Rugby Tackling growing in American Football

#2
#2
Isn't this how everybody tackles, at least most of the time? However, I think some of these guys are dropping their head IMO. See what you hit is what I was always told.
 
#3
#3
jonnon111 said:
Isn't this how everybody tackles, at least most of the time? However, I think some of these guys are dropping their head IMO. See what you hit is what I was always told.
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Yeah, me too. Keep your eyes up, shoulder down. Head to near side. Wrap up with arms, drive through with shoulder. Then roll to take the legs away.

Now, it's been a long time since I was a kid, but how did it change? What are they teaching now, if this is what they are trying to push to be taught?
 
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#4
#4
TN_Transplant said:
Yeah, me too. Keep your eyes up, shoulder down. Head to near side. Wrap up with arms, drive through with shoulder. Then roll to take the legs away.

Now, it's been a long time since I was a kid, but how did it change? What are they teaching now, if this is what they are trying to push to be taught?
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Fly in like a scud missle from 5 yrds out and hope that you make contact with the intended target apparently..
 
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#5
#5
Before me and my coaches saw this we were teaching kids incorrectly. We have been teaching this for two years now, safer and more effective
 
#6
#6
It may not be what is overtly taught, but the "bump" school of tackling, courtesy of Deion Sanders, certainly has been in vogue for a while. Those old slow-motion clips of Dick Butkus burying his shoulder in the running back's gut and driving him backward into the ground while his legs are still churning should be used as an example of textbook form in tackling.
 
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#7
#7
The problem is they don't tackle to wrap up. Players try to run full speed and knock the piss out of folks, hoping to make the highlight film
 
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#9
#9
Yeah, this is pretty close to what I learned growing up, too. Didn't use the same fancy phrases ("hawk" and "drive for 5"), but we did get taught to stay square to the target, put our shoulder into their chest or gut (that's one difference, they're going lower now targeting the hips and thighs), head off to one side with eyes up, wrap up, and drive through. One of our coaches used to tell us, "keep driving all the way to the laundromat" (which was like 400 yards away) "or until you hear the whistle." Heh.

So really, they're just lowering the impact point from chest/gut down to hip/thigh, and otherwise teaching time-honored sound tackling principles.

Our guys could've used more emphasis on the "wrap up" and "drive through" points before the OK and FL games, for sure. Many incomplete tackles toward the end of those two contests.

Go Vols!
 
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#10
#10
I love watching a great hit as much as anyone, but the days of striking with the crown of the helmet are going away.
 
#11
#11
Big surprise, but I have to say rugby tackling is much more effective in my opinion, even if the video didn't necessarily demonstrate that. It always helped me to put the v of my shoulder and neck on the upfield hip, wrap, and drive through, the way you're taught in rugby, because worse comes to worst the guy is still going to trip over you. In high school football we were taught to put our face in the breast plate, wrap, and drive, which sometimes is a recipe to get trucked. Just my two cents. I can see the benefit of both
 
#12
#12
Only difference I was taught between football and rugby tackling is head placement. In high school football I was taught to tackle with my head on the front side of the runner. Runner has to run through your head and non impact shoulder to break the tackle. In college rugby we were taught to keep our heads on the other side ( runner's backside) to keep head and neck safe.

At the start of the video highlight video showed head on front side on angle tackles. In the drills angle tackling had tackler's head on backside.
 
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#13
#13
It was not just the shoulder being put on the target or hip. We were taught to keep your head up and place your forehead center of the target, WRAP UP keeping your hips under you and drive with your feet.

Putting your head square on the target is what they don't want anymore. Which IMO is fine. I just wish someone at UT would teach these kids to WRAP UP and drive.
 
#15
#15
In rugby, I was taught make a beeline for the stomach. The legs, hips, and shoulders can be very deceptive, resulting in missed tackles. The stomach can only go where the body is going. Focus on the stomach and get low to insure your tackles are successful. The Seahawks are on the right track.
 
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#16
#16
Eyes on the thighs!
Target the near hip, taught in highschool 99-01
I thought this was popular already.
 
#20
#20
I'm always amazed at watching players try to make tackles without wrapping up and/or just using one shoulder.

I was never, in my 14 years of playing football, instructed to tackle like that. Blows my mind.
 
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#21
#21
tgardnervol4life said:
It was not just the shoulder being put on the target or hip. We were taught to keep your head up and place your forehead center of the target, WRAP UP keeping your hips under you and drive with your feet.

Putting your head square on the target is what they don't want anymore. Which IMO is fine. I just wish someone at UT would teach these kids to WRAP UP and drive.
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This. We were taught head up, lead with the facemask, stay on your feet (don't dive) and drive through the tackle. That was a long time ago, though.
 
#22
#22
ftsandersvol said:
In rugby, I was taught make a beeline for the stomach. The legs, hips, and shoulders can be very deceptive, resulting in missed tackles. The stomach can only go where the body is going. Focus on the stomach and get low to insure your tackles are successful. The Seahawks are on the right track.
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Well explained! It is the most effective way of putting your opponent on the ground. I wince every time I see a DB fly in with a shoulder and watch a RB pick up an extra 8 yds. Hit someone at their core and they fold up like a lawn chair. And, best of all, you both have a beer after the game, un-concussed.

I played a few years of football in high school and then followed that with 10 - 12 years of rugby. I went to the hospital for several concussions while in a helmet and pads but never had any serious head injuries while playing rugby.

I loved hitting. I loved it. But I wasn't trained to play safely on the gridiron. CTE is terrifying and it looks like we don't even know the extent of the damage we do to ourselves.

I think contact sports teach valuable lessons about respect, will power and character. I would hate to see them disappear due to lack of training.
 
#24
#24
Eyes on belt buckle, head in front, wrap up, lift with legs, drive thru the ballcarrier and put him on his back!

That has gotten the job done for as long as I can remember.
 
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#25
#25
TN_Transplant said:
Seahawks are apparently pushing this along with the NFL to decrease head injuries. Looks alot like what I was taught as a kid. Is this not the proper method of tackling taught today?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1etzT-Cgho
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The video shows better techniques than I see in most of the NFL. Even though it wasn't what we were taught as kids good techniques are safer than the body lunges that have become common place. Now if they could only pass block they could make it back to the superbowl
 
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