This is a three part series that I believe are essential for offensive lineman to have in order to play at a level that any athlete wants to achieve.  Being 6' 2" and at my heaviest weight 292 lbs I do not believe size has a lot to do with playing on the offensive line.  I have always gone with the motto.. "It is not the size of the man in the fight, but the fight in the man".  This is why I want to explain what I believe to be the three most important ***ets to have as a lineman. 

Handspeed

As you can tell by the title, I am a fan of the first one to strike will win the fight and ultimately the battle.  So with that said, one of the most important ***ets is fast hands.  As an offensive lineman or defensive lineman for that matter, fast hands usually equals a substantial blow that will follow.  I think this could be a fundemental law of physics, that if you have something moving with enough speed it will create force, but this isn't science cl*** this is football.  There are a lot of ways to work hand quickness, drills you can do, and activities you can play... not to mention God given ability.  For me the one thing that helped my hand speed was taking up boxing.  It not only helped with my quickness but my accuracy to hit moving targets.  I had a trainer that would consistantly harp on me for hitting a heavy bag quicker and harder, and that is all you need is a heavy bag and any gloves that can protect your knuckles, I was boxing 3 times a week and I would wrap my hands just to protect them a little more.  Boxing also helped me with my cardiovascular conditioning as well as my mental conditioning.  I know most of you are in the heart of your season and may not want to pick up some gloves right now, wait untill the off season.  If you want to hear about other drills you can do right now during the season write to me and I can give you some low impact drills that will increase your handspeed and help you get that much closer to dominating your position.  The next two blogs will discuss footwork and thinking faster than your opponent, so stay tuned and hit me up if you have any questions.

CW