Blocking

Blocking is an essential skill required of multiple offensive players on every play.  There’s run or pass blocking at the line of scrimmage, lead blocking by backs or pulling lineman, stalk blocking by receivers and downfield blocking once the ball passes the line of scrimmage.  Whatever the variety of blocking, the best in the game excel through the use of body positioning, leverage and controlling the defender with proper hand placement and use.  The best blockers don’t lunge recklessly and don’t need to lead with their heads.  Flex Football gives you the opportunity to teach the fundamentals and best practices for blocking – all while keeping players’ heads out of harm’s way.

Line Play

Tackle football games are won and lost in the trenches.  Despite this reality, offseason training options have typically provided linemen with few opportunities to develop the higher-level skills involved in offensive or defensive line play.  Flex Football turns that paradigm on its head.  By incorporating offensive and defensive line play, Flex Football enables players to learn the critical skills of body positioning, leverage and proper hand placement and use.  Offensive lineman will get repetitions run and pass blocking.  Defensive linemen will have the opportunity to fine tune their run stopping and pass rushing skills.  Flex Football rules allow offensive and defensive lineman to build their athleticism, while minimize concussive contact, by encouraging the use of skill and speed techniques over brute force (there will be plenty of time to work on those “pancake” blocks and bull rushes when you get to preseason camp).

Pre-Tackling

The best defenders in the game make their tackles well before contact ever occurs.  For them, the battle is won or lost in proper angles of pursuit, breaking down and remaining under control as they approach the ball carrier, and positioning themselves to “fit” in for the perfect form tackle (keeping the head clear of contact at all times).  Gone are the days when players were taught to “put their head on the ball” and hope to walk away from the collision.  Flex Football, with its emphasis on teaching the fundamentals of tackling and limiting contact, provides players with the optimal environment within which to learn the fundamentals of pursuit and preparing to tackle the opposing player.  Whether your league goes with flag belts or two hand touch, your players will learn how to initiate the tackling process more safely – skills that are designed to carry over onto the tackle football field (if that’s part of your Football Journey).

Tackling

The art of tackling has evolved in recent years.  With the emphasis on keeping head contact to a minimum in football, the best coaches are teaching techniques like “Heads Up” tackling. While each technique uses different nomenclature to describe the steps involved, the basics are very similar.  Defensive players are taught to approach the ball carrier under control, with good balance and leverage, and with their heads safely out of contact with the ball carrier.  Flex Football (with “tackling” via two hand touch or flags) requires defensive players to employ the same movements as they engage the ball carrier and helps build muscle memory intended to carry over to the tackle football field.

Frequently Asked Questions