Tackling Essay
Some say that the key to victory lies in fundamentals. Games of football can be so close that the final result could be determined by a factor as specific as tackling. Tackling is one of the most basic of fundamentals in the game of football, and the same method of tackling is generally used all throughout a player’s career. Players are taught how to tackle from the time that they first start playing, and the skill of tackling is practiced week in and week out throughout their whole careers. The simple explanation for why tackling is treated with such high regards is that it is one of the biggest factors that determine whether a defense is effective. A defense could have a perfect game plan with all of the right strategy, but it is all for
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Behind every tackle is a substantial amount of physics to explain the outcome of contact between the offensive and defensive player. Force in a tackle is equal to mass times acceleration. A common misconception, according to Alan Schwarz, a Pulitzer Prize nominated correspondent, is that the acceleration that contributes to the force of the tackle is the acceleration of the players going into the contact. However, it is rapid deceleration after contact that increases the force (Schwarz). Generally, Larger sized defensive players would be would have more of an advantage attempting to tackle at the offensive player’s center of mass, because they would have the necessary force going into the tackle to be able to knock the offensive player back. This is a more effective method of tackling for larger defensive players because it presents a better chance of stopping the momentum of the offensive player altogether. According to Timothy Gay, physics professor at the University of Nebraska, when a defensive player tackles low, there is a chance that the offensive player will spin out of the tackle because the center of mass of the player remains in forward motion. When a defensive player instead applies his momentum to or just below the center of mass of the offensive player, the momentum of the offensive player is stopped and it is unlikely that he will be able to escape the tackle if it is executed properly.
Behind every tackle is a substantial amount of physics to explain the outcome of contact between the offensive and defensive player. Force in a tackle is equal to mass times acceleration. A common misconception, according to Alan Schwarz, a Pulitzer Prize nominated correspondent, is that the acceleration that contributes to the force of the tackle is the acceleration of the players going into the contact. However, it is rapid deceleration after contact that increases the force (Schwarz). Generally, Larger sized defensive players would be would have more of an advantage attempting to tackle at the offensive player’s center of mass, because they would have the necessary force going into the tackle to be able to knock the offensive player back. This is a more effective method of tackling for larger defensive players because it presents a better chance of stopping the momentum of the offensive player altogether. According to Timothy Gay, physics professor at the University of Nebraska, when a defensive player tackles low, there is a chance that the offensive player will spin out of the tackle because the center of mass of the player remains in forward motion. When a defensive player instead applies his momentum to or just below the center of mass of the offensive player, the momentum of the offensive player is stopped and it is unlikely that he will be able to escape the tackle if it is executed properly.