By Jeff Lutz, Offensive Line Coach,
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WIS.

FOR A FOOTBALL TEAM to be successful on offense it must move the ball. Consistency in moving the football is based on the blocking ability of the offensive line. If your linemen are to be proficient at blocking, they must understand assignments and execute fundamental blocks.

At the line of scrimmage, every lineman must concentrate on takeoff. They must listen to the snap count and possible checkoff. At the snap count on running plays, every lineman must explode off the ball at full speed or set up quickly on pass plays.

Offensive linemen must be flawless when it comes to first steps: knowing where to go and taking the proper first step is of the utmost importance.

LINE SPLIT
Use line splits to control the defensive alignment. Line splits are determined by the play that's going to be run. Start the season by taking 2-foot splits on all plays. As your players develop an understanding of the system and schemes, vary the splits according to the play and what you want to accomplish.

STANCE
To be an effective blocker, every offensive lineman must develop a good stance. A good stance is fundamental to all blocking techniques.

The good offensive stance is well-balanced and permits a lineman to move in all directions without showing which movement is to be used. The stance must give the lineman every possible advantage without tipping off the opponent.

There are several factors essential to a good offensive line stance:

A. LEG SPREAD: Feet should be positioned under the armpits, never wider than the shoulders. Feet should always be pointed straight ahead.
B. FOOT STAGGER: Feet should always have heel-toe stagger between the up foot and the back foot.
C. ARM POSITIION: The arm on the side of the back foot should have its hand on the ground and slightly in front of the shoulders. This allows for the weight to be slightly forward. The down hand and feet should form a tripod base for the stance. The opposite arm is resting lightly above the knee and across the thigh. Shoulders should be level and square to the line of scrimmage so that both forearms can be delivered into the block.
D. BEND OF KNEE: Provide power-producing angles at the ankle, knee and hip joints. There should be a good "Z" in the legs. To get this position, the weight should be rolled forward on the ball of the up foot. This should raise the weight off the heel so daylight can be seen under the heel of the top foot.
E. PLANE OF THE BODY: The body plane should place the shoulders, back and hips on the same level and pointing straight ahead. The head is in a natural position with eyes looking up to allow straight vision in the immediate area of the play. Looking or leaning in the direction of the block should not tip off the intention of the block.
F. WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION: Equal weight should be placed on the feet with moderate weight on the down hand. The heels should be several inches from the ground with the weight on the balls of the feet.

BLOCKING SEQUENCE: To achieve maximum results, all blocking must be executed in a logical sequence. Drive blocking techniques involve the head and shoulders and are fundamental to straight-ahead blocks. Drive blocking begins with good stance and as the blocker comes out of the stance, there are four basic actions that comprise the blocking sequence.

1. HIT OUT: Getting off the ball is the key to blocking success for the running game. The first step in coming off the ball is the most important. The upper body should be thrust across the line of scrimmage at the opponent. Exploding off the ball is accomplished by extending the legs to a straight-line position with a forward thrust of the arms. Hands should be close together and inside the defender's arms.
2. LEVERAGE AND LIFT: At the moment of contact, the arms are snapped forward with a lowering forward thrust of the hips to continue the lift by the head and shoulders.
3. DRIVE: With the explosive thrust of the upper body and the forward thrust of the arms, the legs will be in an extended position. At the split second of contact, the feet must drive with short, choppy steps (duck walk) before there's an over-balance. The back must be flat, at a slight incline and the hips thrust forward to help the feet maintain contact and prevent a stalemate. Feet must keep moving forward with short, choppy steps and the knees must be bent to create power producing angles.
4. FOLLOW THROUGH: In completing the block, your offensive lineman must sustain the block and maintain pressure on the opponent, keeping them away from the point of attack. Arms should press the defender off the ball and keep them from getting separation with short, choppy steps.

INDIVIDUAL DRIVE BLOCKS
Drive blocks for the running game can be categorized as follows: single, backer, 2 on 1 and folds.

A. DRIVE BLOCK: This block consists of a straight head and shoulder block that is made to drive a defensive lineman off the ball and a sprint block to take the defender back. It is essential that the offensive lineman come off low and hit out at the opponent's belt buckle and slide the head and shoulder to the desired side. If the defender tries to stay inside, he should be taken in. If he tries to cross-face, he should be blocked out.
At this instance the blocker should move quickly and bring the hips around to a reverse shoulder block. Regardless of drive or reverse shoulder, the blocker must work to maintain leverage and keep contact so the running back can read the blocker's tail.
B. BASE REACH: The base reach block is performed when the play is going outside. The offensive lineman has to protect both gaps with absolutely no inside help. The blocker initiates the block with an outside foot lead; blow delivery is made on the second step (inside foot strike).
If the defender is on an inside charge, the blocker must squeeze it off with his inside foot. If the defender stays or is reading, the blocker must reach him with the outside foot. This technique is also used to seal opponents away from the hole.
C. LOOSE REACH: This reach block technique is used when the playside defender has an outside alignment and the play is going outside. It is also used when the blocker has no immediate inside threat. The outside foot leads with as big a step as needed to outflank the opponent, trying to seal him.
On the second step the inside foot recovers and strikes. Try to maintain outside leverage with this block and attempt to get the opponent's shoulders turned.
D. SEAT BLOCK: This maneuver is used by the offensive player to keep the defender from squeezing the hole from the outside in. Your blocker must hit out at playside hip, with eyes open. Blocker can drive head upfield and lock on or work around opponent with back in the hole to shield the ball carrier. If defender tries to slide behind, turn back and shield him.
E. CLEAR: This technique is used by backside linemen to prevent the defensive lineman from attempting a quick slant across his face and into pursuit. Blocker must drive head and outside shoulder through the inside hip of the opponent. The blocker's backside arm should drive through hard to help clear his body to the second level. This could result in a block at the line of scrimmage if the defender is slanting inside.
It will, hopefully, allow the offensive lineman a free release to the second level if the defender is reading. If the block works as it should, the blocker should be able to clear to level 2 or to the secondary ahead of the play.
F. REVERSE SHOULDER: This block is used when a defender has lined up in the inside gap. This is a block to prevent defensive penetration and to pin the opponent. The aiming point should be for the far knee of the defender with head in front of him. Blocker must extend laterally, stepping with the near foot, pushing off the far foot and driving the head through the front of the knees of the opponent.
The blocker should keep the hands on the ground or as close to the ground as possible to keep from getting too high. Feet should keep driving and hips working upfield so as to prevent pursuit (cross-face spin out).
G. OUT BLOCK: The out block is a block in which the offensive lineman is blocking out or away from the center to the first down lineman playing to his outside. This is a seal and the blocker must lock on and keep opponent from getting inside or squeezing the hole.
H. CUT BLOCK: The cut block is a reverse head and shoulder block by a backside lineman to cut down pursuit when the defender has aligned between the blocker and the next inside offensive lineman to the playside. Use the same principles that are utilized with gap blocks.

BLOCK ON LINEBACKERS
Those elusive linebackers are often hard for offensive linemen to get at, especially when the defensive front is doing its job and executing their responsibilities. The following block techniques are used to get at the linebacker and keep them occupied.

- SELL-OUT: The sell-out technique is used against backers on wide run plays where the backers will be filling hard to the outside. The linemen must reach hard to the outside. The blocker must reach upfield with the playside foot lead, taking a proper angle so as to give him an opportunity to be in position to maintain outside leverage.
- POWER CLIMB: This is used against linebackers at the point of attack, when in fact the play is to be run directly at the backer. Lineman must hit out at the belt buckle of the opponent, bringing forearms into chest and driving them through his chin. Eyes open and feet chopping, lineman should attempt to step on backer's toes. Your player should attempt to run over the opponent and take him in the direction he wants to go. The offensive lineman must lock on and maintain contact on the opponent.

TWO-ON-ONE BLOCKS
Utilize a few double-team blocks that involve two adjacent offensive linemen working in tandem against a single down lineman, and in most cases a linebacker at the second level.

- COMBO: A combo is a double-team block where two adjacent linemen attempt to drive an opponent off the ball to the linebacker level. Both linemen lead step with the foot toward the opponent and drive upfield. This results in both linemen blocking with their inside shoulders and their heads upfield. The second step (outside foot) attempts to seal the opponent's near foot. Your teaching point here will be to have your linemen move parallel with the first step; this will allow them to square up and keep their hips together.
As a rule of thumb, try to drive the opponent to the feet of the linebacker before one of them comes off. If the linebacker shows inside, then the inside blocker comes off. If he shows outside, the outside blocker comes off.
- SQUEEZE: This block is a hard double-team on a gap man. Both offensive linemen lead block. They strike with the inside foot, seal with the outside foot and keep the head upfield. Drive the opponent off the ball to the second level. Either blocker will slip off upfield if linebacker flow shows towards them.
Try to impress upon the your offensive line the importance of executing these blocks and the techniques that go along with them. It's the little things your linemen can do better as a unit that make the difference during games.