Conditioning, Football Fundamentals and Body Control are the Keys
Coaching in youth football requires that the coach put his best effort in minimizing football injuries and putting the players in a position whereby the risk of a football injury is minimal. Injuries are a factor in all contact sports at all levels. Even in youth football its part of the game and a football season can be lost with significant injuries to key personnel.
Like a doctor that practices preventative medicine a youth football coach can kind of do the same thing. It all begins in football practice! An effective and proper warm-up, that will stretch out and warm-up the muscles. A solid conditioning routine that places the football athlete in the best possible shape, so that they can play at a high level. Practising fundamentals faithfully so that the youth football player has good technique, and by doing so minimizes the chance of injury.
Another good key is emphasizing body control at all times to the football players. That is on every play, every chance of contact, that the player is in control of his body with good technique and puts his body in a good position on every play to not only be effective fundamentally but also effective in avoiding injuries and at the same time effective in making a good football play! Some of the younger youth football players think they are indestructible and will launch their bodies in a reckless fashion into a ball carrier or on a block. This type of play needs to be addressed immediately by the football coach. Yea, it might be effective at the younger levels but if the habit continues they are setting themselves up for serious injury later on. They must be in control of their bodies at all times and the coach must be on top of it at all times! Effective management by the youth football coach in these areas will minimize injuries!
Cheers!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Youth Football Tackling: High or Low Technique
With bigger kids and better athletes now playing football the game is evolving so that new approaches and ideas are being implemented to deal with the change of body size and ability in our younger youth football players. It's not hard to realize that the average size of a 12 year old is bigger today than it was compared to twenty years ago. But then again there are still smaller athletes playing the game as well.
Form tackling is one area that a lot of youth football coaches discuss on a regular basis.
The traditional way of tackling was to teach our youth football players to tackle below the ball carriers waist with the head back and to contact the ball carrier with their shoulder at the thigh level wrapping the arms around the legs while driving their legs and taking the ball carrier to the ground. The idea being that as a smaller player you attack the lower part of a ball carrier, rather than tackling above the waist and being "run over" by a more bigger and physical athlete. A good philosophy at the time but over the years there were some significant problems with this technique. The biggest problem is that in tackling low the defender more than not would drop their head and leave their feet thus losing control over their bodies and putting themselves in a vulnerable position for a head or neck injury as well as a lot of missed tackles.
I have seen it many times.
The new idea of form tackling that is being implemented is to teach the youth football player to tackle above the waist with the head always back and up, with the point of contact being the chest plate of the tacklers shoulder pads contacting just below the chest plate of the ball carrier driving the arms up under or around the arms of the ball carrier while at the same time driving the legs until the ball carrier is taken to the ground. Again, the head is always back with the neck bulled at the time of contact. The player now never drops his head or loses control of his body by lunging at the thighs and leaving their feet. The players are taught to set up the bodies in a low stance with the knees slightly bent, with the head and arms back prior to impact and on impact like a coiled spring they are trained to drive up and through the ball carrier. The tackler now has more control of his body and the head is never part of the equation.
Now, the argument can be made once again with the smaller football player being run over but I have found that this is not true for the most part. I have noticed that the smaller athlete that once confident in this technique because of his lower stature is more explosive at the time of contact compared to the traditional way of tackling below the waist. A lot of times the smaller tackler will come in with good technique and " stand up" the ball carrier for a couple of strides until help arrives and the ball carrier is taken to the ground. I'd much rather see this take place then watch the tackler drop his head and leave his feet!
Cheers!
Form tackling is one area that a lot of youth football coaches discuss on a regular basis.
The traditional way of tackling was to teach our youth football players to tackle below the ball carriers waist with the head back and to contact the ball carrier with their shoulder at the thigh level wrapping the arms around the legs while driving their legs and taking the ball carrier to the ground. The idea being that as a smaller player you attack the lower part of a ball carrier, rather than tackling above the waist and being "run over" by a more bigger and physical athlete. A good philosophy at the time but over the years there were some significant problems with this technique. The biggest problem is that in tackling low the defender more than not would drop their head and leave their feet thus losing control over their bodies and putting themselves in a vulnerable position for a head or neck injury as well as a lot of missed tackles.
I have seen it many times.
The new idea of form tackling that is being implemented is to teach the youth football player to tackle above the waist with the head always back and up, with the point of contact being the chest plate of the tacklers shoulder pads contacting just below the chest plate of the ball carrier driving the arms up under or around the arms of the ball carrier while at the same time driving the legs until the ball carrier is taken to the ground. Again, the head is always back with the neck bulled at the time of contact. The player now never drops his head or loses control of his body by lunging at the thighs and leaving their feet. The players are taught to set up the bodies in a low stance with the knees slightly bent, with the head and arms back prior to impact and on impact like a coiled spring they are trained to drive up and through the ball carrier. The tackler now has more control of his body and the head is never part of the equation.
Now, the argument can be made once again with the smaller football player being run over but I have found that this is not true for the most part. I have noticed that the smaller athlete that once confident in this technique because of his lower stature is more explosive at the time of contact compared to the traditional way of tackling below the waist. A lot of times the smaller tackler will come in with good technique and " stand up" the ball carrier for a couple of strides until help arrives and the ball carrier is taken to the ground. I'd much rather see this take place then watch the tackler drop his head and leave his feet!
Cheers!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Beginner Youth Football Coach
Coaching youth football can be a challenging endeavour even for the most experienced football coach. There are always challenges and hurdles and issues along the way to solve even before you manage to play your first game. Understand that just because of their younger age it is still not an easy assignment. There's a lot of work involved!
The most important thing is that you have to be organized, have a structured practice plan in place that includes emphasis on fundamentals such as blocking and tackling daily! Running plays in practice is the least important when you consider all of what has to be done in order for youth football program to take-off! Your football systems need to be simple but effective and for the most part, the high school offence that you played and thrived in years ago is not suitable for your youth football team. But that doesn't mean you cannot adapt to a simpler more effective offence that your youth players will thrive in! There's certainly a lot of good information on the internet today by credible and experienced coaches and most of its free! The problem with the free information is that you have to spend countless hours poring through information and sorting out the good from the bad for your youth football team.
One of the products that I endorse on this website for the beginner youth football coach is Dave Cisars Winning Youth Football: A step by step plan. Coach Cisar promotes a simple but effective plan through a series of DVD's, CD-Rom, or paperback that can be purchased at a very reasonable cost that will help you effectively manage your youth football program. Coach Cisar has many years of coaching experience at the youth football level and his step by step plan is based on solid football fundamentals complimented with a simple but effective plan!
Cheers!
The most important thing is that you have to be organized, have a structured practice plan in place that includes emphasis on fundamentals such as blocking and tackling daily! Running plays in practice is the least important when you consider all of what has to be done in order for youth football program to take-off! Your football systems need to be simple but effective and for the most part, the high school offence that you played and thrived in years ago is not suitable for your youth football team. But that doesn't mean you cannot adapt to a simpler more effective offence that your youth players will thrive in! There's certainly a lot of good information on the internet today by credible and experienced coaches and most of its free! The problem with the free information is that you have to spend countless hours poring through information and sorting out the good from the bad for your youth football team.
One of the products that I endorse on this website for the beginner youth football coach is Dave Cisars Winning Youth Football: A step by step plan. Coach Cisar promotes a simple but effective plan through a series of DVD's, CD-Rom, or paperback that can be purchased at a very reasonable cost that will help you effectively manage your youth football program. Coach Cisar has many years of coaching experience at the youth football level and his step by step plan is based on solid football fundamentals complimented with a simple but effective plan!
Cheers!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Youth Football Linebackers: Read the Offensive Guards
Did you ever consider training your inside linebackers to read the offensive guard that they play over? In fact, by learning how to read the guard your linebacker will make quicker decisions, and react better to the ball. Linebackers can lose sight of the football and mis-direction can play havoc with your linebacker. As a youth football coach you need to train them to be readers and not guessers!
The key?
Train your linebackers on how to read the guard and take the guessing out of their game all together! Teach them how to read whether or not it's pass or run by the way the guard moves on the snap of the ball. Most of the time, the guard is in a three point stance. On a run play he will cross the line of scrimmage and block and on pass he will not cross the line of scrimmage and pass block. On a pitch he will usually pull to the play side and on a trap play he will pull to play side. When he down blocks expect a run to that side as well as another linemen down blocking on the middle linebacker from the outside.
By training your linebackers to read the guards it just gives them another tool in the chest towards effective linebacker play.
Cheers!
The key?
Train your linebackers on how to read the guard and take the guessing out of their game all together! Teach them how to read whether or not it's pass or run by the way the guard moves on the snap of the ball. Most of the time, the guard is in a three point stance. On a run play he will cross the line of scrimmage and block and on pass he will not cross the line of scrimmage and pass block. On a pitch he will usually pull to the play side and on a trap play he will pull to play side. When he down blocks expect a run to that side as well as another linemen down blocking on the middle linebacker from the outside.
By training your linebackers to read the guards it just gives them another tool in the chest towards effective linebacker play.
Cheers!
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