Football Advice

[Jakey]

Originally Posted by awfullyquiet

and stop drinking. it stunts your growth broski.

True that, hence my stature :p

[Malaka]

Week 1 of not drinking has gone well I went out with friends but did no drinking.

Sniper my home gym is pretty good, the apartment's president's wife is near body builder status as a women, so she put all the stuff in their I am sure she has put together a solid but small gym over there.

Thanks a lot Tackle, that post really helped honestly. I guess I have been dying to make big plays, I have been nervous about not starting, I want to be noticed, the linebackers/d-line coach loves me and so does the d-coordinator. I think I over think, if I can just relax, be confident in my play, and most importantly have fun doing it... I think I can be great. Honestly, I think I am very raw I just need so get better mechanics and be more aware of my priorities.

[sweetness34]

Plyometrics are your best friend if you are trying to increase explosion.

[Malaka]

I could use help everywhere in general. My pros are pretty much my jump off the ball, nose for the ball, and I can bully most O-linemen. The negatives would be speed, and containment against the run.

[TitanHope]

If it's just freshman and sophomores on your team, Malaka, then take a leadership role. Find a gym that's close to the school, and orchestrate workout sessions after school/weekends/days when you have no practice. Start off small with you and a few others, and if ya'll like it, start inviting more team mates. They'll have guys there who are trained and know what they're doing, and soon enough, it'll become a ritual for you guys. When you figure out what to do and how to do it, then you guys can hold workouts and lifting sessions at your school's weight room.

[Sniper]

Originally Posted by sweetness34

Plyometrics are your best friend if you are trying to increase explosion.

Can I get an Amen from the congregation?

[sweetness34]

Did them all the time in soccer, they suck ass but you will see results in a very short amount of time.

[YAYareaRB]

Issues

Containment: One thing to remember is that as a OLB, you force plays inside. Outside contain guys usually don't make much plays but they open up opportunities for other guys to make the stop.

vs Blockers: Since you're on JV, you won't see much Zone blocking schemes. More often then not, your gonna be matched up one on one with most blockers. I'll tell you from experience, the people that gave ME the most trouble while I was trying to block are the low guys that took on the block head on. One thing to remember about being head on blocked is having your hands on the blocker for separation and KEEPING YOUR EYES IN THE BACKFIELD. More often than not you'll get a feel for the play just from the type of block you're facing. Shed the block.

Things to work on: Hand quickness, defensive lineman techniques, staying low, and keeping your eyes on the ball carrier.

The Lower man will win 9 times out of 10.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Sniper

Can I get an Amen from the congregation?

Amen, reverend!

also, malaka, when working on your upper body, use free weights. lower body: all the olympic lifts.

[Sniper]

I almost forgot. Get a tire, tie it to a cord, tie said cord to yourself, run sprints. GREAT SUCCESS!

[sweetness34]

Originally Posted by Sniper

I almost forgot. Get a tire, tie it to a cord, tie said cord to yourself, run sprints. GREAT SUCCESS!

[YAYareaRB]

Power Cleans and Squats.. Take 'em serious!

[Xonraider]

I'm a 5'5'' 166 pound varsity tackle!!!!!!!!!

[YAYareaRB]

Originally Posted by Xonraider

I'm a 5'5'' 166 pound varsity tackle!!!!!!!!!

the Lower man will win! lol

[Rob S]

Get strong, get fast......in HS strong and fast people can dominate even if they arent tremendous natural athletes. Squats, Deadlifts, Cleans, Sprints, and Plyo work will make you a beast.....especially at the JV level.

[YAYareaRB]

I played ILB for my JV team, along with Mason Foster(Washington), at 6'1" 255 ahahah. I was just a glorified hole plugger because I couldnt man cover to save my life. But I dominated in JV because I was a more explosive than most of the kids out there.

[wogitalia]

Tackle pretty much covered it.

Key to containment is engaging the blocker and keeping your outside shoulder and arm free so that you dont allow that blocker to go downfield but also dont get tied up and pushed inside or backwards, if you let a blocker get his hands inside you, you are beaten already.

The other thing that Tackle didnt mention is know your reads and make them quick. Generally at OLB your first read will be the tackle on your side, don't get caught looking in the backfield. If the tackle is firing out at you it is very important to engage and be prepared for a run in your direction, if his first step is back it is far more likely to be a pass play, in which case you can sell out on the blitz a little more.

Finally, when blitzing, always attack the outside shoulder of the QB, if you go hard inside or at the middle you make it far easier for him to step outside you, make him step up in the pocket into the pressure, don't let him step outside, same rules apply when blitzing on a run play, force him inside where the help is and you have done your job, worst thing you can do is over pursue inside and let a RB get outside you and get shots at your secondary.

Hope this helps a bit, pretty much is the core of playing OLB, if you do all these things well, everything else should fall into place.

[steelersfan43]

Be good at sports

[superman8456]

OK, I know you want to be a sack artist and everything, but you're playing JV highschool football. That means teams do one thing, and that is run the ball. Its all about how you shed blocks and recognize plays/where the ball is going. Its not like highschool playbooks are real think either, so you will see the same play numerous times in a single game.

You say you want to be the best you can be and everything, and then you say that you ran a 4.9 without any training lately. You need to understand how much work top D1 recruits put in everyday. It is not easy and you have to make a ******** of sacrifices.

[JFLO]

I played strongside end in high school and one thing that my HS coach taught me that I felt took me a long way was to learn how to use my hands the right way, especially when shedding blocks.

Also, I think another good drill if your playing either end or linebacker is the cone drill. Increasing your footwork and being light on your feet is a pretty good trait to have.

[Caddy]

Guidos can't play football Malaka.

[Sniper]

Originally Posted by Caddy

Guidos can't play football Malaka.

It's true. This is because guidos are not actually people.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Sniper

It's true. This is because guidos are not actually people.

they're ******* heathens, I say.

[A Perfect Score]

I played LB (both inside and outside) for about 12 years, both rep and high school. And while I always enjoyed MLB more then OLB, most of the stuff thats been said already is the stuff you need to keep in mind. At OLB, my first advice is KEEP YOUR HEAD ON A SWIVEL! Dont get crack blocked, odds are in high school offenses, you may see some crack blocks coming from the WR position that can really blindside you, especially on sweeps. Dont get caught by those.

Another thing that I will advise you to do, that alot of people wont, is that as an OLB, you are faster then the guy trying to block you. Whether its an OT, TE, or FB, you should be faster then all of them. And people cant block what they cant touch. Use that to your advantage. Keep in mind not to overrun your responsibilites, and take a wide enough route so you dont have to worry about them breaking contain, but the odds are you should know whether you need to contain a half second into the play. At that point, just be faster, plain and simple.

As the others said, keep your outside shoulder outside, and never let your body get turned in. They teach you to engage the OT, but you seem like a fairly small kid so id focus on using speed/hands to your advantage rather then trying to bully around a much bigger OT/FB. Oh, watch out for FBs btw. Its my own personal experience that they are usually the meanest and dirtiest blockers on the offense. They arent above taking out your knees, so watch out for that.

Odds are, at 14, you want to be the Demarcus Ware or Shawn Merriman of your team, but the reality of it is OLB is actually a pretty boring position unless you are blitzing every play. I always preferred MLB, alot more freedom and playmaking chances. That said, I had alot of fun playing OLB as well, because you can lay alot of mean tackles on those sweeps, which are alot more common in high school ball then anything you see on TV.

You talk alot about the run, but what about pass coverage? Are you alright in that? It can be a big asset in high school ball, as alot of teams put their best player at RB and love to get those kids the ball in space, ie the flats, where you would be covering as an OLB.

[Malaka]

I want to thank everyone for helping me out here, I'll try to use everything I learned at practice today, I realize that I need to stop the run not make the big play. I think I know what I have to do know, my linebacker coach has preached a similar thing about the run, I guess it just went past my head there but now I realize that I am not DeMarcus Ware and my position is pretty lackluster although very important.

Also on a sidenote... how big were you guys in JV lol... I am the 2nd biggest on my team (well tallest) on my team, the other guy is 6'2 215 and he is playing OT and NT, then every one else who weighs more than me is like 5'6-5-10 210-240.

I am great in pass coverage, I know where everyone needs to be and I know all the play calls, and everything, if there is one thing I know I am good at is blitzing and coverage. Sometimes I think I'd be better an ILB, just because I can tackle, just containment is a bit hard to grasp, where at ILB I do have my responsibilities in the gaps, but I really just need to have good instincts on where the ball is going.