Teach Receivers a Double Move

TEACH RECEIVERS TO SELL A DOUBLE MOVE WITH PROPER TECHNIQUE

BY CHARLIE COINER, FIRSTDOWN PLAYBOOK

One of the hardest things to teach a receiver about a double move is that he has to sell the initial move before breaking into the second part of the route. There are a lot of things that go into this. Double moves normally work better vs man coverage so the matchup is vital when teaching the route.

If the receiver is a good player and gets open a lot on most of the routes he runs, then selling the double move is easier to teach. Let’s face it, if the guy is talented then the defender is scared to death about getting beat on the initial move.

This means they will probably bite like crazy on the initial route no matter what. This is why you see great receivers continue to get open in the red zone when defenses try to man up with them. They do not have to sell the initial move as much to get open on the double move route.

That’s the easy part, right? The hard part is when the defense brackets your best receiver. Now that receiver is covered and you need one of your other receivers or tight ends to get open in the red zone. This is when the coaching and the technique will help you win.

The first thing that you have to do is convince the lesser talented receiver or tight end that they cannot run the double move route like your great receiver does.

The defender is not going to jump this receiver’s initial route as much as he would the great receiver because: 1. The defender is not as scared of the speed or talent factor as he may be vs the great receiver. 2. The great receiver has probably run the initial route on tape for the opponent to see many times and this receiver has not.

It is important to teach this receiver to be patient and sell the initial route. I usually say at least three steps. This is enough to get the defender to trigger and bite on the initial route.

This is harder than you think because the receiver will get excited and impatient thinking the quarterback will give up on him. The quarterback must be coached also that this is going to take a little longer than when the star player runs it but it will still be open.

When you are teaching this you have to be sensitive to the players morale and attitude. Most players understand the “why” here though if you slow down to coach it. It also doesn’t hurt when they use this technique and find themselves wide open.