Find the Hole Drill
Setup
Place four cones to represent the center, guard, tackle, and tight end. Two defenders stand behind the two center cones. A coach stands behind the running back to give directions to the defensive lineman.
Purpose
In a game, if your offensive line is able to open up a hole, then it is absolutely imperative that your running back finds the hole and runs through it to gain yards.
The Find the Hole Drill forces running backs to quickly recognize and react to openings and closings at the line of scrimmage.
Drill Description
Before the drill begins, the coach, standing behind the running back, gives directions to the defenders to tell them where to go. There are three options. The coach can send both of them to the right, both to the left, or have them split to leave the middle hole open.
The quarterback snaps the ball and hands it off to the running back.
The defenders delay for one second after the snap and then step into the hole that they were assigned.
The running back receives the handoff with his eyes up at the line of scrimmage to read where the open hole is going to be. As soon as he identifies the open hole, he plants his feet and propels himself through the hole and downfield. This should be a very smooth and crisp movement. The running back should work to have less and less hesitation every repetition in order to quickly and smoothly find the hole and blast through it for yards downfield.
