can help us succeed at this . Thanks

[dennydierick]

Here are a couple coaching points for your WB's :
1. From a normal WB alignment, your first step should be with your
inside foot aiming at the inside foot of a normal TE.
2. Stress that WB makes this down block at the hip. Any defender is
by nature weakest at his hip area. As a demo, your smallest WB can
drive your strongest DT all around the field by placing one hand on
his hip -- this can not be done by applying pressure at chest etc.
3. Begin a "hi-lite tape" of perfect blocks at the hip. Add to this tape
as the season progresses.

Denny Dierick

[Coach Metz]

Coach,
Another think to take into account was that the bucksweep wasn't designed for penetrating DE's. It was designed to put the DE squeeze read into conflict. If he's going to penetrate, the 6-1, 200lb High School DE is going to crush your 5-8, 165lb WB. You may want to go with a Down or Power off-tackle, to get that DE doing what you want doing.
Good luck,
Metz