Ball Security Drills: The Running Back Gauntlet
Updated · Fact checked
Any hit can knock the ball loose. The gauntlet puts you through that on purpose: two lines of teammates hit at the ball and your arms while you run between them with the ball locked in all five points of pressure.
How to do it
Set the lines
Two lines of teammates about a yard and a half apart, each holding a shield or dummy, with the ball carrier 5 yards in front.
Lock the ball
Take the ball in the arm you will carry it in and set all five points: fingertips over the nose, palm, forearm, bicep and chest.
Run through
Run between the lines at speed while they hit at the ball and arms, never the head or below the knees. Keep the elbow tight to the body.
Switch and cover
On the coach's call, cut and switch the ball to the new outside arm, or cover it with the off hand on the wrist through the last hits.
Reset
Jog back and start from the other side so the ball goes in the other arm.
- Sets and reps
- 3 sets of 5 reps each side, 30 seconds rest.
- Equipment
- Football, Hand shields or blocking dummies, 4 to 6 teammates to form the gauntlet lines
- Muscles and skills
- Grip, Forearms
- Used in these 440 plans
- Running Back, Athlete
Coaching cues and common mistakes
Coaching cues
- Five points of pressure: fingertips, palm, forearm, bicep, chest
- Ball high and tight through contact
- Switch hands to the sideline arm
Common mistakes
- Ball away from the body
- Loose elbow
The five points of pressure
440 coaches five contact points: fingertips over the nose of the ball, the palm, the forearm along the side, the bicep clamping the back end, and the ball pinned to your chest. vIQtory Sports teaches the same five. Not every coach names the same points: in his 2025 AFCA convention talk, Alabama State running backs coach Juwan Lewis used the ribs in place of the chest, and his rule is that the ball should never swing or bounce.
In a Glazier clinic video, Appalachian State running backs coach Brian Haines says his program teaches four points and corrects the elbow of the carrying arm coming away from the body.
Sideline arm, the switch and two hands
Carry the ball in the arm nearest the sideline; USA Football's development model lists the ball in the outside arm. If it does get knocked loose, it has a chance to go out of bounds instead of rolling into the middle of the field. When you cut back across the field, switch hands so the ball stays in the outside arm. Glazier's running back bag drill builds the same habit: switch the ball to the opposite arm as you cross the bags.
In traffic, use the off hand too. Lewis teaches grabbing the wrist of the carrying arm with the off hand, and Haines counts that off hand as an extra point of pressure in a game when you expect a hit.
Running the gauntlet
In the version coach Chris Booth wrote up for USA Football, two lines of teammates hold dummies. They can hit the ball carrier, but not in the head or below the knees, and the ball carrier has to get through without going down, bobbling the ball or losing it. 440 programs it as the high-and-tight gauntlet and the ball switch on a cut in the running back plan, and as ball security work in the ATH plan.
FAQ
What are the five points of pressure in football?
They are the five places the ball touches you when you carry it right. 440 uses fingertips over the nose, palm, forearm, bicep and chest; some coaches name the ribs instead of the chest.
More running back drills
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Build my position planSources
- Reduce Fumbles With Proper Ball Security (RB Coaching Guide) (Chris Haddad, 2018-06-20), vIQtory Sports
- 2025 Convention Recap | Juwan Lewis, Alabama State | Ball Security (April 7, 2025), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA)
- Ball Security Drills - Brian Haines (Glazier Football, October 22, 2024), Glazier Clinics
- USA Football Football Development Model: Running & Receiving cheat sheet, hosted by Special Olympics (PDF; the bullet is the list separator in the PDF text), USA Football / Special Olympics
- Running Back Step and Plant Drill (Glazier Football, August 2, 2021), Glazier Clinics
- 4 drills to help running backs improve their balance (Chris Booth, 10/14/2015), USA Football
Program numbers (benchmarks, sets, reps, loads, protein targets) are 440 Football's own prescriptions. For athletes 13 and older; check with a physician or a registered dietitian before major training or diet changes.