There are a variety of different drills teaching Defensive Backs the essentials of their position. One of the best drills to work keeping proper stance in the backpedal is the Throttle Drill.
Teaching Defensive Back Stance and Backpedal with the Throttle Drill
The Throttle Drill is a great drill to teach defensive backs to stay low in their backpedal and maintain great posture and position throughout the drill. In the drill the players will be working on their backpedal across various speeds. The key to this drill is that the players must keep their body in the same position the whole time they do the drill.
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The Throttle Drill is done with as many lines as needed all in a great stance with their eyes on the coach. On the Coaches command, we normally move the ball to signal the start of the drill, the players will start to backpedal with their eyes on the ball the coach is holding. The ball represents the throttle and can change their speed. So as the coach moves the ball down, the players will slow down their backpedal, and the further up the coach moves the ball the faster they will backpedal.
This is a great drill in teaching players how to stay in a great stance throughout their backpedal. When teaching defensive backs, one of the major issues is that they tend to sacrifice their technique as the backpedal quicker. The effect is that their hips get higher and they can not make the break that is required to react to a receiver’s cut as quickly as the should be able to. By slowing down the backpedal and then speeding it up players can work on adjusting their speed while keeping their body position in mind.
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There are a million different backpedal drills that coaches can find to work with defensive backs. The key to using these drills effectively is to have a specific reason for why you are doing it and make sure the players know the skill they are developing. When players know the skill they are developing it allows them to focus their energy into making sure that portion of the drill is excellent.