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Want to score more touchdowns and become a better running back. Learn the basics of ball security and you will find yourself on the field longer and scoring more often.
Prevent fumbles with strong techniques
A team that prevents fumbles is a team that wins. Nothing is worse for your offensive team then turning it over carelessly to the other team in a fumble. A great way to teach tight ball security is with four points. The claw position is the first point, meaning that you grab the football clawing at the point of the football with your fingers. Second, wrap your forearm completely around the football. Third point is to have the ball held tight against the bicep to prevent defenders from punching up through from behind. Last point is to hold the back of the football right up against the ribcage and as you run keep it high and tight. Run a couple of drills were the ball carrier runs through a pack of defenders to practice. In this way you can practice great defensive moves to force a fumble, and also focus on offensive ball protection.
Making a great hand off
Handoff skills can secure yardage on the field and increase your overall success. We will explain this in a common scenario between a quarterback and a running back. A running back at the start of a hand off should give the quarterback a target by opening up his arms that are in front of his chest enough to allow about one and a half footballs in. Once the quarterback has placed the ball in the pocket, or opening, the running back immediately clamps down on the ball protecting it and holding on to it. Now that the running back has the ball when he leaves the quarterback he should remain low to the ground in order to react quickly on the field.
Practicing the Hand off
Running backs should constantly practice the hand off. This drill requires more than one player; it starts off with two lines, line A and line B, the front of each line facing each other a couple of yards apart. The player from line A leaves the line with the football running towards line B. At the same time a player leaves line B, and when they meet in the middle Player A hands off the ball to Player B. At the point of the hand off another player leaves line A and runs towards player B, who hands off the ball to the new player. It should be a constant motion. Practice this drill every day to ensure that your running backs are effective on their hand offs.
Ball security: The Gauntlet Drill
Ball security, preventing fumbles and turnovers is perhaps the most important skill the offensive team can have. Quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers should work on this skill constantly. A great drill called the gauntlet practices ball security. This drill is set up with one ball carrier, there objective is to run through a group of opponents that try to knock the ball out. The opponents can line up in any scenario, the most common being two lines and the ball carrier must run through them. To be effective with this drill have the ball carrier run the drill holding the ball in several different positions.