This post will cover important coaching points for pulling technique in both the square (skip) pull and the open pull techniques while running power. It will also cover some common mistakes in athletes and coaches.
Every coach has that one concept that they hold very near to their heart. For many coaching in the trenches, that play is Power. With running quarterbacks ruling just about every level of football outside of the NFL (which they are creeping into more and more as well), most teams will carry Power in the form of Power Read. While Power is a concept that gets looked back on fondly, when it was the epitome of dominance on the ground, any form of Power still involves the lead block in the hole by a BSG. This article is covering the technique of this BSG, and common mistakes that I see in the execution or coaching of this particular skill. Although the BSG is the most common user of this type of pull, all of this information is easily applicable to a BST on Dart or an H-Back in Counter.
NO-NOs, LOADING THE LEGS
The first thing I will address is the an extremely common miscue I see in coaching any pulling technique. Coaches must avoid instructing their athletes to “load” their legs before pulling. Let me put it this way, if you put more weight on one side of the squat bar, will that leg be more powerful than the other? No, because it’s under more load and therefore cannot produce force as rapidly (I understand the biomechanics of a squat wouldn’t relate as simply as put but I still find it to be a good metaphor). So, with this in mind, why would placing more weight on one leg in the stance make it more powerful than the other? Now, onto the rest of the article.
OPTIONS
When talking about power, a major topic of discussion is the method of pulling. Some coaches swear by the square (skip) pull, some by the open. The truth of the matter is that neither is right, neither is wrong. One is not better than the other on a macro level. In my opinion, the person who should have the most say in which technique they use is the player, under the guidance of their coach. For many, the ability to drive the hips open and then square back up to the line of scrimmage may difficult. For those, I would recommend the square pull. If the athlete is more comfortable with open pulling, where they can rely on their lateral movement, then let them do that so as long as the block gets made. As a coach, you need to be able to identify which method of pulling might work best for a given athlete. If I have an athlete who isn't as good at redirecting force or changing direction, I'm thinking that they will be a square pull type of guy (generally for your bigger, less athletic dudes). If I have an athlete that is lacking in their lateral force production, I'm thinking that they will be an open pull type of guy. This issue can also be looked at from a glass-half full perspective. An athlete with good lateral force production or movement can excel in the square pull. An athlete exceeds in redirecting force and changing direction will benefit more from the open pull. Coaches must be equipped to teach both of these methods for the variations of athletes that they might have come through their program.
INITIAL MOVEMENT (SQUARE AND OPEN)
For either form of the pull, the athlete must drive off the backside leg in a way that they displace their body toward the block out of their stance. I far too often see athletes coached to passively "lose ground" on their first movement. Just as I said in my article on kick-out pulling, it’s important that we as linemen are always generating force in the most useful direction while maintaining a good body position to block. This clip shows a poor initial movement where the puller passively hops out of his stance and generates no momentum into their block.
SQUARE PULL
Moving into the specifics of the square pull, the first movement will keep the hips square to the line of scrimmage and lock the eyes on the man they anticipate blocking. This initial drive off of the BS leg (away from where you're pulling), is displacing their body laterally towards the PS and vertically to avoid any penetration that may occur. Next, it may be two steps, it may be three, it also may be one, but when we arrive at the PS double team, we will redirect our force moving laterally into a downhill block on the PSLB. This technique is often called a skip pull because in order to move quickly many coaches will teach the athlete to cross their feet in the backfield. While it's my opinion that your feet don't need to necessarily cross, they will typically come closer than your typical stance. I don't over coach this part, if you let your athletes know when they need to move faster or slow it down, their mechanics will fall in line with what they've been doing in the off-season. If you are somebody who is dead set on teaching the cross of the feet, this has to be after your initial drive. I see it taught very often where coaches want the first movement to the BS leg crossing the PS. If we think back to physics class, where is that force coming from? It's mostly a pulling motion with the PS which isn't very efficient or effective (doing so will also require your athlete to lean into the direction they want to move). Driving with the BS leg takes advantage of the biomechanics in our stance. We will now travel faster and more explosively while maintaining a better body position. The benefit of this technique is that the linemen can get to the appropriate hole and then focus on coming downhill at their PSLB.
The above clip acts as a visual for the skip pull method.
OPEN PULL
In the open variation of a power pull, the initial drive demands the athlete to violently set their hips on an angle pointing towards the PS while displacing their body horizontally and vertically. What this athlete does different from the square pull is maintain their body position through the pull by bending their path behind the PS double team. Think of the open pull as a middle ground between a square pull and a kick-out pull. The puller is now running with power and violence, turning the corner with bad intentions. The benefit of this technique is that the puller has a better angle to open the PS A-gap.
The above clip acts as a visual for the open pull method.
TO KEEP IN MIND WITH BOTH METHODS
With both of these pulls, the relationship between the puller and the play side double team or down block is important. I've always known Power to be an A-gap run play, so ensuring your puller can fit inside out on the PSLB when they can is crucial. This is where the coaching queue "scrape paint" comes from. The puller should be so close the that PS double team that if it were a car, their pads would scrape paint off of it.
RULES
The rule on contact when it comes to power is similar to that of counter. As I mentioned before, Power is an A-gap run play to me. This means that at the point of attack, we want our offensive player to be hitting their play side shoulder on the defenders backside shoulder. This aiming point is very important as it gives the puller the opportunity to open the hole inside. The only exception to this aiming point, again similar to counter, is when the defender is so tight in the hole that the puller must wrap that defender. This means they will seal them inside and now allow the ball carrier to take the path off the back of their offensive player. This is called a "wrap" or a "log". This clip below shows a good example of a wrap.
EXAMPLE CLIPS
This clip is demonstrating the Right Guard make contact too wide on the defender and as a result, the defender scraping inside. This is also the example used earlier for a poor first drive out of his stance. This play shows the puller hopping out of his stance and not generating any momentum or power towards the block.
This clip shows the Right Guard navigate traffic nicely to arrive at his assignment.
These next two clips show good aiming points at the point of attack. The first from the open method, and the second from the square method.
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