Kill and bending

[Doc1001]

I have never heard a coach talk so often about the bending exercises in practice with his S&C coach. Maybe Husker or someone can straighten me out. I thought bending was bending. I guess bending properly is an important skill set. I guess i can see it with OL and DL. But he is always talking about bending properly. Never really heard a coach stress that before. PS i was a basketball player not a football player.

 

[everybody knows my name]

Greater flexibility and more awareness of your body's limitations are two big benefits of stretching and bending. I guess that Kill's great concern is minimizing injuries, considering that the low incidence of injuries at his past stops is one of the few things he's bragged about.

 

[Rosemountian]

Minimizing Injury and improving explosion.

 

[Pengy65]

Last year I only saw 3 gophers that consistently tackled at or below the waist, Stoudermire, Collado and Theret. Over and over I would see Gopher defenders come in shoulder pad height to make a tackle. The ball carrier would lower his shoulder before contact and the defender winds up being the one knocked off balance. The defender as he is falling grabs whatever he can to try and make the tackle. Many times last year it would be the runners face mask. My 11 year old has heard from his coaches for 3 years, "low man wins". It holds true at all levels. You have to bend your knees and at the waist to hit low and drive through the opponent--whether tackling or running.

I feel this defense has some speed and talent. With good coaching on tackling technique I hope to see major improvement on that side of the ball this season. I read that Coach Kill said each practice would have 40 minutes of blocking and tackling drills. That is great. You can scheme all you want, but when the guys get to the ball carrier they have to make the tackle or everything else is meaningless.

 

[corcoran1]

Iowa practices tackling every time they practice.

 

[alchemy2u]

For all too long strength training was confused with bulking up and "how much can you lift". How many bodybuilders do you think can compete as an athlete? The whole key is to combined the strength training with flexibility and agility training. The goal is to produce strength that is useful, not just guy that can lift a lot of weight.

 

[MinnMarchDTF]

Our new assistant S&C coach...

 

[The 12th Man]

The concepts are simple to the point of being cliche: bend at the knees and not the waist. Get the pad level low while still being able to see where you are going.

The way you do that: Gain ankle, knee, and hip flexibility by loosening the muscles and emphasizing explosion in every movement.

The Football-Specific Goal: Coil up and explode rather than simply lowering and raising yourself (again, the emphasis is on the explosion).

The Translation: Durable athletes who can react quickly to rapid change-of-direction without pulling muscles and who can go through a ballcarrier or tackler rather than just to him.

 

[husker70]

I am not sure which bending exercises he might be using. He could be encorperating some yoga, or using a ball on the floor to work on core, and or some isometic training with bands. He could also be working to lower a players center of gravity. Exploding with your tail down thrusts you into a hitting postion. It is very apparent on the sled. If the player hits the sled and drives it up and back. Coaches are thrilled. Simply driving it along the grass is nothing. On the field it is blow up under the pads that takes a defender up and back. If you continue to drive with your legs it can be a pancake.