DC-look at the streaming video you will like it

For our drive block, from a 3 point we drive off on playside foot with a 6 inch, 45 degree step to gain a leverage position on the defender's playside. We uncoil with back flat and nose aimed for playside armpit of the defender. Contact is made right after the second step. Both hands are in fists, thumbs up, aimed for outside edge of front shoulderpads, punching the upper edge and outside area of opponent's jersey numbers. The punch is not intended to hurt the opposing player but to prevent our blocker from "face planting" into his opponent's armpit. The two fists now find the outer edge of his gear, push the two front halfs of his chest plates together, and lift up. The hips then swivel playside as the blocker drives. The player never rises more than 6 inches above his original stance throughout the entire block. Note: This is not the same technique I discussed with John Carbon of diving out, which is an even lower block. That technique involves driving the defender backwards. This technique involves legally holding a defender in one place. He can't move from side to side. The only escape route is to go backwards. But if the defender goes backwards while the blocker is going forward, he won't escape that way either. His only other option to escape is to shed the block by knocking the blocker's hands away from his gear. To prevent him from doing that, as the blocker makes contact, nose to armpit, he lets his elbows bend so that there's no space between the blocker and the defender. This interferes with the defender's shedding. We find that if we can get into the opponent's gear, he will be blocked out of the play 100% of the time. In the "Okie" drill we teach the defender to try and hold the blocker away from himself and then shed with "push-pull" technique. After all, I don't want any team doing to my boys what I do to them. We then instruct the blocker, "Don't let him hold you away from him" - Just in case some team teaches its boys to "push-pull" our blockers too. But none do. Even with the defender trying to hold the blocker off with push pull, the blocker still wins 50% of the time. The defender simply doesn't have the arm strength to overcome blocker's leg strength. Our best defenders at overcoming this block are our linebackers, who are our strongest players, but none of my opponents play LBer types on the line so we always win. As the companion block, we'll use the crab, which takes out the "push-pull" defender 100% of the time (who steps right into the block). No one has made us use the crab as an "on" block yet, so our opponents find themselves with their gear up around their necks, unable to breath, and unable to shed. Our blockers never have their arms extended except to fire out and hands are not grabbing jerseys so we get zero holding calls (One holding call in 16 years with honest refs). Every day in practice they must all perform twelve perfect blocks together in unison, with a chute. If just one kid fails his block or does it wrong, that's a failure for all of them, and it doesn't count towards the 12 blocks. This is our opening drill of practice and the kids learn real fast to execute it perfect because, otherwise, it can take 20 minutes for them to get in 12 perfect blocks and that is hot, hard work (The most common error is stepping off on the wrong foot). Usually by week two or three at the most, they can do it in ten minutes. So perfect blocks become automatic.

When we do a combo off of this, the combo blocker aims to put his near hip to near hip of defender and go through it to his linebacker. He aims for this point because the "on" blocker will be swiveling his hips towards the combo blocker. If the defender holds his ground, the combo man should miss the "on" blocker's hips (no collisions yet). The combo man now "scrapes hips" with the defender which allows the "on" blocker to continue to swivel hips into the hole, collapse his arms, get into gear, and push up. Once he does that, the party's over. If the defender stunts away from the combo (And we have found they do 96% of the time), the combo man will not make hip contact and go up to the LBer. If the defender stunts towards the combo (happens 4% of the time), the combo man will run into him, putting both hands on near shoulder pad and shoving him out of the way or forearming defender's near bicep. He then proceeds to next level. The "on" blocker should be into defender's pads at this point.

We do not use "drive blocks" downfield. I've tried that and it doesn't work. I've tried shoulder blocks and found they only work for studs. All downfield blocks are now stalk blocks, whether made by an SE or an OT and whether the defender is a big fast LBer or some teeny DB. We also stalk block on Kick Return. So, basically, the linemen know crab, drive, and stalk, the ends stalk, and the backs stalk and flipper.So why do we do things this way? We do it for three reasons. First, child psychology. Youth players cannot be depended upon to step off with playside foot. Therefore, you can't coach a youth defender to "read hats" if the blocker opposite him is stepping off on the wrong foot. So I know my opponents are really limited in what they can teach their down linemen. None teach "push-pull" (forearm shiver) or, if they do, it isn't being executed. So they don't have much left to teach and they all want to coach their LBers and DE's anyway. Second, child psychology again. A youth defensive lineman will take an inside rush, down after down after down. I once counted a DT in an even tech take 50 straight inside rushes (second year player, age 10) when the other team ran the ball outside of him 50 straight times. Kids rush the shortest distance to the ball. Teaching a DT to take an outside rush is every bit as difficult as teaching a DE to take an outside rush. When the defender stunts inside 96% of the time, the combo block hardly ever takes place. The "hip to hip scrape" doesn't happen. The defender takes himself out of the play. Third, we do this because it's an easy teach. You can have an entire team executing drive blocks in five minutes. You don't have to go through the shoulder block progression. It's getting their brains to engage and step off with proper foot that's the challenge. It's amazing how many kids don't bother to think about this.