What are some tips to help defensive linemen get a better start when the footbal. Defensive players normally line up in a three-point or four-point stance. One of the keys to playing solid defense up front...
One of the keys to playing solid defense up front is getting off the football. Ask any coach or expert and they will tell you that the football player that gets the best jump will always have the advantage. One way for an aspiring football player to put himself in a position to get a good start off the snap is to make sure that he has a good solid base when he's in his stance.
Will McClay enters his second season as head coach and defensive coordinator for the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League. Also serving as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, McClay said that the three-point and the four-point stances are the two main alignments that defensive linemen should be concerned about.
"Defensive players normally line up in a three-point or four-point stance," he said. "The inside guys, the nose tackles or the defensive tackles are the ones that usually play in a four-point stance."
While both stances play key roles in a defensive lineman's success, McClay also said that which stance to use depends solely on the player and his intentions.
"The three-point stance is generally what they play so they can react to the run or the pass," McClay said. "And by being in that four-point stance, what they're trying to do is come off with leverage to keep the offensive lineman off balance. He wants to be an anchor so he can make it tough for those guys to block him."
McClay also mentioned that there are several different times in games when three-point stances are used and even went on to talk about how offenses can sometimes pick up on a defensive player's intentions by the way he sets up in his three-point stance.
"Different three-point stances are also used at different times," he said. "When a defensive player is getting ready to rush the passer, you can generally tell by his butt being higher than the body plane. That will allow a guy to get a better take off."
"And if a guy is in a stance and his back is a little flatter," he added, "he's got more of his weight distributed so he can play the run block and be ready to accept anybody coming at him with leverage."
In addition to being able to get off the football quicker by being down in a three-point or four-point stance, stances also help the defensive players in the area of leverage. And as McClay said, leverage is the key to winning up front.
"Leverage is the most important thing for the guys on the line," he said. "Your first line of defense, just like anything else, is to be able to hold your ground. If you give ground you are losing leverage at that point. Leverage will also allow you to push the offensive line back and hopefully break up the play. So leverage is the most elementary form of teaching that an offensive or defensive lineman should know about."
