A coach shows young offensive linemen why they're getting knocked off blocks in the run game: their hands go passive after initial contact. A towel drill teaches them to keep pressure on and fight back into the block, building the feel for active hands that stays with them in live play.
One thing we're seeing at this point in the season is young offensive line athletes being thrown off of their blocks in the run game. It's not due to poor hand placement. Actually, the hand placement is really good. It's just a lack of active hands on contact. Let us show you here quickly what we call the towel drill that gives you a better visual we're referring to. In the run game, hands are good, good pressure, defender stops. Now your players are being thrown out the club. That's not what we want. You have to be able to feel the pressure. Now, how do we go about doing that? Active hands. Once you engage, the tiles should crumple up a bit. Pressure, pressure, pressure. Now you can fight back into the block. This drill should help your players with the timing and most importantly, the feel of active hands in the run game.
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