It's a pretty much proven fact in the game of football that physical teams tend to win. Vince Lombardi was quoted with the memorable, and accurate phrase, "Football is now, and always will be, a game of blocking and tackling."

My high school football coach was fond of saying that football isn't a contact sport. It's a collision sport. I found out later that he stole that line from a famous college coach. (Not so famous that I remember who to attribute the quote to, sadly.)

Football is a sport of impact, and, at the youth level, a sport of hesitation and fear. Younger players need to develop a desire to hit. Some coaches call this "getting religion". Others call it "tasting blood". Whatever name you give it, it's one of the most important steps on the road to a winning season.

The problem is, how do you do it? According to the NYSCA, 80% of all injuries in football occur during practice, and over 71% of those injuries occur during tackling practice. How on earth can you be expected to teach contact without risking an injury, especially to players uncertain of their skills? How can you train your players for high-impact while minimizing the menace to their health and well-being?

In answer to those questions, there's a certain amount of contact you absolutely must do in order to prepare your team for the full-speed hitting they will endure on game day. The best way to do this, in my opinion, is in controlled drills and "quick whistle" scrimmages.

When teaching or drilling tackling you can fool your players into thinking they are hitting at full speed by moving them closer together. Eight-year-olds, for example, should do a full speed hitting drill from no further away than three yards. You can tell them all day to go full speed, but the laws of physics make it simply impossible to make it to top speed in such a short distance. There just isn't enough time to accelerate.

I always, even with my high school players, start teaching tackling by moving with slow-motion, step-by-step form tackling. Since I use a four point system, I align the players in two rows, designate one row the ball carriers, tell them which arm to curl up into a pretend ball, and then call out "point one". The entire team hollers "Hit!" and the tacklers step into the correct hitting position while the coaches watch. We correct any mistakes before I yell out, "point two". At point two, the players yell, "Wrap!" and throw their arms around the ball carriers. We continue this to the end of the tackle, which is 'drive'. The tacklers will lift the ball carriers from the ground (Point three: "Lift!") and chop their feet in place while holding the ball carrier aloft until I blow the whistle.

I do this drill every day for ten minutes until we are allowed to put on our pads. After that, I begin my twelve minute tackling period with two minutes of this drill before beginning my four station rotation. In California, high school players are required to attend five conditioning practices before they are allowed to put on pads. This means by the end of the first week, my players have tackled in slow motion for a period of fifty minutes.

The important thing is to get the tackling system into muscle memory. Using step-by-step drills not only keeps the kids safe, but it also gives them a mental edge: they've done so many slow motion tackles by the time I let them move at even one quarter speed that they rarely think about the body contact involved.

This works with chest plate tackling, too. Coach Hugh Wyatt has a tackling video I strongly recommend for every coach. Our systems differ, but we use many of the same drills.

The 'bull in the ring' was also the favorite drill of my players in 1999. California High School rules prohibit the drill, but my Alaskan players loved it. I ran it differently than most coaches, and made certain to match up player body types (no huge guys and little guys) and depth (no starters vs. water boys). I also kept the number of players in the drill small enough to keep the circle under that three yard limit. That's really the key, if you can prevent the players from reaching full speed, they usually won't hit hard enough to injure one another, but they will think they're hitting full speed, which gives them confidence on game day. You should apply this technique to every contact drill you do.

Every football injury I've ever had, and my body is a jigsaw puzzle, came from deciding at the last minute that contact was going to hurt. Because I did this, I slowed up at the last second, and didn't defend myself properly with my own forward motion. As a result, my opponent hit me, rather than me hitting them. Instant pain.

Another great drill for getting younger players over their contact issues is 'West Point' or what we at Tomales call the 415/707 drill. Our players are arranged in two area codes, 415 and 707. We make this into a challenge between the players by breaking them into teams by those codes.

This is sort of like a mini game. It takes five players on offense (one is the quarterback, who hands off and gets out of the way) and four on defense. Arrange three offensive players as offensive linemen, with a quarterback behind them and a running back behind him. The defense has three linemen and one linebacker.

The quarterback calls a cadence, turns, and hands off to the running back, who tries to make it through any hole. The playing area should be defined by cones or tackling dummies, and be about three or four yards wide, and extend three yards on each side of the line of scrimmage.

Defensive linemen must attack and defeat the man across from them, using the proper technique, and attempt to make the tackle. Linebackers must read and attack the ball carrier. Use a remedial tackling coach, and send players that don't tackle correctly to remedial instruction. (They'll hate it, because they'll love this drill and won't want to miss it. This will make them work harder to tackle with proper form during the drill.)

If the defense gets too good, since the linebacker is unblocked, add another offensive player, who starts right in front of the linebacker on the defensive side of the ball and tries to block him out of the play. The linebacker must fight through the block and make the tackle.

The offense has four downs to score. Turnovers give the ball to the defense, who then get the chance to try to score. After a few practice tries, give the offense ten pushups if they fail to score in four downs, and give the defense fifteen pushups if they fail to stop the offense. (Without someone blocking the linebacker, the defense has an advantage.)

This is a great drill for developing a physical team. One week we concentrated on this drill in practice and completely crushed our biggest rivals. Our running backs averaged four yards before contact because the offensive linemen were blasting open the holes. Defensively, we manhandled the opposing offensive line, driving them into the offensive backfield more often than not.

Another great way to teach contact is the use of a 'quick whistle' scrimmage. This is probably the riskiest drill I advise. I see scrimmages as a kind of dress rehearsal for the upcoming game. My goal is to practice every aspect of the team, offense, defense, and special teams. If enough parents or coaches are available, I'll even run the weekly scrimmage with a chain gang.

Quick whistle scrimmages are simply normal scrimmages with the clear intent that everyone leave the field under their own power. Keep the whistle in your mouth at all times, and use it as quickly as possible after the snap that starts the action. The moment a ball carrier is touched by a tackler, blow one long blast to signal the end of the play. As a twist, have the entire defense charge to 'get in on the tackle', and then blow three short blasts when the last defender places a hand on the ball carrier. (I tell my players this is the secret to great stats: one person makes the tackle, but ten players should get an assist on every play.)

Never let the ball carrier hit the ground in a quick whistle scrimmage. Player-to-player contact rarely causes injuries. Usually it's the sudden and awkward impact with the ground that breaks bones, stretches tendons, and tears ligaments. Defenders must keep the ball carrier upright, but make certain to drive him backwards. Never let the ball carrier move the pile.

I also teach my players to slap and grab at the ball while the carrier is engulfed in the pile of humanity. With eleven players trying for it, there's a good chance someone will knock that sucker out of there.

Teaching contact is the most important part of a football coach's responsibility. Tackling is one part of it, and it's an important part, but it's also not the only one. Contact is also blocking, being tackled, moving the pile, and being blocked. Contact is an irrevocable and unchangeable face of football. It's up to us to teach our players to handle it safely and effectively.

If we can do that, if we can teach our players to be physical, we're not only going to win more games, we're going to keep our kids safe. It's the best of two worlds.

Good luck.

~D.