T Nation

Can Football be Considered a Strength Sport?

Powerlifting
#21

Sorry your thread got hijacked…

I played d-end from pee-wee to D1. The best thing is explosiveness off the line, driving strength, quick feet and pressing.

Work on sled pushes and drags for you explosiveness and drive. Also front squats, as your opponent is in front of you, it’s a different kind of leg strength. Do a lot of footwork (changing directions, moving your feet as quickly as possible). As far as pressing goes, you will never be pushing an o-line guy straight. The best crossover is incline bench as far as coming off the line goes, but flat press does have it’s place, just not as big. Deads and cleans are also crucial, as the core strength and posterior chain strength they provide will crossover in more ways than can be counted.

Furthermore, strength and numbers don’t mean shit if you don’t have a killer’s attitude between the lines. Agression can mask a lot of weakness. Good luck!

#22

[quote]JGerman wrote:
Thanks for the insight everyone. Do you think you can find a successful football player that would ever say football is not a strength sport??[/quote]

You’re just arguing over semantics. The point that the other posters have been trying to make is that strength is a primary characteristic of some sports, whereas it is a supporting characteristic of other sports. The former are generally considered “strength sports”, while the latter are not.

Strength as primary characteristic means that strength itself is measured and scored. These are the strength sports: powerlifting, weightlifting, etc.

Strength as a supporting characteristic means that strength itself is not measured, but can help to achieve a better score in whatever criteria is measured. This is football.

Is the difference clear now?

#23

What happened to the OP?

Sean Parent,
I don’t think this is Semi-pro. Not many begin playing at that level.

SOCM,
Not many people play the same position from pee wee to college. At least I didn’t but I agree about said lifts.

ski,
i understand what you are saying but don’t agree as I think strength is a primary factor for football unlike other ‘sports’ as you said. Show me a player with low strength and I will show you a bad football player. I understand that not all strong guys can play football though.

Cheers guys.

#24

Strength is important to football…but the conversion rate isn’t what many think. The only strength test they do at the NFL combine is 225 for bench reps. Many people have Andre Smith from Alabama as the #1 Tackle on the board this year…he managed 19 reps at like 325lbs body weight. Louis Valasquez(sp?) is a G from Texas Tech…He did I think 39 reps at a similar bodyweight. LV is a 5-6 round type while Smith is a top 15 pick overall.

The single biggest mistake young guys preparing for college football make is not having some balance between the time in the weight room and running. Running is pretty much what I meant by technique work…not distance running, but lots of sprints, lateral shuffle, grass drills, etc…

#25

[quote]SOCMSuperman wrote:
Sorry your thread got hijacked…

I played d-end from pee-wee to D1. The best thing is explosiveness off the line, driving strength, quick feet and pressing.

Work on sled pushes and drags for you explosiveness and drive. Also front squats, as your opponent is in front of you, it’s a different kind of leg strength. Do a lot of footwork (changing directions, moving your feet as quickly as possible). As far as pressing goes, you will never be pushing an o-line guy straight. The best crossover is incline bench as far as coming off the line goes, but flat press does have it’s place, just not as big. Deads and cleans are also crucial, as the core strength and posterior chain strength they provide will crossover in more ways than can be counted.

Furthermore, strength and numbers don’t mean shit if you don’t have a killer’s attitude between the lines. Agression can mask a lot of weakness. Good luck![/quote]

What he said, especially about the aggression. An aggressive, relentless player who is fast off the ball makes for a hell of a d-lineman. As a former (mostly offensive) lineman, it seems that those three lead to the majority of sacks.

Run stopping is more about following your rules and maintaining gap assignments, but the ability to relentlessly follow the play and be explosive will get you far.

#26

[quote]dfreezy wrote:
JGerman wrote:
So what are the criteria for strength sports? What makes it a sport?

To me, strength sports are not team sports (although one could lift for a club) but rather a competition between an athlete and the weight, where the primary objective of the athlete is to move the weighted object a predetermined distance/path which may or may not be timed.

While training for football uses strength sports, I wouldn’t call the sport of football a strength sport.[/quote]

I used to have to pick up 300 pound defensive linemen and take them along a predetermined blocking path.

#27

[quote]Agressive Napkin wrote:
SOCMSuperman wrote:
Sorry your thread got hijacked…

I played d-end from pee-wee to D1. The best thing is explosiveness off the line, driving strength, quick feet and pressing.

Work on sled pushes and drags for you explosiveness and drive. Also front squats, as your opponent is in front of you, it’s a different kind of leg strength. Do a lot of footwork (changing directions, moving your feet as quickly as possible). As far as pressing goes, you will never be pushing an o-line guy straight. The best crossover is incline bench as far as coming off the line goes, but flat press does have it’s place, just not as big. Deads and cleans are also crucial, as the core strength and posterior chain strength they provide will crossover in more ways than can be counted.

Furthermore, strength and numbers don’t mean shit if you don’t have a killer’s attitude between the lines. Agression can mask a lot of weakness. Good luck!

What he said, especially about the aggression. An aggressive, relentless player who is fast off the ball makes for a hell of a d-lineman. As a former (mostly offensive) lineman, it seems that those three lead to the majority of sacks.

Run stopping is more about following your rules and maintaining gap assignments, but the ability to relentlessly follow the play and be explosive will get you far.[/quote]

Agreed especially those last couple sentences. You gotta be aggressive Im talking mad dog mean is crucial to playing on the line. You can play mean but not dirty in my opinion… We had this guy that was a buck 80 and man he would get over guys that were 250 by driving, getting low, using quick short steps and just being aggressive, and getting off the line fast and being RELENTLESS! Had he been bigger he could have probably made it to college ball without a doubt…

#28

as a former d-lineman and current o-lineman the hardest part in blocking a smaller guy as your self …your profile says 6’2 215…is that you guys have the speed and ability to drop the hips and turn the edge extremely fast…i guarantee your not ever gonna be a bull rusher so i would just focus of hip flexibility and hand speed to avoid them big uglies getting their mitts on you lol…and just be a student of the game,listen to everything your coaches say and dont be afraid to speak up if you have any questions or even have any ideas on how they can use you…i know its not much info but yeah…and yeah football requires strength but even i wont consider it a flat out strength sport