‘Bite the ball’ is the wrong approach to teach tacklers

By Andy Ryland | Posted 3/27/2015

Look at this picture of San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore.

You still want your tacklers to “bite the ball?”

Biting the ball is a football technique still taught by coaches at every level of the sport. It instructs defensive players to put their facemask on the spot where the ball is being held.

That may work if the ball is out wide away from the body, but if a runner is carrying the ball against his body and covered with both hands – as Gore is – or high and tight, the result of a “bite the ball” tackle is making the helmet or facemask the first-strike point against the most solid part of an opponent’s body.

A player attempting this type of tackle may never get his shoulder to the target, so most – if not all – of the contact force is absorbed by the head and neck.

Biting the ball is not what you want tacklers to do. Heads Up Tackling teaches defenders to slide their heads to the side of the ball-carriers and make initial contact with the front of the shoulder, a much stronger and safer way to absorb the blow.

If you teach a tackling style that includes exceptions to the rule, find a better approach.

Share