What’s the easiest way to get a Defensive Coordinator to second guess everything?
Easy.
Motions.
But not just any motions.
Don’t expect to just walk out there with a bunch of motions you saw on Saturday or Sunday.
Your players might be running around the field looking like they’re doing a lot, but trust me.
Nobody is fooled.
You need to be smart and effective with your motions.
You need to know when to use them and how to drill them.
I’m going to cover all that in this post and you will walk away with the 3 Essential Motions for any type of offense that you run.
1. Bounce Motion
This one is so simple, but I just don’t see people running it enough.
How to do it:
Bounce your running back from one side of the formation to the other.
The quarterback can just wave his hand or just tell him, “Hey, bounce.”
Why to do it:
When you are in the shotgun, you are giving a huge hint to the defense where the run play is going.
You can of course counter that with the Pistol Formation which I cover here, but this simple bounce motion will work wonders for you as well.
Let’s say you want to run to the 3 technique, but the defense is always setting the three technique to the side of your running back.
Don’t settle for that defensive nonsense!
Use Bounce motion.
Now you are running right at the three technique and the defense has no idea what’s going on.
2. Wide Receiver Quick Motion
How to do it:
On a play where you are either running the jet sweep or have the number 3 receiver running a shoot route–think Y-Stick or Y-Corner–have your receiver just run across the formation and snap the ball once he crosses the center.
Why to do it:
The defense will do three things.
- They will not move. Now you have numbers to the side you are motioning.
Just run a speed sweep to the wide receiver or throw a bubble to him.
- They will spin to single high. Take advantage of the single side receiver or…
Run Y-Cross.
Goodness, that play is beautiful.
- They will bump over their linebackers.
Look at that beautiful green box of grass.
Run a slant to the L.
Run Counter to the Left.
Do anything you want, just please take advantage of that grass!
Drill:
You need to drill this motion with your quarterback for 5 minutes every single day.
You or another coach can stand behind the quarterback and tell the safeties to stay 2 high or spin down to 1 high.
Your quarterback just needs to watch those safeties.
If they stay 2 high like it is shown above, then he just hands the jet or gives to the tailback.
If they stay 1 high like it is shown above, then rip the slant.
Do this for 5 minutes every single day, and this will become second nature for your quarterback.
3. Push Motion
How to do it:
Wave the running back to one side and snap the ball once he is outside the tackle box.
Why to do it:
You are going to like this motion a lot because it cleans things up for your quarterback.
It’s basically a head start on your favorite quick game concepts.
And you know my favorites: Y-Stick and Y-Corner.
Before the ball is even snapped your quarterback is able to start reading that Apex defender.
Is he going with the running back?
If so, don’t throw it to the running back.
It’s that simple.
Conclusion
Motions are effective because they are efficient.
They don’t take three years to install and they mess with an undisciplined defense.
And you can make a disciplined defense look undisciplined when you run all three of these well.
I love these three, but if you have any others that you really like, let me know in the comments!
