Proper Stance for Cornerback in Football

Series Summary

Modern American football began in 1874 and has since been a popular sport for competitive teams of all ages. The excitement of a Monday night gridiron game works down from the bright lights, over a roaring crowd, and through the voices of top sports announcers like the late Howard Cosell or John Madden. In fact, football is now the most-watched sport in America, easily beating out America’s national pastime, baseball.

The object of the game of football is to advance down the field into the opposing team’s end zone. This is called a touchdown and is worth six points. There are other ways score in football, including two-point conversions and field goals. The team with the most points when time runs out wins.

In this free instructional video series, learn how to play cornerback. Understand how the game works, with an introduction to the basic rules and objectives, as well as a rundown of the offensive and defensive positions on the field. Lessons also include skills and techniques for beginner offensive and defensive players: how to carry the ball, throw a pass, block effectively, punt, and make a solid hand off.

Video Transcript

"Hi this is Sean Hobson for Expert Village. We're talking about how to play proper cornerback. One of the most important starts to being a good cornerback is to have good balance and a good stance. When you're a cornerback and you're lined up on a receiver, one thing you do not want to do is you do not want to come up and get yourself locked where you're back on your heels, because that first movement of that receiver and you try to go back, you're going to rock back on your heels and you're instantly going to be beat. So one of the most important things that we've got to remember is having a good stance, and that good stance includes good balance. To have good balance starts with a good base. So I don't want to be standing straight up when I'm playing cornerback. Instead I want to get down in a good athletic position, most of the time what I want to do is I want to open him up because I want to force my receiver to the outside. So I want to come up a little bit like this, I want to have good balance, and you see that I'm up on my toes. I'm ready to react. If he goes to the inside than I go quick to the inside. If he goes to the outside I can move quick to the outside. But everything I do I stay low, I stay powerful. If I read the backfield and I see that I need to go make a tackle, I can explode in through this guy and come in to make this tackle. So the first important thing about being a good cornerback is you want to have a good stance, good balance and be ready to play athletically."