To win a game, a football team must have a good offense as well as a good defense. Linebackers are defensive players in American football. If you are a linebacker, your main goals during the game are to provide pass protection and/or run protection.
This position is a versatile position and as such there are a lot of expectations from you. You must have the speed to catch up to the receivers and the strength to tackle. In other words, your success hinges upon how hard you can hit and how fast you can run. You are also responsible to form a line of defense that is equally impenetrable as well as intimidating for the opposition.
So what is the perfect training for you to become an excellent linebacker?
A good football linebacker weight training must focus on the strength conditioning as well as the skill training.
- Strength conditioning:
As a linebacker, you must be explosive and reactive. Therefore, this is a very physically demanding position. Not all your training should take place in the gym. The main aim of spending time in the gym should be to learn explosive movements and improve your core strength and leg strength. You should spend some time on field engaging in drills and exercises that improve your reaction skills. Football linebacker training concentrates on increasing your muscle mass and your nutrition. A high calorie, high-protein diet along with intense resistance training has shown exceptional results when it comes to increasing muscle mass.
- Tackling:
Tackling is a very critical skill to possess as a linebacker. You must remember that your job is to stop the opponent’s progress. Your must work on your ability to read trajectory of the ball and ensure that none of the opponents reach anywhere near the ball.
- Cover:
Pass drop and hip rotation drills improve your cover skills. This is an extremely vital skill to master as there are times when covering either makes or breaks the game.
- Stance:
The stance is considered to be the most critical aspect of the defense play of the team. It is important to hold an accurate stance to form an impassable line of defense. Linebackers hold a two-point stance which is an active stance. You must engage in drills and exercises that improve your stance and make you a better linebacker.
There are just some of the basics that are covered in the ideal American football linebacker training. It doesn’t matter if you are in high school or college, the more you practice a certain skill or technique the faster you will master it. If you are in high school and are interested in engaging in training, there are a number of high school complete football sports training for players available!
