The genius of exploding with hands and hips FIRST!

ince I can remember I have been taught to take a 6 inch power step and then shoot my hands and hips. Here’s a clip of me doing some drill work with my Michigan teammates back in the day.

Then two weeks ago I ran across some Pete Jenkins clinic tape where he explained that exploding with the hands and hips FIRST and then the feet creates more knock back and leverage then stepping with a 6 inch step first. (sorry the video is so dark!)

When I saw this something just clicked! After years and years of being taught to take a 6 inch step first I thought, man this is such a better technique. Just look at how the blockers head snaps back in this clip.

The main advantage of this technique is that it allows D-linemen to stay low while generating force and velocity into the blocker with their hands and hips.

Think about it this way. Would a weight lifter be able to generate the force required to power clean heavy weight without fully extending their hips? Absolutely not! They need to fully extend their hips to generate enough momentum to get the weight up.

With that being said, D-linemen should thrust their hips and hands toward the blocker first before taking a step. Extension of these levers makes it easier to deliver force into the blocker much like how thrusting hips makes it easier to do a power clean.

On the other hand, a 6 inch power step will put elbows and hips in an angled position. This position makes it harder for a D-lineman to achieve extension and generate force into the blocker.

If you want to use this technique on your D-Line all you need is a single man sled to work explosion, drive and violent release.

Hope you enjoyed the post! That’s all for this week.

And whenever you are ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. Learn how to develop top tier pass rushers and a lethal pass rush attack here (1,000+ students)
2. Learn how to turn your D-Line into a block destruction machine here (1,100+ students)

-Craig