Cone square
Why it works
Both players arrive at the middle at speed and from an angle, which is the one situation a flag pull actually happens in and the one a stationary pulling drill never creates. It is also the drill NFL FLAG's own library gives an age rule for, which is a sign of how much the square size matters.
Run it
6 MINFour reps as runner and four as defender. Six minutes across two squares for a squad of twelve. Walk back to the corner between reps, because a tired defender takes a bad angle and learns the wrong lesson.
Say this
“Cut inside the cone, do not loop it.”
The angle out of the corner is the whole race, and a loop hands the middle away before anybody has moved.
“Run at his hip, not at him.”
Aiming at the body arrives level with nothing to reach for. Aiming at the hip arrives with the flag in front of you.
“Head down, eyes up.”
A runner who looks at the defender tells him which way he is going before he goes.
Good looks like
- Both players are at full speed before they reach the middle.
- Neither loops wide at their own cone.
- The defender's first step after the cone is towards the runner's hip rather than straight at him.
- Pulls and escapes are roughly even. If the defender wins every time the square is too small.
The mistakes
Running a wide arc at the cone. Make them put a hand on the cone for the first few reps.
Say: “Cut inside the cone, do not loop it.”
Closing square on and watching the chest, which is how a runner goes straight past.
Say: “Run at his hip, not at him.”
Staring at the defender the whole way in. Tell the runner to look at the far cone instead.
Say: “Head down, eyes up.”
A five-yard square and start them both already facing the middle with no cone to run around. The win is reaching for a belt at all.
Fifteen-yard square, and add a second defender from a third corner so the runner has to pick a side rather than a gap.