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General Football Toughness Iron man drill
If you really want to know the football toughness of each of your players then the Iron man drill will fit the bill. Many youth football players may not be the fastest or the biggest but they just might be the toughest.
My favorite youth football drill to run to check the toughness level of each player is this one. This drill will check not only the physical but also the mental toughness. It is an extremely physical drill which I strongly suggest you run only a few times a year.
You will instantly find out from his drill, which players have the “it factor” both in mental and physical toughness.
The Iron man drill is a very basic drill but the coaches need to keep a close eye on this one. It is very important that the players realize they must go hard to avoid injury. I know that sounds strange but the player that hesitates or slows down just before contact is more likely to get hurt than if he goes full speed.
This youth football drill is basically one man versus the team. You run this drill at the goal line and set your tackler (the “Iron Man”) at the 2 yard line. Then you line up the entire team at the 10 yard line in a single file line.
You then use the sideline as out of bounds and cones for the other side. You want to make the width of the drill no more than 2 yards.
Each teammate takes turns and carries the ball directly at the Iron man trying to score while the Iron man must tackle him or push them out of bounds.
The running back must move up to the 6 or 5 yard line since we are not looking to kill anyone. We want to make sure there is good contact.
The goal of this tight lane is you want to make sure there is no way a running back can go around the Iron man. The running backs are forced to go through him.
You will instantly see players who want no part of being the Iron man and the ones who will strive to defeat the entire team.
It is very important that you do your duty as a youth football coach and DO NOT force anyone to continue in this drill. This and all drills must be run in a positive reinforcement way. You should never insult, belittle or guilt any youth football player into this or any drill.
You also should never even think of running this drill until mid to late season. By this time you will have a handle on your team and especially which players you need to watch out for.
The only reason you should ever be coaching youth football is for the kids. When running the high intensity or heavy contract drills please remember your weaker players and look out for them. I have noticed that most of the time they will take themselves out of the drill so please be supportive of them.
You will definitely see players rise to the challenge and again please be a responsible youth football coach and make sure they are not over doing it.
It is a great drill to give the kids self esteem and push them to a new level.
I love this drill but to put it in perspective two seasons ago I ran it for the first time the week before our first playoff game. I believe it helped motivate the team’s confidence which propelled us into the Title game.
Last year I did not run it once. The make up of the football team did not warrant it. We went to the youth football playoffs but I knew this team was a bit fragile and this intense of a drill would not be a positive.
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