Football tackling technique

[Houston]

Because the legs are the fastest and quickest moving things on a ball carrier. When you come flying down for a leg tackle and RB can quickly cut and juke leaving you grabbing air.
The body and waist can't move as easily. You can't throw your waist one way and then immediately head the opposite way like you can with your legs and arms, so it's harder to juke people who are coming for your chest.

[Vinsane]

In American Football, all the way down to the Pee-Wee stage (3rd-4th grade) Your taught to put your helmet where the ball is. This is of course for causing fumbles, when you put your head where the ball is your squaring up your shoulders on the abdomen and waistline of the person you're trying to tackle while also placing your helmet to where the ball or their hands are going to be.

The problem with American Football once you get to the upper levels, high-school, college, semi-pro, pro. Is that the individual carrying the ball is MUCH faster which causes you to 1.) Close the gap 2.) Learn to wrap. When you go high on a running back, wide receiver or mobile quarterback your not committing to a tackle, your closing the gap, meaning your chasing down the opponent until they're within arms reach and trying to wrap from head to toe somewhere on their body, this is where you see a lot of the "upper body" tackling. Problem with this is it leads to A LOT of arm tackling, guys leaping out trying to grab a knee, a foot and cause the runner to fall rather than a clean body tackle.

The best tackles in American Football are the ones that happen five yards ahead of the play. You'll see guys like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Brian Dawkins, Mike Doss, do this. They will commit to a play, meaning knowing weather or not it's a run or a pass. And they'll full on bore towards the individual well before the ball is handed off or thrown... here's the best example of this.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdQUiZ6ioKw"]YouTube - reggie bush hit[/ame]

[Houston]

But the moving of the legs wouldn't be a problem if you had good technique. It's more effective at stopping the runner.

Ok lets say you're playing 2 hand touch with someone like AP or Willie Parker. They're coming full speed at you and are fully able to juke spin or do whatever.
Do you have a better chance at grabbing their legs which are quick and can deceive you, or at touching thier chest which moves only in one direction and is a bigger target?

[Aso]

Ok lets say you're playing 2 hand touch with someone like AP or Willie Parker. They're coming full speed at you and are fully able to juke spin or do whatever.
Do you have a better chance at grabbing their legs which are quick and can deceive you, or at touching thier chest which moves only in one direction and is a bigger target?

A runners upper body is much stronger then his lower body. The proper technique is to tackle at about the waist and a little bit lower at their legs. A runners legs or waist cannot deceive you. They will tell you exactly where the runner is going.

[Saluki]

Just because you make it to the NFL doesn't automatically mean your a good tackler, Deion Sanders is the perfect example, he couldn't tackle anything, but he was still one of the best at his position of all time. Another thing is the people who are good tacklers in college, once they get to the NFL they are now facing RBs who are much faster and stronger than the RBs in college, you will not always be able to take a perfect angle and make a perfect tackle, so u tackle them how you can. Even Ray Lewis, who is one of the best tacklers in the NFL doens't use perfect form all the time.

[Vinsane]

A runners upper body is much stronger then his lower body. The proper technique is to tackle at about the waist and a little bit lower at their legs. A runners legs or waist cannot deceive you. They will tell you exactly where the runner is going.

When I coach soccer I tell the kids the same thing, the waist is going to tell you where the person is going. It applies in football as well, if you square up on the waist that's the center of balance, you disrupt a runners balance your going to have the best shot at making a tackle.

[Houston]

:iagree:

[ThunderHorse]

people forget how athletic these guys are in the NFL,

its truly something sick, its hard to understand it unless you really know how football works, the guys who run with the ball are so incredible at what they do, you can't worry about taking him down with a form tackle, your worried about taking him down period.

seriously, try squaring up and making a form tackle and the guy is going to leave you in the dust, it doesn't mean you see a form tackle though, seeing as it happens all the time.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aDvMdYcIRo&feature=related"]YouTube - Dallas Washington-Jacked up the USC KR[/ame]

that's an example of a rugby players wet dream when they think of tackles, problem is the game is so fast, something like that is damn near impossible, because if everyone tried to tackle like that, people would score every time they got the ball

[Houston]

people forget how athletic these guys are in the NFL,

its truly something sick, its hard to understand it unless you really know how football works, the guys who run with the ball are so incredible at what they do, you can't worry about taking him down with a form tackle, your worried about taking him down period.

seriously, try squaring up and making a form tackle and the guy is going to leave you in the dust, it doesn't mean you see a form tackle though, seeing as it happens all the time.

YouTube - Dallas Washington-Jacked up the USC KR

that's an example of a rugby players wet dream when they think of tackles, problem is the game is so fast, something like that is damn near impossible, because if everyone tried to tackle like that, people would score every time they got the ball

Exactly, that's why you can't always just go for the legs. You really just gotta hit whatever you can and hope ur strong enough to bring them down.

[The Messenger]

meh u guys wear pads..rugby players dont and they still get bigger hits than that

Err I didn't get that. Pads don't make you tackle harder, they are there to cushion the blow from the tackle. So if anything, pads lessen the blow of the tackle, meaning it would be easier to have bigger hits if you didn't wear pads like in Rugby.

And I'm sorry, but every tackle in Rugby is supposed to be waist or below, and that will never be bigger than anything Sean Taylor has done.

[MRN]

The legs are the hardest part to hit, they are always moving.

If you use good technique, you can hit the body, and drive him backwards, and it is a more safe tackle.

[ThunderHorse]

there isn't any argument,

the hits in the NFL are so much harder it doesn't apply, people get knocked out every week because the pads allow people to use their bodies as weapons.

Rugby is no sport for a puss, but impact and strength wise of the hit, it doesn't compare.

[Houston]

I disagree. While the force of the hits may be higher, it would hurt a lot more playing rugby just cause it's no pads.

I don't know about you but I'd rather take a wide open shot from the best Rugby hitter than take a wide open shot with pads on from the best football hitter.

Think about how much stronger and faster football players are.

[MRN]

I don't know about you but I'd rather take a wide open shot from the best Rugby hitter than take a wide open shot with pads on from the best football hitter.

Think about how much stronger and faster football players are.

Also as someone before me has said, the hits are so much harder, because football players don't even think about it, they just go as hard as they can straight into you, because the pads enable them to do that. While rugby players might slow down a little bit, to avoid some pain.

[Houston]

In what way are football players stronger? They aren't, rugby union and rugby league players are a lot more fit and just as fast and just as strong.

I highly doubt that, have you seen the arms on some football players? Even if Rugby players could hang in strength there's absolutey no way they are any where near as fast as the NFL.
From about 25 of the 32 NFL teams there's most likely at least one person who's faster than any rugby player.