On these one-foot cuts, players need to be exploding off of the foot and pushing through their ankles to change direction.
The ability to change direction quickly in the game of football is a critical skill. Regardless of the position in today’s game, all players must have the ability to change direction quickly. As a result it’s critical that, as coaches, we develop this skill and make sure that players have the body awareness of how to change direction in an efficient manner. The Pattern Running Change of Direction Drill is the best way to teach players how to efficiently change direction and accelerate out of the cut.
The setup of the drill is very simple. There are two different patterns, one with 90 degree turns and one with 45 degree turns. Each of these patterns is going to emphasize different cuts that players will need to make throughout a game. By having two different lines as a coach you can have up to 20 players going at once (10 in each line).
