OL drill camp.

Coach,

In the January 1992 Scholastic Coach issue there was an article called 'SUMMER "TRENCH WARS" FOR LINEMAN. The article was written by Michael Willeford, Offensive Line Coach at Redwood High School, Visalia, California. A breakdown of the article follows:

* Designed a six-event lineman's competition called "Trench Wars".
* Each school could enter as many teams as it wished, with each team comprised of six members (one designated as captain).
* All six members of the team were required to compete in all six events, but the scores of only five players would count in the individual events (jump rope, hang clear, and dot drill). At the same time, each team had to include at least one score from every athlete in one of the three individual events.
* The team captain would be responsible for determining which scores would be used at various times during the competition.
* The three individual events include:
Hang Clear: Two lifts, the better of which will count. The lifter (on each lift0 may opt for a single max lift or rep maxes, but he must declare his intent beforehand, or the lift will be defaulted. Note: Although many of the athletes preferred the bench press, the organizers thought that the hang, or power, clean provided a better test of the strength and agility needed in line play.

Jump Rope: Use a two-pund weighted rope and count the reps done in a 30-second timed period. Felt that rope jumping is valuable for foot speed, agility, and cardiovascular development.

Dot Drill: Designed by BFS (Bigger, Faster, Stronger), this drill does an excellent job of developing conditioning, agility, coordination, and concentration. Dots are placed in each corner of a small quadrangle 2' wide and 3' long. The base line is marked A and B, the top line D and E, and the middle dot C.
The athlete starts with one foot on A and one foot on B. He then jumps quickly to C (in the middle) - landing on both feet - then jumps to D and E (at top), then comes back the same way. he repeats this five more times. This phase is called Up and Back. the player goes through four other variations of this drill (Right Foot, Left Foot, Both Feet, and Turn Around). Each athlete is timed to see how long it takes him to complete the drill. Under 50 seconds is considered Super Quick, over 80 seconds, slow. The players' times are totaled to determine the team score.

The three Team events are contested in elay format, with everyone competing. Each event is timed continuously from first player to last, with the fastest total team timing winning the event. The three Team events are:
Barrel Relay: The "Barrel" is actually a 55-gallon drum, half full of water with two tires cemented to each drum. For competition a mound is prepared that is about 20" high, 36" across the top, about 5 yards long, with a 12' base. It is a 6-to8-yard jaunt from one line to the other. A beam is placed at the starting line and one at the other line to keep the barrel from rolling away from the competition area if it were to "escape".
Three members of the team are aligned on either side of the mound, setting them up in a three- or four-point stance. At our signal, the first player drives the drum to the top of the mound, where he passes it to a waiting teammate, who brings it down to a third teammate.
The six players keep moving and passing the drum until the sixth member brings it to rest at the point of origin. The total time elapsed represents the team score. Three five-second penalties are involved in this competition: (1) if a player touches the tire, if a receiving player pulls the tire, and (3) if a player needs a teammate to help get the tire over the mound.

Agility Relay: This relay is familiar to most coaches. The six team members break up into groups of three, 20 yards apart. each sets up in a three- or four-point stance. the first player starts on the call of 'GO!", while playewrs 2 to 6 start on the touch of the preceding runner. Each athlete runs 10 yards forward, 5 yards back, and repeats for 40 yards (10-5-10-5-10).

*---------->10
5<-----
----------->10
5<-----
---------->10*

*_______ 10___15___20*

Obstacle Course: Set up a 10-yard by 5-yard rectangular area with a cone in each corner and a 25-lb. (iron) plate on the ground just outside the cones. All six players set up in a file behind a line chute. At the Coach's signal ("GO!"), Player #1 drives through thechute, steps through a row of six tires, and goes to his left toward Cone 3. he picks up a 25-lb. plate at the corner and shuffles across to the right toward Cone 6 - holding the plate extended at eye level. (A 25-lb. weighted bag I believe could be used in replacement to the plate). Upon reaching Cone 6, he drops the weight and performs a forward roll to cone 5, where he picks up another 25-lb. plate and shuffles with it to Cone 4. He drops the weight at that corner and back-pedals to Cone 3. He then pulls around Cone 7 and then the Cone set up in the rectangle and dashes to the Finish Line, where the Coach is standing.
As Player #1 crosses the line, the Coach yells "GO!" to Player #2 on the starting line. Player #2 then dashes through the shute and the tires and goes to his right to Cone 6, where he picks up the plate dropped by player #1 and shuffles it across to Cone 3. He then negotiates the course clockwise (from Cone 3 to 4 to 5 to 6. He then pulls around Cone 7 and the middle cone, and dashes to the Finish Line).
The Coach then yells "GO!" as a signal to Player #3 on the starting line and the procedure continues with each player getting a turn on the course - Players #1, #3, and #5 to the left, and Players #2, #4, and #6 to the right.
The total timing of the six players comprises the team score, with the fastest total time winning the event.
Scoring for the six events, based on best times or most weight or reps:
1st - 10 points; 2nd - 8 points; 3rd - 6 points; 4th - 5 points; 5th - 3 points; 6th - 2 points; and 7th - 1 point. All the points earned in the six events made up each team's Fianl Score.

Hope this helps. Good luck with the competition.

Mike Britton
Head Coach
St. Lawrence Valley Trailblazers