As the offseason begins for some and others complete the playoffs, it’s time to disinfect and clean your Tubes. I’ll go over that in a minute. But now is also the time to work on tackling technique.
Yes, we all need a break. But after we ring in the New Year, it’s time to get busy. We can make up for the time we didn’t spend on tackling during the season. Set your schedule now so when the players come back after the holidays they expect to get better. It doesn’t matter if you have Tackle Tubes, tackle wheel, tackle ring, tackle donut or any other copy of “The Original” Tackle Tube. Use what you have to help your players improve and play safer. One thing I have learned as I’ve traveled doing coaching clinics over the last year is, we all want the best for our players. All agree we want to make the game safer and are working to grow boys into men.
Here are a few drills we use when teaching the shoulder tackle technique. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjdJ56eVFyU&list=PLbO1vgkCh4w6s7i5kDi9mOPc49uPcCIzu
Call it Hawk Tackle, Rugby Tackle, Leverage-Based Shoulder Tackle, or any other name I’ve left out. It all comes from Rugby where they make some fantastic tackles without pads. These 7 short 1-minute videos will give you information you can use in the offseason. In January 2018 we’ll be filming with USA Football multiple drills that will help you coach your players to be better tacklers and safer tacklers. There no off-season anymore. Just a holiday break.
Now to the cleaning. Very simple but very important to keep your Tackle Tubes clean. We take disinfectant wipes and go over the Tubes at least twice. For very dirty Tubes you can use a little soap and water first and then wipe them down with disinfectant wipes. This will keep mildew from growing and kill most germs gathered from sweaty players. Make sure they dry completely before stacking. Try to keep them in an area that has low humidity. If stored outside or in a storage shed, you may want to invest in some DampRid. $8 to $9 cost. I know wiping down our pads is not a fun job but it’s a job that needs to be done.
When you think about it, there’s never a good time to store your Tackle Tubes. They should be used year-round. Here’s hoping you have a great end to your season and a great offseason.
Thank you,
Steve Sloan
Tackle Tube USA
Steve@TackleTube.com