Hawg Tuff

Thanks for the feedback on 2 v/s 3 pt stance. Right now we are exclusively 3 pt because we got to GET OFF THE BALL in a hurry to run block. We may implement some 2 pt with the T's later in the season. Now here is a new question:

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON OL SPLITS?
I have seen some real good teams (Wilson/ 96 under Doolittle) be almost foot to foot and they ran the ball and pass blocked wonderfully, but when we tried tighter splits we ran into 2 BIG problems:
1. We run zone and it seemed to minimize the seams for our RB
2. During pass pro the DE get a lot closer.

I generally keep our splits at 2 ft. across the board except in short yardage. It has worked well for us and we try to be a balanced offense. If you are a team that runs between the tackles a lot I might split a little wider, if you are pass crazy I may be a little tighter so that we can work help on protection. The two foot works for us, but we don't run much truly up the middle, except for short trap and inside zone, most of our stuff goes C,D, and wide.

Vertical and horizontal splits are determined by the ability, quickness, and confidence level of your offensive line personnel and your offensive philosophy.

The tighter the vertical alignment the faster the offensive lineman can engage the defender and use their size and power.

A zone team will have deeper vertical splits because there are two man or three man (co-op blocks) schemes working to a certain target area.


SMART SPLITS – Size of splits may vary with:
• Defensive structure and defensive personal.
• Offensive play and individual personal.
• Offensive lineman’s ability, quickness and confidence level.


VERTICAL SPLITS (Depth):
• Tight: offensive lineman’s alignment is with the down hand slightly off the back of the ball.
• Normal: alignment is with the down hand on the toes of the center.
• Loose: alignment is with the down hand on the instep of the center’s feet.
• Deep: Down hand on the heels of the center make sure helmet is aligned with the waist of the center.
• The key to good alignment is to have tackles aligned on guards and TE’s aligned on tackles.

HORIZONTAL SPLITS (Width):
• Mini: guards, tackles and tight ends 12 inches.
• Normal: guards two feet, tackles two feet, tight ends three feet.
• Max: guards three feet, tackles three feet, tight ends 3.5 feet.


*THE RULE SPECIFIES THAT NO LINEMEN’S HEAD CAN BE DEEPER THAN
THE CENTERS WAISTLINE. LOOK INSIDE!

If you have any questions you can ontact me at kwilmesh@cox.net

Ken Wilmesherr

+1 on the athletic ability part. If you have slow footed, or even unsure lineman (guys who aren't confident in the blocking scheme, or don't know the plays) wide splits can be a BIG problem.

We are a zone team and keep splits 2 to 3 feet most times and use a slide protection. The kids can adjust slightlly inside depending on the front. (I give them some leeway with their splits on pass)

i tell my guys it depends on each play, but typically the guards get 2-2.5 ft splits and the tackles get 2.5-3 ft splits. we're primarily a rule blocking scheme and throw a little zone in every now and then. i try to teach my guys the whole play and that their split can determine an outcome before the ball is snapped. if the BS guard is working in combo with the center i tell them to cheat their split down. if we're running an iso to the open ended side i'll tell my lineman that are covered to extend their split a little bit to go ahead and open a more natural running lane.

Alex Gibbs - guru of ZONE BLOICKING - has his as far off the ball as legal, & 1`8" splits. This works best for US, too!

billmountjoy@yahoo.com