Alabama OL, DL focus on violent hands with Krav Maga instructor before fall camp
For the second summer in a row, Israeli Krav Maga instructor Al “Poodie” Carson traveled to Tuscaloosa at the request of some of Alabama’s offensive linemen. Only this time, it wasn’t just the offensive guys who learned the fighting system. The defense got in on the action, too, and Carson was able to spend time around some of the Crimson Tide coaches.
At the request of returning starter Tyler Booker, Carson spent the last week working with Alabama’s trench players. Arriving on UA’s campus on Monday, July 8, the instructor used five days to focus on violent hands with Tide players on both sides of the football.
“As big and strong as they are, we were just concentrating on the hands and getting their power to come through their feet out through their hands so they could just be total destruction on the field,” Carson told BamaOnLine.
Carson has a background in law enforcement, having retired after 30 years, and played center at West Virginia State University. He now works for David Kahn, who has taught the Krav Maga technique to all five branches of the U.S. military. Carson primarily works with linemen, including two Los Angeles stars, Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack. His methods went viral on Twitter when he trained Donald with knives during the 2018 offseason.
According to the David Kahn Krav Maga website, the training program’s “instinctive, explosive upper-body movements, combined with dynamic footwork, balance, and body positioning, deliver controlled brutality that can dominate many game situations. These core tactics have been designed to be mastered in a short amount of time. When added to your current training regimen, these tactics deliver immediate results.”
Carson worked with Alabama’s offensive linemen for a weekend last offseason but increased his time by a couple of days this summer. The difference this year was he added time with the defensive players as well as watching the new Crimson Tide coaches at work.
But the primary objective of Carson’s time around the Alabama players remained unchanged.
“We talked a lot of just violence – within the rules and everything like that,” Carons said, “but the violence that you’ve gotta bring on the football field because football is a violent sport and these guys want to take it to the maximum level so they can be great and make the team great.”
Booker leading Alabama offensive line
Alabama OL with Al Carson (@AlCarson / X)
Booker is entering his third year in the Tide program and is the unquestioned leader among the offensive linemen, Carson said. The junior was once again the one who reached out to the Krav Maga specialist in order to get some extra work in for himself and his teammates before camp begins for Alabama at the end of July, and he set an example all five days.
“He is definitely an alpha, and he has stepped up,” Carson said. “If I tell people in a drill – because it was hot out there – ‘Let’s go,’ because we’re moving at a fast pace, Booker is leading the charge. He’s tired, but he’s not gonna let anything stop him from being great.
“And what I see is the maturity in him as that leader, and everybody is gravitating to it, as well. Like Kadyn Proctor and Wilkin Formby, they’re just going right with the flow. Booker has just established himself with the team, with the coaches that I see as that total leader, and he’s really, really cementing himself as the leader of the offensive line.
“Barring any health injuries, he’s going to have an awesome season because he wants it. He’s hungry.”
Carson was also impressed by new Alabama center Parker Brailsford, who followed his head coach from Washington to Tuscaloosa. A starter on the Huskies’ Joe Moore Award-winning line a year ago, Brailsford is expected to be the Tide’s center this fall, and after missing part of the spring due to personal reasons, he is back working out with his new team.
“His athletic ability, one,” said Carson of what stands out about Brailsford. “Of course, what I do with the hands, his hands are exceptionally fast. And his smarts, he puts himself in proper positions to win. He’s not the biggest guy. he’s not your typical Nick Saban offensive lineman where you’re super massive, but his feet and hands work so well together.
“This kid, the future is bright for this kid, believe me. But he’s strong for his size. He’s a strong kid, as well.”
Another lineman who Carson praised was Jaeden Roberts, who he quickly called “the Hulk.”
“The nicest kid you’re ever going to meet, but don’t get in his way because he is determined,” Carson said of Roberts. “He just possesses raw, natural strength that, yes, he’s building up in the weight room, but he is just, you could see, everything about him exudes strength. But he’s very athletic, as well. I was impressed with him.”
Defensive players get in on the action
Alabama DL and LBs with Al Carson (@AlCarson / X)
Like Booker, redshirt junior defensive lineman Tim Keenan “really impressed” Carson during his time at Alabama this past week. Now a veteran along the Tide defensive front, Keenan is entering his second year as a starter and made sure his defensive guys got some work in with the Krav Maga instructor while he was on campus before preseason practice.
He was one of a few defensive veterans who caught Carson’s attention during their training.
“He has established his role as a leader, as well, because he gathered the defensive line together every day,” Carson said of Keenan. “‘Hey, Coach, we’re going this time.’ He was assigning guys to come pick me up from the hotel and take me to the facilities to work. And then Tim Smith is really somebody to watch, as well. He’s going to really, really show some stuff.
“And I also got to work with a couple linebackers. (Jihaad Campbell), he was on the Bama Standard on YouTube, that video they released, and he’s really something special, as well. What I took from them is they’ve got a chip on their shoulder, and they want to win. The standard has been set, and they want to continue to uphold that standard.”
Although Carson had worked with Alabama’s offensive linemen in the past and played on that side of the ball in college, he is no stranger to the defensive line. Some of his clients now are star defensive players in the NFL. Spending time with multiple positions while at the Capstone, he explained the difference in violent hands for offensive and defensive guys.
“Offensive linemen, they’re so big and massive and strong, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they know how to create violence from their hands,” Carson said. “The power comes from your feet up through your body to your hands.
“In Krav Maga, our saying is the hand leads the body, and then we were looking for precision where they were striking so that they can get the maximum from their violent hands. So one of the techniques we do is we have them look through their hands to the target that they’re going to.
“And with the defensive line, it’s getting to the objective by getting past the offensive line as fast as possible. Our philosophy is, the average play is three seconds, and we want you by the offensive lineman within a half a second to a second. So everything is based on getting your hands on him and getting by him on the defensive side.”
Mindset under new Alabama coaches
Alabama OL and Coach Kapilovic with Al Carson (@AlCarson / X)
One of the biggest differences in Carson’s 2024 trip to Alabama compared to his 2023 visit was his time around the coaches. He had no contact with Nick Saban or any staff member last year, which was not a knock on the previous regime. “You could see what Coach Saban demands and the standard he had set,” Carson said. But he spent time around new head coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic and came away impressed.
“Coach DeBoer is, I won’t say fallen in his step, but Coach DeBoer is establishing his own legacy at Alabama,” Carson said. “You could see that this guy is focused. He’s laser-focused in because he’s filling big, big, big shoes, and he wants to be successful. He wants to win.
“And his program, when I got to watch a little bit, everything was just like Coach Saban. Everything was scripted. Everything was going as it should be. And then Coach Kap, we sat in his office and picked each other’s brains and talked. Coach Kap knows that he’s got a big job to do as the offensive line coach there, and that’s a guy that’s really, really dedicated to his craft and the team, as well.
“The total thing is these guys are well-equipped, they’re ready to present the best Alabama football team they can on the field this year. And hopefully, it’ll go well for them, of course.”
While there is a lot of new at Alabama, the team’s mindset hasn’t changed under DeBoer, who saw his 2023-24 season end in a similar fashion as the Tide – in disappointment.
“What I take is that they’re hungry because they didn’t finish,” Carson said. “They didn’t finish, they didn’t achieve their goal, which is the national championship, and that’s where that chip comes from. Look at a guy like Proctor. He hasn’t put pads on since January, and the accolades he got last year, he doesn’t have a whole lot to prove. But in his mindset, he wants to be the best, as well as Booker, as well as the defensive line and the linebackers.
“The sense I got is they want to be great individual players, but they also want to produce great teams. And that’s where that chip comes from and that hunger. They’re hungry, and I would say they never mentioned it, but they want to prove people wrong that they are another great Alabama team.”
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