Pursuit Drill

Teaches all eleven defenders to take the right angle to the ball. On the toss sweep, each defender sprints his pursuit angle to an assigned cone on the sideline and breaks down, ready to tackle.

Setup:

• The defence in its base alignment.

• A coach at quarterback and a scout running back.

• Cones along the sideline every few yards, one per defender. The backside players get the deepest cones.

Execution:

• On the snap, the coach tosses the sweep to the running back, who runs for the sideline.

• Every defender takes the proper angle to his cone. Playside players cut it off and backside players take deeper angles.

• At the cone, each defender breaks down with feet chopping, hips low and eyes up.

Coaching points:

• Burst at recognition. The first step decides the angle.

• Take an angle in front of the ball. Never trail it.

• Fulfil your responsibility first (contain, cutback, reverse), then pursue.

• Finish at the cone in a good tackling position.

Progressions:

• Start the defenders on their chests and pop up on the whistle.

• Mix toss, screen and reverse calls so they have to read the ball.

• Time the whole unit: the last man to his cone sets the time.