Blocking: Skill or Strength?
Both. A Phenomenon. Strength gets trained and skill is practiced.
Blocking is a phenomenon.1 You can define it as a skill—or as a strength. We defined it as a strength at LSS University (see the image above). Why? Because that’s the only way to program specific training work for the lineman.
Skill Only Lens
If you only see blocking as a skill only, you’ll keep practicing it and coaching it. But if your lineman doesn’t have the strength to express the skill, your drills—regardless of how good of a coach you think you are, won’t translate to violence.
Strength is the ability to generate a magnitude of force. Skill is the ability to express that force in a specific context. Blocking demands both.
Train + Practice
That’s why we look through both lenses: strength and skill. One gives us a way to train. The other gives us a way to practice. We train for strength. We practice for skill. In the LSS system we do them both—in conjugation.
Flim Study: Anthony Munoz + Positional Isometrics
In this video, Olin talks through how he studies the film of Anthony Munoz—one of the most technically sound and physically dominant left tackles to ever play the game. Olin shows how he used Muñoz’s tape to set up a left tackle into a specific positional isometric
Offensive Line Coaches: The First Question to Ask
And if your lineman can’t block, the first question isn’t, "What’s wrong with his hands?"
The first question is: "Can he even generate the force required to block?" Because if you don’t know and practice only to get his hands in better placement, his hands will be in better placement with a nervous system that still cannot generate strength.
The answer to the strength question is in the weight room. Find out what and when was his last training max. Why?
Offensive line coaches please understand: You can’t coach your way out of a strength problem. You don’t need better hand placement. You need a nervous system that can generate violence.
Fact: The most coachable lineman are those who possess all the neurological and biological perquisites of LSS. This is one thing that all offensive line coaches agree on.
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LSS views blocking as both a skill and strength. Not just skill only.