What are some ways a football defensive lineman can deal with holding by an offe. Offensive lineman are forced to hold if they get out of position. In a sport built on gaining and utilizing any and every...
In a sport built on gaining and utilizing any and every advantage possible, there are some ways to get ahead in football that may draw a penalty from one of the officials. One of the biggest ways for an offensive lineman to get a small, yet still illegal, advantage over a defensive lineman is by holding him.
Will McClay is entering his second season as head coach/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 holding is a regular occurrence in every football game.
"Holding goes on every play," he said. "But it's just a matter of whether you get called or not. The offensive lineman's objective is to keep the defensive guy away from the quarterback or running back by any means necessary. So, football players have gotten smarter and have perfected the technique of holding."
One of the main reasons why a defensive player gets held by an offensive player is because of the push of the line of scrimmage. According to McClay, the offensive lineman moving backwards puts him at a real disadvantage.
"The biggest thing a defensive lineman is going to always complain about is holding," he said. "And that's usually because they are going forward in the defense and the offensive linemen are going backwards."
Some of the reasons why offensive lineman will hold a defensive player is because of the way the defensive player attack the linemen.
"The offensive linemen are really supposed to put their hands inside and be able to control the defender," he said. "If the defensive guy runs right down the middle it will be a little bit easier for them to do that. But if he attacks the edge or the shoulders and that offensive lineman isn't prepared for the defensive guy to attack that edge, then the offensive linemen has no choice but to hold."
One of the biggest disadvantages of the holding for defensive players is that it doesn't get called on every play. So, in order to continue to be productive, defensive players have had to come up with ways to fight through the holds.
"For defensive guys, there are techniques and little tricks to keep an offensive lineman from holding him," McClay said. "Some guys tape up their uniforms. And in the old days, linemen used to put Vaseline on their jerseys to make them slick so the offensive linemen couldn't hold them."
Tricks that help defensive players from being held that involve technique revolve around hand speed.
"Also for a defensive guy, you always talk about not being held inside," McClay said. "So if you have active hands and shoot your hands to the inside before the offensive lineman does, you're able to control him. So it's basically whoever gets their hands inside will be able to control the other guy. And if you get your hands inside to generate leverage, all he will be able to do to slow you down would be to hold you because his hands will be on the outside."
