Important Keys to Proper Tackling in Football

Knowing how to tackle is a must for a defensive player. Offensive and special team players must also know how to perform a tackle in order to stop the other team. A good tackler should be agile, hostile, and aggressive. Therefore, it is important to install proper tackling drills and coach youth football players to be aggressive tacklers. Drilling should be performed with much repetition to come up with more confident and aggressive players.

The basic key to tackling is to lunge through the ball carrier while wrapping him up, then pushing with your legs. Proper tackling should be handled first with the shoulders and chest area, rather with the hands and arms.

The first step in tackling is to take position in front of the ball carrier with knees bent, hips low, back flat, and head up. As the ball carrier gets near, use your legs to drive through him. For better momentum, push your legs as hard as you can before lunging. Knock him over by wrapping your arms just under his butt. This gives out a lower chance of your tackle being broken. Put your head across his body and in his path to prevent him from falling forward for an extra yard.

For front-on tackling, you should hit with your shoulder pads. Most players tend to hit with their helmets, which is wrong. While on tackle, you should keep your feet moving and wrap both arms tightly around the ball carrier until he goes down. Don't stop until that guy is on the ground and wait until the whistle is blown.

One important attribute of a good tackler is his vision. He has to focus on the belt buckle area of the ball carrier to keep his head up in the proper position. He should avoid lowering his head to make contact to prevent injury. It's important that he keep his head up all the way. To secure the upper body on the tackle, he should slide the belt buckle in front of the ball carrier by punching his arms around him.

For the lower body, a good strategy would be to use the same leg, same shoulder; that is hitting with the left shoulder and using the left leg to drive the ball into the carrier. This strategy helps give more force and control.

For successful tackling, there should be two tacklers. The first one should aggressively come in contact with the ball carrier, wrap his arms around him, lift him, and drive him backwards, pumping the legs forcefully. The second one strips the ball loose from the carrier.

It's always important to remember that tackling is a team effort, not a solo act. The first tackler gets the carrier and the other one gets the ball. Keep it that way to avoid mess.