Fumbling Problems

A running back who continues to fumble is going to hurt the team at a key point in the season. Put him on the bench or at a position where he won't hurt the team. They must understand that it is not their ball but the team's ball.

superpower, I agree with what you said totally but I should have said that fumbling was from a combination of about 5 different backs that we utilized this season in a wing t offense. It was not just one guy. It was also our qb too, placing the ball in different spots on the different handoffs that we use.

In addition to what superpower said (we have 5 points... the palm... same thing):

We reward our scout team with less conditioning if they cause a fumble- we penalize our starters if they fumble (extra sprint, etc.). The fact that turnovers are on their minds every time they are dressed out helps a bit.

We too had a bit of a problem early: 6 fumbles in our first 3 games (4 all of last year). Whether the added emphasis, drill work (all RB carry a ball during all sprints/conditioning), we ended the season with 6 fumbles, but I think the biggest thing was the constant emphasis (nagging).

As a RB position coach, I stress ball security every day in individuals and / or pre-practice warm-ups. That way, it becomes second nature rather then a psychological thing where the more you talk about it, the worse it gets. Start from day one and never let up!

Drills that we run weekly:

1. MONKEY ROLLS WITH FOOTBALLS- Just like it sounds. We get three guys down on their bellies, while holding footballs. They execute monkey rolls for 15 seconds while concentrating on holding the football. This is more about concentration than anything else.

2. STRIP GAUNTLET WITH 2 FOOTBALLS- No, brophy, "Strip Gauntlet" is not a bachelor party activity, nor is it a bar in Montreal. We line all of the RB's up in a gauntlet. The RB carries a ball in each arm, using the "5-points of pressure" fundamentals (like the honorable senator mentioned). Carrying one in each arm forces them to focus more on the fundamental and the isometric "squeeze" they need to apply to the ball while running.

3. ARM WRESTLE DRILL- Pair up your backs. Make sure each partner alternates carrying arms before each rep. The ballcarriers line up on the 10 yard line, facing the endzone. The "partner" piggy-backs the ballcarrier by reaching over his shoulder opposite the carrying arm and holding on to the front of the shoulder pads. He will then use his other arm to rip, claw, punch, and do anything to try to force a fumble. On the whistle, the RB's have to pump their legs and cross the endzone without fumbling the ball.

4. ANCHOR DRILL- This is the same set up as the "Arm Wrestle" drill, but it has the partner holding the ballcarrier back in a "horse collar" grip. The back must struggle and drive through the 10 yards to score while being held back by his partner. Aside from being a good overall RB drill, what we really focus on here is forcing the ballcarrier to maintain all 5 points of pressure. Most of the time, when backs are straining for additional yardage, they have a tendancy to separate the ball from their body as they drive forward or try to escape a tackle. This drill focuses them back on maintaining proper carrying fundamentals in these situations.

Hopefully, this helps coach.

Look also at the angle of the ball. If it is horizontal then it is more likely to be fumbled, even with 4 or 5 points. The front tip of the ball should tilted up at a 45 degree angle to better secure the ball.

I coach Running Backs at the NAIA level, my first year, but one of key points that we talked about was 'pinching the elbow'. That causes the ball to be pointed up, we did emphasize the 5 points of contact, but 'pinching the elbow' was always our key phrase. If the elbow was squeezed to the side and they had the front tip covered everything is normally good. We did only lose one fumble all year in the running game so I'll take that.

Just rep the heck out of agilities, cuts, and gauntlet drills. Then jump their butt anytime the ball gets away from their body.

20x, I like that coaching point. Thanks

Good points everywhere.

In the old days we would put a nylon around the ball to do the gauntlet.
If you fumbled the week before, you had to carry a f-ball around the hall's for a week of school.

I'm a youth coach so I try to bring a little bit of fun into are practices and this is one place that I do this but in the same breath we take it seriously. The gaultlet is done by the parents that get a free shot at their kids while they at 1/2 speed run a circuit . The circuit would be layed with obstacles, such as ladder ropes, and dummies. ( By the way this was done years ago in a differant state that I now live. The only parent involvement I receive now is WHAT TIME IS PRACTICE OVER,SO I KNOW WHAT TIME TO LEAVE WAL-MART) but parents would dress out for this and had fun themselves . They bring cow bells and whisiles and water gun's ect. At differant point's the player would have to break thru a double team of dads holding dummies and a dad would have a carpet taged with a rope and when he came thru he tug on the rope a bit just to send him off balanced . Two sets of mom's would be swinging a jump rope while in-between that brother and sisters would be spraying their water gun's . While all this was going on we would be slaping at the ball. Thing was all players ran the coarse, had FUN !! which is needed at times and brought involvement. Heck we even had a Mom run it once...

All good points. Lochness, I really liked the Anchor Drill. I think I will add that to my ball security in the future. I too, emphasize the 4 points as mentioned above and work ball security everyday using also the same drills mentioned above.
I like the idea of taking a player out and I do that as well. It just so happens that the back ups were doing the same. You guys run into problems where the qb places the ball in poor spots while handing off? Our qb was never really consistant with the ball placement on our run plays...sometimes too high or on the ribs, too low. Anybody have much experience with this before? I think it was possibly due to the fact that he was a soph. playing on our varsity and rotating with a senior....not much consistancy.

I love that idea! But, how do you get the water in the ball?

we like to tell our players to 'tiki' the ball. after tiki barber. We tell them the story about how tiki used to have a problem with fumbling the ball until he held it higher on his chest and at a 45% angle as previously stated.

Head developed a tool to fill the balls with water. I believe since then World Sporting Goods now markets a device to do it (Called the Anti-Fumbling Kit). My HC got the idea from some local farmers who use to put water in the tires of tractors.

Do the fumbles happen at the same time???

during the handoff, in the box, in the open field, when tackler makes contact?

Some other keys

1) Two hands on the ball in the box
2) in the open, in one hand, Wrist higher then the elbow
3) when tackler makes contact, cover the ball up
4) Never switch the ball, when it is in one hand it stays there!

We also do most of those drills. Next year we will definately be adding the monkey rolls, I love that. One other thing we do is what we call ball flexes. The RB simply stands with the ball secured and flexes the muscles in his forearm to squeeze the ball. It strengthens the arm and gets the player use to squeezing it tight.

We make kids that fumble in a game carry a football with them during practice. If they are not in a scrimmage situation or in a drill, they have a ball in their hands. Captains and coaches have the fun of being able to strip the ball from them. If they get stripped, they do 25 push ups right then and there. They carry the ball at practice every day until they play a game and dont fumble. This "game" makes them focus on holding the ball high and tight. We had a kid fumble in a game and break his foot in the same game. He had ball duty until he came back. You would see him at practice and games with the ball taped to his crutches. The kids have fun with it, but no one wants to be the guy with ball duty.

As for the Tiki method...we thought about it, but just felt that you cant run naturally with the ball secured to your chest like that. If it works for you...great, but it didn't work for us.