Before you get all up and arms, please hear me out. This article isn’t to revolutionize the wide receiver position. I simply want to offer better, more practical, science-based solutions to accelerating from the line of scrimmage. I think coaches spend too much time harping on “false steps.” Coaches also spend too much time in training, individual periods at practice, and film study working on eliminating the dreaded false step. I know this because years ago, I used to be one of those coaches. But with learning comes growth; and I realized that maybe there are better ways to coach or not coach things. This article is to help you save time and stress so we can worry about the more important aspects of playing wide receiver. Let's dive in.
WHAT IS A FALSE STEP?
First things first, let's identify what a “false step” is. A false step is an unnecessary step that is nonproductive or counterproductive to the body moving in the desired direction. In this context, a nonproductive or counterproductive movement would cause the wide receiver to run slower off the line of scrimmage at the snap of the football. It would cost the wide receiver time due to a perceived slower reaction and could potentially be a hindrance to the rest of the route.
Now that we have defined what a false step is, let me explain the ONLY situation that a wide receiver should never false step. I don’t love speaking in absolutes, especially when it comes to movement and sports. However, to give the old school no false step coaches a little light of happiness, I’ll explain the one situation where false steps are unacceptable. The only situation is when the receiver is releasing in a straight line, when the defender isn’t aggressively pressed at the line of scrimmage. In this scenario, the defender is basically giving the receiver a free release. That’s it! That is the only situation in which a wide receiver should not false step. Even then, the false step really isn’t a big deal. What matters in football from a wide receiver perspective is creating separation, timing with the quarterback, and catching the football. A false step out of the stance won’t affect any of these things so therefore, IT’S NOT VERY IMPORTANT. With all that being said... Let’s move on.
THE REPOSITIONING STEP
What if I told you that there is a certain kind of “false step” that makes you faster off the line of scrimmage? We're not going to call it a false step. Introducing the “Repositioning Step.” Now I didn’t invent this step, sadly. The human body came up with the step instinctually. A Repositioning Step is the body’s way of naturally adapting to position you in an advantageous position to get moving quickly in the desired direction. I first heard about this from one of the brightest coaches I’ve had the opportunity to learn from, Lee Taft. Lee doesn’t directly work with wide receivers or coach football, but what he is teaching translates to all movement, including on the football field. One of the main takeaways I have learned from Lee is that MOVEMENT IS MOVEMENT. Tennis, basketball, football, etc... all share common movements, the movements are just based in different arenas and used in different contexts. Think of a wide receiver trying to beat press coverage; It's almost identical to a point guard trying to drive to the hoop as the defender plays tight man defense.
The science behind the Repositioning Step is based on the angles needed to push into the ground to accelerate in a specified direction. More specifically, the angles of your shins will initially dictate this direction of acceleration. An athlete’s shin angles will also dictate slowing down, stopping, and changing direction. To make it simple, the way the shins are leaning will dictate the direction you move when you push into the ground (obviously within reason). The great thing about the body is that it is the ultimate auto correct. To accomplish any task regarding movement, an athlete’s eyes and brain will first work together to help identify the surroundings and the event that is taking place. The brain will then process which task needs to be accomplished, given the context of the surroundings, and the body will naturally adapt and move to attempt to complete the task. This process is kind of like a form of “Fight or Flight” and obviously takes place faster than which you are reading this. One of the big differences between higher-level and lower-level athletes is how fast and efficiently this process takes place. Perception will drive action.
FALSE STEP VS. REPOSITIONING STEP
There is a clear difference between the two. A false step is nonproductive or counterproductive. A repositioning step IS productive. More importantly, using a repositioning step gets the body moving faster than trying your best to not take a false step at the line of scrimmage. Yes, you read that correctly. A wide receiver repositioning his feet to move in a desired direction will be faster than trying to eliminate a “false step.”
HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO WIDE RECEIVERS?
Football is a reaction-based sport. As a wide receiver, it is important to understand the task at hand before the ball is snapped. Here are things a wide receiver needs to consider: down & distance, where the football is located (yard line, where between the hashes), the formation, the concept of the play being run, the individual route being run, where to line up (your split), on the ball or off the ball, the positioning of the defense as a whole, the positioning of the defender covering you. All these things are important pre-snap to give you an idea of what the defense is going to do and what the play is going to look like, more specifically what your route is going to look like. But it’s not really that easy. Things change rapidly. The defense may be disguising a coverage, the defender covering you may change his technique at the last second, you may have predicted the wrong coverage. Whatever the case may be, your initial plan sometimes goes out the window and you must react on the fly to make the play a success. I am describing this in detail because 1. It’s true and 2. To show there are plenty of more important things to worry about rather than worrying about taking a false step. Now the argument here will be “if you practice eliminating the false step enough, then you will create a good habit and you won't false step.” And my counter argument will be, “imagine using that practice time to work on creating and keeping separation, your break point, catching the football, or spend it studying film.” No matter how much you practice eliminating a false step, your body will still automatically reposition to get a more powerful push to get from Point A to Point B, faster.
WIDE RECEIVER STANCE - SOLID FOUNDATION
I am a believer in allowing wide receivers to be comfortable and confident in their stance. What feels comfortable to 5’9” guys might be different compared to the 6’5” guys. Mobility, strength, movement patterns, and ultimately perception of the ensuing task also can play a role in what a receiver's stance will look like. I like to break down a general receiver stance into 2 different parts.
Stance vs. Off-coverage and Stance vs. Bump or Press coverage.
Teams may have rules regarding inside foot up or outside foot up relative to positioning of the ball. Some teams may allow freedom for the receiver to choose between right or left leg ahead (if allowing freedom is the case, make sure to not develop tendencies that stick out on film, for example: outside foot is always up for in-breaking routes). Regardless of the rules, the following principles remain the same.
Stance vs. Off-coverage should be comfortable and relaxed. The receiver should feel balanced and powerful, ready to accelerate and dictate the tempo of the route. The feet will be split, arms relaxed at the sides of the body. The receiver’s weight distribution between front leg and back leg will be determined based on the desired direction of initial acceleration.
If the receiver is accelerating straight ahead, the front leg should be emphasized with weight being distributed more to the front leg, on the ball of the foot. The front foot big toe will be pointed straight ahead. The heel of the front foot will be slightly elevated, think of being able to slide a credit card underneath the heel. The front shin should be leaning slightly forward with the knee bent, pointing over the top of the toe. The hips will be slightly sunk in a loaded position. The torso will have a slight forward lean. This scenario is what I described earlier where no repositioning step is needed. Think of a track sprinter loaded in the blocks and ready to take off in a straight line as soon as the gun goes off.
If the receiver is accelerating in any other direction, diagonally or laterally, then the weight distribution will be more balanced between the front and back legs. The receiver can have a more balanced distribution because a repositioning step is going to be needed to reposition, push, and accelerate. This stance should look very similar to the one mentioned above, just a little more balanced rather than emphasizing the front leg. The front shin will be more straight up and down in this situation as well.
Stance vs. Bump or Press can be a little different. I like to coach a tighter and slightly wider, split stance. Both feet will still be staggered but the back leg can be a little wider and tighter (squarer to the line of scrimmage) compared to the stance vs. Off-coverage. This allows the player’s base to be more balanced, more stable, and in a better position to get square to the defender to initiate the release. Arms and hands should be ready for combat. The receiver must be alert and prepared to react to what the defender is going to do. If the defender jams, then the receiver has some fighting and/or moving to do to release off the ball. If the defender bails, then the receiver can pick up the tempo and accelerate in the direction needed a little quicker. Repositioning Steps will be necessary more often vs. tighter coverage due to the reactive nature of the scenario.
Teaching definitive wide receiver stances is important to young players so they understand the general idea of what needs to be accomplished. As the receiver matures and becomes more experienced with the position, there isn’t much need to intervene with stance unless there is a glaring issue, in other words if it isn't broken, don’t fix it. Stance is somewhat important but the initial movement from the stance is a much bigger deal.
WHEN AND HOW TO USE A REPOSITIONING STEP
I identified and analyzed 2 different types of repositioning steps: Back Foot Displacement and Front Foot Displacement. I included more in-depth video breakdowns of both types that you can find below featuring NFL Superstars Cooper Kupp, Davante Adams, Ja'Marr Chase, and Jerry Rice. You can probably dive deeper into this and come up with different names for different steps that occur, but I’d rather keep it simple. There is also some overlap with repositioning steps and “releases” at the line of scrimmage vs. bump or press coverage. To reiterate, receivers don’t need to reposition their feet when releasing in a straight line off the line of scrimmage in a free release situation. Repositioning Steps will be used when accelerating at a different angle other than straight ahead. Examples of this include crossing routes, “stemming” a defender (“Stemming” article coming soon), reacting to a defender’s change in technique, reacting to press coverage at the line of scrimmage.
THE REPOSITIONING STEP IS NATURAL
If you can take one thing away from this article, I would want it to be this: The repositioning step is a natural occurrence to help an athlete move in a desired direction. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a coachable thing. It just happens. However, it is important for the receiver to understand what is happening and why it is happening. What happens immediately after the repositioning step is coachable and athletes need that specific coaching to better utilize and maximize the player's natural, innate ability.
IN CONCLUSION
Once again, this article isn’t about ruffling feathers. I know a lot of diehard stance & start, no false steps type of coaches. I just wanted to bring to light the importance of letting an athlete be an athlete. At the end of the day, coaches only have X amount of time to present information to help an athlete improve. I think spending time elsewhere outside of the false step realm is a much better idea.
Hope you enjoyed this article and learned something about the Wide Receiver position. Please share, leave a comment, or shoot me a message to let me know your thoughts.
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