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Improving Your Skills as a Defensive Linesman

The best defensive linemen at any level all share the same qualities. playing and tackling with leverage, excellent “hand to hand combat” skills, and superior quickness (given their size of course). It is possible to teach and to imrpove on all these qualities in any given player. Leverage is extremely important to a defensive lineman because it is just that rare that he will be able to make a tackle without being already engaged by another offensive lineman. All the talent in the world as a tackler is for nothing if a player doesn’t know how to tackle while engaged.

Practice and due diligence needs to be put forth in mastering this kind of tackling and a defensive lineman should work on it every chance he gets. The next most important thing for a lineman is his technique, but most importantly his hands. He needs to be able to slap, pull, grab, and throw people out of the way with proper hand placement and power. If he can get his hands on an offensive lineman’s inside (between his shoulder pads) or in a place of controlled leverage and power he will win every time. It is also important to keep a blocker from gaining such an advantage on the defender. Practicing “hand to hand combat” everyday in order to find these advantages will produce a highly skilled and unblockable d lineman given substantial upper body strength. Quickness is just as important as hand technique and leverage. A defensive lineman should strive to be just as agile in spinning, starting quickness, and sideline to sideline movement as any offensive skill player. And these finess moves should be worked on extensively because if your the quickest to the ball, you can’t hardly be engaged let alone blocked! These qualities coupled with an explosive strength program will put you the absolute best position to succeed every play on the defensive line.