also: gallop technique · gallop drill · gallop step
A quick side shuffle that gets a lineman onto a defender somebody else is already blocking, hip first and without squaring up, so he can leave immediately for a second defender. It names both the technique and the drill that reps it.
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A quick side shuffle, a 1-2 like the legs of a horse, that carries a lineman onto a down defender another lineman has already engaged. He plants and throws his hip into that defender rather than turning and squaring up on him, which puts his whole weight into the block without committing his shoulders to it.
Staying square downfield is the part that matters. It is what separates this from simply doubling. A lineman who squares up on the down man has to turn back out of the block before he can climb, and by then the linebacker is gone. Arriving hip first means he never has to turn, so he comes off clean and the same lineman ends up attacking two defenders on one play.
The footwork starts with a gather step to reset, then two balance steps that get the blocker hip-to-hip with his teammate before he climbs.
gallop techniquecombo block, double team, ace block, pullThe word is used for the drill as readily as for the technique, which is unusual: most blocking techniques and the drills that teach them have separate names.
The drill page carries the setup, the steps and the contact level.
gallop drillGallop names both the blocking technique and the drill used to teach it. In a line meeting the surrounding instruction usually makes clear whether the coach means the footwork or the repetition.