Single Wing Power Series Power Play

[Bob Goodman]

Teams rarely spy the FB- they spy the BB and RG

That's very interesting.  Knowing that, have you thought of adding more FB plays that aren't tipped by the BB, pulling G, or wedge blocking?

[gn0rt0n]

Thanks coaches.  The proof is in the pudding.  If you guys say that you don't have a problem then I believe it.  On my sons team last year (9 year olds) I convinced the coach to put in three power series plays "for goaline situtations" because the offense wasn't doing so red hot.  He ended up running our "goaline formation" quite a bit.  The only problem I saw with it was that our back was getting caught from the backside.  Obviously it means either he was to slow, or the backside wasn't doing anything at all.

Thanks coaches.

I'm still new to the coaching gig, but after running Cisar's stuff this year and even working with chaser drills I'm almost convinced speed has nothing to do with it. I think it has everything to do with being lazy/timid on a play.

We ran drills where we tested speed/agility (straight line or changing direction) specifically so I could put any questions to rest by my new AC's regarding the weakside. We put the worst kid on our team up against the best kid on our team in a 15yd eval giving the slow kid a 5yd start. The faster kid could never catch the slow kid. Maybe it was just our batch of kids, but we never saw a significant difference in our kids until we increased the number of cutbacks, or lengthened the drill.

If you are running your 1B ~2.5 yds deep and have two guys to the left of center, you are ~5yds to the 1B from the DE. If your play is going strong side you should have at least 10yds to make something happen. You might get hit from behind on a sweep. However, generally your 1B is not the slowest/worst kid on your team. If he is, re-read the program.

Did we get caught from behind on the weak-side this year? Absolutely.  From watching video, it is always clear that the 1B was just too slow/timid on the plays where it happened. The most common time it happend was on our 18 sweep pass. The 1B would never attack the path like a normal sweep run. He would slow down his stride and start shuffling.

Before we ran Cisars stuff, I would have thought it was easy picking. However, after working with our kids and reviewing video I've just decided it just cant legally happen (at least in our "B" league) if your 1B is even giving 80% of his effort.

The best use I had for the cross-call was on our 33 wedge. It did help to choke-up that left side and give us a few more yards.

-Gary

[Bob Goodman]

Those of you experiencing these run-downs -- are you leading the 1 back with the snap, or is he catching it flat-footed with his hips facing the snapper?  And are your snaps consistently good?  Is your 1 back waiting to see the hole develop, or is he running confident that it will be there?  Have you noticed any add'l difficulty in this regard if your 3 back is positioned where he threatens to take the snap?  Is your pulling guard slow getting to the hole?

[32wedge]

2 years ago, my 1st year running DCUBSW, I had a backfield full of big slow bruisers.  We only got stopped by being run down from behind.  Weak side pressure was killing us.  In hindsight my runners were catching the snap flat footed.  I probably should have worked more with them getting started to the hole quicker, but I had my LE block G.O.O. on power and sweep and that fixed our problems.  We finished 8-2 and league champs after a 1-2 start.  Not saying its is the best fix, but a fan block on the weak side really helped us.

[Bob Goodman]

2 years ago, my 1st year running DCUBSW, I had a backfield full of big slow bruisers.  We only got stopped by being run down from behind.  Weak side pressure was killing us.  In hindsight my runners were catching the snap flat footed.

That's why I asked.  The shotgun formation had such an influence on football thinking, coaches must've forgotten how to do it any other way.  They would never think of having a player receiving a pitchout or any sort of pass wait stationary for the ball rather than meeting it on the move, but when it comes to the snap...brain freeze.  Even when it comes to the rugby (running) punt, they have the kicker not move until he has the ball.  I suggested to a coach at Huey's that he alter his running punt to get a moving start, and he said no, "just because".  So you have a lot of company.

In truth, Dave Cisar's version has the backs in close enough that there's not a long wait for the snap to arrive, and I'm satisfied you found another fix that was sufficient for your back side protection, but I wish coaches would take advantage of every split second, considering it's routine football thinking in other respects.

About a decade ago in the NFL (either a Super Bowl or a playoff) I saw for a 2-point play one team line up its QB in shotgun in line with a guard instead of center to get a start taking the snap and running to the corner...so I guess when you pay them the big bucks they do figure this out!

There is one other factor I have a hunch about but haven't verified by test: I think it's actually harder to catch a ball out front in your hands if it's coming straight at your belt buckle than if you have to reach slightly left or right or up or down.  It's the same feeling I have about the sidesaddle QB -- that it's easier to catch a ball if the palm of at least one hand faces it.  You don't want to have to reach up or down, because that would be a bad snap, but if you're moving to a side to catch a ball, that should be better.  If you're going to basket it into your chest, then, sure, straight at you would be best, but that's not the best way to catch a football.

[coachcomet]

Second round of the playoffs last season we played a team with IMO the most talent and the fastest kids, but not well coached.

We played this team in the semi finals the year before and they beat us in a very close game.
I pulled the game film from that game to review the coach’s tendencies and see if I could pick up some reads. Once I went through the film a couple times I noticed that they had their fastest kid coming every play and he did catch us from the backside, but only when the #1 was not getting to the hole. If he stutter stepped at all this kid was on him. I think it happened three or four times in the game. The last one killed a drive to go up at the end of the game.
So I sent Dave an email and asked what adjustment we could make to cover this kid and his response was no different than this form.

So we carried on and made no adjustments to deal with the kid.

First play of the game we run Nasty 16 Power and this kid is coming as hard as he possibly can. My AC’s all look at me and say did you see that. I called a TO and told the LG to pull backside away from the center and kill the first person he sees. Next play was 18 Sweep, none of the coaches are watching the players like they should, hell I didn’t watch the play like I should. We were all watching the LG, he was one of my biggest kids and not very fast, but he could hold his own. Play starts and the kid comes around the corner and meets the LG. I don’t know which one was more suppressed but my LG caught him under the chin with the top of his helmet as he stood up, the force from the kid running in made for the contact and the LG stopped him in his tracks. It was a violent hit, the kid was about 5 or 6 inches shorter than the LG, so when he stood up the kid was draped over my kid and his feet went flying.

Every play after the hit this kid would look around the corner and did not case the rest of the game. His Dad was one of the AC and we could hear him yell at his son to go get the QB. It was funny to watch this kid peek around the LE and did not want anything to do with my LG.

Not a sound adjustment but sure made for some laughs

[Michael]

Second round of the playoffs last season we played a team with IMO the most talent and the fastest kids, but not well coached.

We played this team in the semi finals the year before and they beat us in a very close game.
I pulled the game film from that game to review the coach’s tendencies and see if I could pick up some reads. Once I went through the film a couple times I noticed that they had their fastest kid coming every play and he did catch us from the backside, but only when the #1 was not getting to the hole. If he stutter stepped at all this kid was on him. I think it happened three or four times in the game. The last one killed a drive to go up at the end of the game.
So I sent Dave an email and asked what adjustment we could make to cover this kid and his response was no different than this form.

So we carried on and made no adjustments to deal with the kid.

First play of the game we run Nasty 16 Power and this kid is coming as hard as he possibly can. My AC’s all look at me and say did you see that. I called a TO and told the LG to pull backside away from the center and kill the first person he sees. Next play was 18 Sweep, none of the coaches are watching the players like they should, hell I didn’t watch the play like I should. We were all watching the LG, he was one of my biggest kids and not very fast, but he could hold his own. Play starts and the kid comes around the corner and meets the LG. I don’t know which one was more suppressed but my LG caught him under the chin with the top of his helmet as he stood up, the force from the kid running in made for the contact and the LG stopped him in his tracks. It was a violent hit, the kid was about 5 or 6 inches shorter than the LG, so when he stood up the kid was draped over my kid and his feet went flying.

Every play after the hit this kid would look around the corner and did not case the rest of the game. His Dad was one of the AC and we could hear him yell at his son to go get the QB. It was funny to watch this kid peek around the LE and did not want anything to do with my LG.

Not a sound adjustment but sure made for some laughs

Freakin' awesome.