Youth Football Shuffle the Deck

As your youth football team comes together with systems and line-up in place don't be afraid to shuffle the deck a bit. In other words, try a few different looks and combinations with players to see how they respond outside of their normal comfort zone. Try playing your big offensive end on the defensive end side or move one of your defensive players on the offensive side of the ball, give him some carries and see how he does.

You may find a diamond in the rough!

The only way you'll know is just to try it out. This is your responsibility to get the utmost out of your team. Its like car racing, you know what a guy can do on the quarter mile but as a coach you're curious to see what he can do on the oval.

At least you will know.

Try this at times perhaps when you have a good lead on your opponent or when you are behind at times by a large margin and just want to get something going.

It could spark your team or it could make you better. As a football coach you'd be selling yourself short if you didn't take the opportunity to try. Probably one of your team goals is to improve every day and this might be a way to compliment that goal. But, it could also blow up in your face, keep in mind though nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Some of the best moves have come out of these shuffles. You'll get comments like" How did you ever know? or "We never imagined they were capable" but also as well "What were you thinking? Ha-Ha.



Cheers

Youth Football Defensive Line Strategies

Did you ever imagine that you would be discussing defensive line strategies? Most youth football coaches just line up their biggest, slowest defensive linemen in the box and tell them to plug and penetrate into the backfield. But did you ever consider taking that defensive line a little further?

Yea, sure you want to get your defensive line to get up field but how many times have you seen these big guys miss the running back or worse run right by him oblivious to where the football is at. As well, how many of your defensive tackles have caught the quarterback from behind on a roll-out or have been fooled on a screen play?

Exactly!

What if you taught your defensive linemen to read their blocks and only penetrate to the heels of the offensive linemen and let the ball come to them? By reading the offensive line based on how they are being blocked a linemen can get in a better position to make a play! By penetrating only to the heels of the offensive line a defensive linemen will stay in the play, be harder to trap and not over pursue the ball.
Teach your defensive linemen to keep their heads in the game, know the situation, down and distance and react accordingly. If your contain guys do their job, they will filter the running game back inside to your defensive tackles who await patiently and are responsible to stop the oppositions running game from inside the box from offensive tackle to offensive tackle.


Cheers!

Youth Football Practice Plan

It seems to be a very long time between your last youth football game played and the upcoming season opener. Spring rolls in and as usual football fever heats up. I just received notice in regards to an upcoming youth football camp that is slated for the end of April. During the call my competitive juices start to flow and my excitement level rises.

It's going to be fun to get out on the field and teach youth football!

But wait a minute, what am I going to do with my group? Ah, worry not my friend for I have my trusty practice plans at hand and I will be ready to go, mange my time effectively, and get everything in that I want to get in and cover.

It's the only way to do it!

It's very difficult to show up at a football camp not be prepared and it's not fair to the players or the parents who have invested money into the camp. Besides it makes practise much simpler if I have my practice plan all mapped out.

Cheers!

Pulling your Offensive Guards in Youth Football

To me it's a picture of sheer beauty. Two offensive guards pulling down the line of scrimmage and leading the play around the end and downfield while your athletic running back tucks himself in behind and follows the blocks into the end-zone.
It's one of the grass root plays of football!

If you have a couple of big athletic guards its something that you want to consider doing an implementing as part of your offensive scheme. It's a great way to move and protect the football and when executed properly is a hard play to stop. Basically, you're out manning the defence at the point of attack by pulling the two guards. You're creating a physical mis-match on the corner with these linemen lead blocking into the secondary.
But it takes a lot of practice time to implement as your offensive line have to work in tandem to cover off the pulling guards who are vacating their spot on the line of scrimmage and this vacant area needs to be plugged to prevent middle linebackers that read the pull from shooting the vacant gap and stuffing the play in the backfield before it develops.
Usually, when you run this play you'll get your offensive line to tighten up their splits. This makes it a little easier to plug the gap. On the play side on the snap of the ball your offensive tackle and fullback will work in tandem as the offensive tackle will step down and fill for the pulling guard while the fullback will either take on the defensive linemen covering the tackle or go down and get the middle linebacker depending on how they are lined up. On the backside of the play the offensive linemen in tight splits will all just down block and prevent penetration into the backfield.

Again, practice and timing are the keys.

Cheers!