It’s no secret that all football coaches would like their players to be faster – especially their OL. Offensive linemen represent a very unique group on a football team. They have their own code and camaraderie. As such, special attention must be given when training the OL line, especially for speed. Most offensive linemen don’t even believe speed would help them at their position so they rarely train for it, and coaches rarely focus on it. What a mistake. Why? Here are just a few reasons to focus on building faster offensive linemen.

Benefits of faster offensive linemen:

•  A faster OL can be faster to the hole. Each play is quicker so your backs can hit the hole quicker with more speed and momentum. More tackles are broken.
•  A faster OL can make more downfield blocks.
•  A faster OL can more easily play at a slower speed if they possess speed that is greater than the need for the position.
•  A faster OL can turn the corner to seal off the edge before the opponent or back gets there. And they consistently leverage first before their opponent.
•  A faster OL means larger collisions (or the DB will just get out of the way, creating a bigger hole)
•  A faster OL puts constant pressure on the defense so the fourth quarter is yours! (It is easy to push around tired and demoralized DL guys).
•  A faster OL means more athletic athletes. Vertical jump and jump quality increase as a by-product of speed. (It is all the same general stretch reflex system of the body).
•  A faster OL gives the coach more options for planning game tempo. The coach can decide to run up-tempo or ball control or anything in between.
•  When the offensive line is fast, the whole team is faster.

    I have trained many offensive linemen, and, their overall improvements are amazing. In fact, I can actually say that most of my OLs improve their speed by 50% or more. Why? Mostly because, as mentioned earlier, speed has never been a focus for linemen. They spend most of their time in the weight room and in a three-point stance.
    Do you want faster offensive linemen? Of course you do. Here are some easy drills to incorporate into your training regime. But don’t focus on the drill itself. The important part of speed training is focusing on how to do the drill. It’s about what to move, where to move it and when to move it there.


1. High Knee Skips:

    Most programs have this skip drill in their warm ups. But the important part of the drill is often lost. The purpose is not to just do a warm up. The goal is to think about beneficial things, such as how to move efficiently and effectively, rather than what most players are thinking about – how many reps they have left to do or how hot/cold it is outside. The goal is to rehearse the range of motion, timing, tempo, and poise needed for running efficiently and faster.
    What is the proper way to practice this drill? The front side knee should raise 1 or 2 inches higher than the hip bone. Keep toes up (dorsiflexed) and keep the foot under the knee as the knee moves back down. Strike the ground with the ball of the foot only. This drill should not take 100% effort but 100% focus on body movement into that position. Again, it’s about what to move, where to move it and when to move it there. This drill should take only 25% physical effort.
    If you want, you can also practice power skips – where your guys jump one or two feet off the ground. However, I recommend they only jump one to two INCHES off the ground. This creates a greater ballistic range of motion from the down leg to the up knee. And, most importantly, it trains the knee to get to that high position earlier and quicker, which is one of the keys to speed. A major part to running faster is how quickly you can get the knee to the loaded knee high position – similar to how fast can you stretch and load a rubber band before you fire it.

2. Half High Knee Running:

This is another great drill, if done correctly. The important thing is to emphasize quick “flinchy”– like movements to the end of the range of motion. The human body can move sharply and quickly without working hard or having tense muscles. They should move into the sprinting pose and position as quickly as they would swat at a giant bee flying around their face.

Ever see a big guy or anyone “flinch” at a bee? They move their hands as quick as a black belt martial artist for that moment. Not a lot of tense muscles, just very quick moves. So, we know the body can move quickly, quietly, and easily.

To start, the front side knee should rise up about half the way to the hip level. The range of motion should be completely synced and balanced. For example, if the right knee rises up to the front side 3 feet at 3 mph, then the right elbow should move to the back side 3 feet at precisely 3 mph.

It’s important to emphasize quicker leg down action vs. leg up. Have a 1 to 2 ratio in the athlete’s mind for speed of movement. For example, if his leg goes up at 1 mph then he should simply and easily move the leg and foot down at 2 mph. And, of course, he should only use the balls of his feet. Most OLs are so undernourished when it comes to getting faster that this drill alone helps them become faster and more athletic.

3. Half High Knee Running into a Build-Up Sprint:

This exercise is extremely valuable for helping OL athletes develop the calm and smooth body motions needed for learning and rehearsing speed. Start them moving forward with half high knee running action calmly at 10% speed, then to 40%, then to 60%, and finally to 75% and have them hold that speed.

The goal is to maintain the quality of the half high knee running action. That is, to maintain knee height at the tempo of the bouncing action off the ball of the foot, the speed of the range of motion of the arms and legs, and the relaxed calm face and emotions. Again, it’s about correct body movement, not about working hard.

In fact, challenge them to increase their calmness, as they increase their speed and distance. Challenge them to improve their composure, as they increase their speed. Do the half high knee running for 5 to 10 yards and then keep that running form as it transitions smoothly into a build-up sprint. Do that for at least a total distance of 30 yards and then increase it to 70 or 100 yards as the group improves over time. Do not have them focus on working hard. Focus on the organization of the consistent rhythms and movements.

4. Build Up Sprints:

This is the number one drill for learning how to run faster and work less. Have your OL rehearse this drill with the same smooth mentality and focus as if shooting basketball free throws.

Build up sprints should be done with a smooth and calm quick “run bounce” up to a target speed of 65 - 75% of their full speed. When they master the movements of how to run efficiently and easily, then they can kick it up to 80 - 90% speed. They will need  a runway because small areas, such as a basketball gym, is not ideal for this drill, as it is difficult to have the time to catch the “feeling” of running well. Athletes must first rehearse how and where to move and how to relax while in motion – they need room to get into a cruising speed. Make it a mental challenge. Have them focus on how much they can relax and run at 75% speed. Keep the upper chest and face calm and stress-free.

The only body parts that move when sprinting efficiently are the arms and legs. The bounce should feel similar to the bounce of jumping rope. If you use jumping rope for developing speed, then have your OL do no more than 10 to 20 seconds to really get that feeling of a rhythmic quick bounce. Then quickly take that rhythmic quick bounce right into the build up sprint. Don’t do conditioning at this time. Do it that later in the day. You are getting your OL to discover the qualities and physical feelings associated with running faster. This is about learning what to do to run faster and easier.

The hard part when I train OLs is not how hard they work. It is about how well can they think and organize their body motions while they are in motion. The guys I have trained already knew the value of hard work and 200% effort. And, they didn’t need any more conditioning. But they did need to learn and rehearse HOW to run for easy speed. I treat all of my OL athletes psychologically like a sprinter. I tell them it’s like a video game. You cannot become great at a game until you know and understand what to do and when to do it.

I also choose my words carefully. I don’t use words like: work, try hard, dig...dig...dig, or any words that triggers them into the grimacing, straining, struggling, “hard work area” in their minds. OLs are very conditioned to respond “big” to hard work and giant effort. It has been ingrained in them.

However, when we sprint we are not lifting 500 pounds, so we don’t need that same physical strain. We are organizing our human body to put itself in the right spot at the right time – quickly. Like a golfer or baseball player hitting a home run, the goal is to hit the ball with the power you have – but you must also be on time with your swing. It’s the same with sprinting – you must also synchronize your foot strike, arm swing, and composure.

OL athletes need to be strong, of course. However, I challenge you to ask: How strong is strong enough? At what point do you put more mph behind that strength? If your opponent beats you to the spot – you lose that play. After an OL player reaches a strength goal or threshold, then 75% focus should turn to HOW to move his strength faster to the spot. I have had many big OL guys experience the side effect of actually becoming stronger by getting faster. Weird, I know. But not really, if you think of science and human physiology. They became better athletes because they learned how and when to explode the kinetic release of their strength faster.

Quicker explosive movements produce greater momentum...sooner. So arm drive and leg drive happens quicker and earlier within the lifting motion. Consequently, they were able to get the load moving sooner and faster. Please don’t have them stop lifting weights. But, learn to teach them speed. The benefits cross over more than you can imagine.

Controversy

If the speed of the game of football is important to you (and it should be) then teach speed in the middle of practice. Make it as important as the most important part of your practice. Most programs leave running for the end of the practice when kids are fatigued, emotionally drained and uninspired. Most programs, from pee-wee to the pros, still use running as punishment. No wonder big linemen don’t like to run! The environment for running is always negative. To get faster their thoughts should be on: what to move, where to move it, and when to move it there, not on just trying to make it through to the end of practice.

More Controversy

When teaching speed to OL, change the environment and the focus. Get them out of their “hand in the dirt”, “grind it out” mental zone. When I work with teams I make sure it is always in the middle of practice, when athletes are in a good mental zone. Have your OL take off their helmets and maybe their shoulder pads. Watch how their faces and bodies relax. Now they are ready to receive new instructions from the coach and also receive bio-feedback from themselves.

Do concentrated speed work for 15 minutes for one of your periods, and then put the gear back on for the rest of practice. You can still do conditioning later, but treat “speed” as a quality component of practice, just like one-on-one drills.

Even More Controversy

Don’t call your sprints, “sprints”. Call them “build-up sprints” or “tempo runs”. Change the mental intensity. Change the psychological chain reaction of bad thoughts. Why do Olympic sprinters do tempo runs? To get the body used to remembering how to move at that speed. Repeated motions by the body creates neuromuscular muscle memory.

Most OLs are taught to be intense at everything they do. They typically do sprints with the same intensity as if they were doing a max lift. They never train for speed with the same approach as an Olympic sprinter. Great sprinters work on what I call “Relaxed Intensity.” That is, being able to move extremely fast with complete calmness and composure. Black belt martial artists work to master this ability as well.

So, test it out. Get the OL guys out of the corner of the field and let them have fun like the WRs. Play catch. They love it. Ever run a 270-pounder on a post route? How about a 300-pounder? I have. It is hilarious. But guess what? While they are busy having fun, they are open to learning about how to get to the ball and how to run well. That is the trick, to get them to be receptive to new information about how to be a better athlete.

And here’s a trick – use tennis balls. It’s easier on the coach, yet harder to catch. This works like magic simply because the human body is training to run well, track the ball and catch it. They will be having fun AND learning to run faster by improving their body balance and even developing better hand-eye coordination.

Years ago, I had an offensive lineman tell me that the tennis ball catches helped his eyesight while in motion so it was easier to locate his assigned man to block. Who knew? But it makes sense because you learn to track the ball with your eyes and adjust your body speed appropriately. No wonder why WRs become better athletes after a couple of years. They do athletic drills requiring speed, balance, composure, timing, jumping, acceleration, and deceleration every day for four years.

Think about this, in summary. It is much easier to play football, or any sport, at a slower speed when you are faster than the speed of the game. It doesn’t matter what position you are playing. In fact, it’s even more beneficial for positions like the OL, where the opponent isn’t expecting you to be fast. For an extreme example, if the speed of the game is around 10 mph, but every lineman on your team can run at a top end speed of 20 mph, who has the advantage? The OL will easily be able to handle a game played at an average speed of 10 mph. It would be like a senior in high school playing against an eighth grader. The senior who runs 4.2 seconds in a 40 yard dash can easily play at a speed of 4.8 seconds vs. the eighth grader who can only run 4.8. Speed wins!

About the Author: Ken Taylor is a SAQ pioneer and Sport Speed Expert who has trained thousands of professional, college and high school athletes for over 20 years. He holds a degree in Exercise Physiology and Sports Science. He was a world class triple jumper and played for the 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX team and the San Diego Chargers. For more information, visit www.speeddr.com.