WHEN WORKING WITH the development of our secondary players, we constantly preach and work the concepts of stance, alignment and keys. From there, our main focus is what to do when the ball is in the air.

“Oskie” or “Hammer” are the two options that a DB has when a pass is in the air. Oskie refers to making a play on the ball — going for a deflection or interception. Hammer describes a big-time DB hit on the receiver.
To teach Hammer technique as an aggressive, instinctive action, we’ve developed the following drill.

Hammer Drill
Place a stand-up dummy (pop up) 10 yards deep and 5 to 8 yards off the ball to the right or left. Have 1 or 2 players or team managers positioned 10 yards behind the dummy to catch and chase thrown balls.

DIAGRAM 1: Hammer Drill. The DB gets into a proper stance 3 to 5 yards in front of the coach. The coach, who’s holding a football, drops back to pass, turns and throws just over the stationary dummy.


The DB reads the coach’s action, backpedals and breaks on the football. Upon reaching the dummy, the DB uses the Hammer technique — delivering a driving hit through the dummy and riding it to the ground. The DB quickly gets to his feet, recovers as if the play were still live and sprints through the line and past the coach.

DIAGRAM 2: Hammer-Drill Variations. To mix things up, you can use two dummies and have the DB read the QB action and break in the correct direction. Or you can instruct the DB  to change the angle of his break to back and deep (fade-route action).


These drills magnify essential fundamental work such as stance (balanced, with knees bent, back straight and head up), pedal (balanced and low), redirection/break (the DB must keep his feet underneath his body), reads on the QB’s action, the Hammer blow (low and driving through) and the finish (recovering quickly and sprinting back).
The purpose of this drill is to work on Hammer technique, but once your players become good at this drill, periodically, you’ll want to mix in some floating Oskie-type passes and have the DB try to make the play.