When a quarterback leads his team from the huddle to the line of scrimmage, his teammates line up and await his signals before the ball is snapped and put into play. The quarterback usually speaks in a loud voice and uses his inflection and words to tell his teammates what to do. However, in some cases, neither the quarterback nor his teammates say anything before the ball is snapped. This is called a silent count.
An option pitch in football is a play that gives the player with the ball the option of keeping the ball or pitching it to a teammate. The football usually is in the hands of the quarterback on this play and he must read the de...
The main difference between the offensive and defensive units on a football team is their objectives. The offensive unit’s responsibility is to move the ball toward the opposing end zone in an attempt to score points, whi...
However, knowing how to play the position with the proper technique is critical. Proper footwork and quickness are skills that easily develop with practice, and even smaller offensive linemen can thrive in football without havi...
Agility ladder drills are used to train athletes, such as football offensive linemen,to improve their quickness and footwork. The drills include movements such as front steps, staggered travel and horizontal side-steps. By p...
When you have the proper stance, you are in a position to move quickly, cover a lot of ground and block effectively. A lineman should be powerful and aggressive. No matter how talented a team's quarterback, running back and rec...
Over the years, football offenses have become more complex, as coaches look for ways to outsmart the defense. During a game, you see teams use any number of formations, depending on the situations that arise. Coaches run differ...
Football has more technical formations and instructions than all other sports. Formations in football refer to the way the players line up before the play begins. On offense, formation changes are dictated by the six skill play...
Having a poor stance can lead to a poor passing performance. Without learning the proper stance before the first snap could result in a fumble and an offensive play that is over before it began. Controlling the football is a qu...
The spread offense is a recent trend in football that is becoming more common at all levels of the game. According to ESPN, 48 of 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision ran some sort of spread offense in 2009. The Football ...
The goal is to spread the defense out and force it to defend across the entire length and width of the field. Spread offenses often use different schemes on the offensive line, such as zone blocking, and even use smaller, quick...
Strikers, forwards and center midfielders are the offensive backbone of the team and need to have accurate and powerful goal-scoring capabilities. There isn't one certain way to get a better kick in soccer, but there are drills...
One of the more recent products of the search for effective offensive schemes, the spread offense, has found favor at all levels of the game. The premise of the spread offense -- to spread the field horizontally with extra rec...
An offensive trick play in football is one in which some element is meant to throw off the defense by making the defenders focus on one player or one direction, while another player takes the ball in a different direction. Tric...
Choosing the 10 best offensive plays in football is a daunting task because of the sophistication of modern offenses. Coaches can run the same basic play in 30 ways based on formation, motion and personnel. Pass plays are impos...
Some spread teams run the ball twice as often as they throw it because of the talents of their quarterback or the size of the linemen. Other programs throw the ball twice as much because their quarterback excels at throwing the...
Football coaches must select an offense that fits their teams' strengths. If a team has outstanding running backs, employ a running offense. If a team has terrific wide receivers and an accurate quarterback, go with the passing...
Wide receiver is a offensive position in football. The receiver's primary job and purpose is to catch footballs thrown by the quarterback all over the field. Receivers line up to the outside well away from most of the other off...
Although it may not seem glamorous, playing the offensive line is at least as important as any other position. Youth coaches should help their offensive linemen understand this fact and conduct drills during each practice sessi...
Football is a game of adaptation. First a new offense is created, then a defense is built to stop the new offense. Following that, another new offense must be designed. The zone running scheme has become common in modern footba...
Football teams that have confidence in their offensive line sometimes use a zone offensive to control the line of scrimmage and establish a power running game. In a zone scheme, the blockers on offense are not concerned with in...
The zone has made teaching assignments easy so that more repetitions can be done to improve technique on the few drills that are required to make the zone work. Players must function as a unit and must see the same scenario at ...
When working with young linemen, the best thing you can do is to keep it simple. Do not spend time doing several drills that break down each individual aspect of the block. What is important is that the player understands simpl...
Quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers do commercials and get attention, but none of their efforts are successful without offensive linemen. It takes a special type of person to play on the O-line. Offensive linemen are...
Playing offensive guard is a vital job in football. When it comes to moving the ball and playing solid offensive football, the offensive line must be effective in blocking. When it comes to the running game, guard play is vital...
Playing defensive football is about delivering hard hits to offensive players. When you play free or strong safety on your defensive team, you also have to play with great instincts for the game. You have to know when the oppon...
Wildly popular in high schools and a majority of college conferences, the spread offense is a formation that exploits defensive matchups by isolating defenders into one-on-one situations while giving offensive players multiple ...
Offensive linemen have a very difficult job. While they must be tough and aggressive, they cannot be as reckless as the defensive linemen and linebackers they are asked to block, because the rules simply will not allow it. Offe...
When coaches give drills to offensive players, the goal is to educate the players on how to execute the plays, help them get familiar with their assignments and give them a sense of timing. That may be the most important thing ...
The spread attack gives the offense a variety of options to set up a defense. Depending on the type of personnel the offense has at its disposal, the spread offense can feature an explosive running attack or it can allow the ru...
Big plays excite fans and are often the difference between victory and defeat. However, no matter how talented a skill-position player is, he would not be able to do his job if he did not get great blocking from his offensive l...
An offensive coordinator usually has the responsibility of designing the offensive plan for his football team. This is a job that requires intense knowledge of the game, the desire to learn more and the ability to put that know...
An offensive lineman uses drive blocking during running plays when the offensive lineman must drive the defender off the line of scrimmage for the play to succeed. When drive blocking an opponent an offensive lineman must expl...
