Linebacker Stance and Movement
A few keys for teaching some basic LB skills
Hello everyone. Before we start this week, I just wanted to extend a big thank you to this growing community of Canadian football coaches. It’s been amazing to see this newsletter and our Facebook Group continue to grow. (If you haven’t already joined the FB Group, click here. We’re now over 1.4k members!!) I’m loving the football talk and the way everyone is willing to share ideas and get better.
Once again, if you’re enjoying this newsletter please feel free to share it with some colleagues. And if you haven’t checked it out yet, my e-book on Defensive Basics is available by clicking here. In the book you will find chapters on Defensive Personnel, Fronts, Run Fits, Alignment, and Coverages in Canadian football. I hope you are able to gain some ideas from it.
Now, onto this week’s newsletter…
For Linebackers, as with any position on the football field, it all starts with the Stance. Also, once the play begins, there are some basic movement skills that a Linebacker can use when moving inside the Box. Here are a few thoughts on these topics.
Stance
The overriding themes for a Linebacker’s stance are Balance and Comfort. On a standard play from scrimmage, a linebacker often does not know which direction their first step will go.
A few keys to LB Stance:
•Feet about shoulder width apart, maybe a little wider
•Weight slightly forward on balls of feet
•Knees bent in an athletic position
•Hand placement can be flexible, as long as they are not pushing too much weight onto the thighs
•Eyes up
•Shoulders square
Coaching Point: A Linebacker’s stance may vary based on what the player is comfortable with. The biggest key is that there are no false steps when a Linebacker is coming out of their stance.
Movement
Initial movement for a Linebacker will vary based on what their keys are telling them to do. I don’t personally subscribe to the notion of a “Read Step”, though I do think it has value in certain situations at certain levels of play.
Shuffle
The primary method of movement for a Linebacker when moving inside the box is a Shuffle. A Shuffle allows the Linebacker to keep their shoulders square, which is great for change of direction. This is a slow movement, and it is meant to be. We Shuffle when we are moving with power, not speed.
A few keys to a great Shuffle:
•Pad level remains low (same level as when in stance)
•Shoulders completely square
•Do not hop
•Do not click heals together
•Should be moving slightly towards the line of scrimmage
•Eyes up
Scrape
When a Shuffle is not fast enough for us to execute our assignment, we move into a Scrape. The Scrape is a type of movement that lies somewhere in between a Shuffle and a flat-out run. The key to a good Scrape is to keep your shoulders as square as possible, as we still may need to change direction. Our hips, however, are now turned and we are running our feet. Our arms are also swinging in a running motion.
A few keys to a great Scrape:
•Pad level may rise a little compared to a Shuffle, but we try to keep our pads low
•Our shoulders may turn a little compared to a Shuffle, but we try to keep our shoulders as square as possible
•Hips turned
•Toes pointed in the direction we are moving
•Arms swinging in a running motion
•Should be moving slightly towards the line of scrimmage
•Eyes up
Shoot
We like to remain in a Shuffle or Scrape for as long as possible while executing our assignment, but at some point, we might need to just turn and run. We call this “Shooting” the play. To transition from a Scrape to a Shoot we need to drive the elbow back, turn the shoulders and go. Now we have committed to the play and it’s much more difficult to change directions.
A few key points to the Shoot:
•Drive the elbow back to transition from a Scrape to a Shoot
•This is now an all-out sprint
•Angle is very important when Shooting the play
•Be ready to take on blockers in space
Here is a video where I break down the Shuffle/Scrape/Shoot concept:
All the best,
Jon Svec
Defensive Coordinator
St. Francis Xavier University
X-Men Football
IG: @jonsvecx
Twitter: @jonsvecx