The chop tackle

Increasingly our goal on the tackle approach is to be as low as possible, in order to execute a good momentum stopping "chop tackle".

In the past we have talked about the principle of getting the leading foot as close to the ball carrier as possible. However, mechanically, this stops us from being able to drop our body height to the level we require.

A new way to think about the tackle approach would be to concentrate on the tackler getting his knee down as close to the ball carrier as much as possible. (Rather than the foot). This allows the leading shin to be parallel with the floor and the hips and upper body height all to drop with it.

This will be a technique we look at in skill zones in the coming weeks. See the below video for some examples.