Gauntlet Drill
Setup
Select one ball carrier and devote the rest of your players to form the “gauntlet” by lining up in a way that provides a narrow path for your ball carrier to run through. There should be the same amount of people on each side of the gauntlet.
Purpose
Build ball security by focusing the ball carrier on protecting the football amidst a barrage of contact and attempts to strip the football.
Drill Description
The ball carrier proceeds to run half speed through the gauntlet. His focus is to cover up the football and hold on as tight as possible so that he does not fumble the football in the gauntlet. Proper ball carrying technique is to hold the ball up high and tight to the runner’s chest while bringing his off hand up and over the ball so that he is protecting it with both of his arms and both of his hands.
The people forming the gauntlet reach out their arms in an effort to knock the ball out of the hands of the ball carrier. They try to punch the ball directly, as well as, try to grab and pull on the arms to provide a variety of ways to force a fumble so that the runner can experience and defend against all sorts of attacks on the ball.
It is important that the ball carrier only runs half speed, because if he runs too fast, you could risk injuring one of the hands or arms of the players forming the gauntlet. The focus of this drill is not on speed, but is instead on the ball protection.
