Below is a List of our Best Articles From 2019

(This was based on website visits, engagement, and social media reach and reactions.)

Top Articles- Offense

We all know that the game of football is won at the line of scrimmage. One of the most difficult areas to coach is the offensive line and many teams don’t have an abundance of talent upfront. With that being said, these 5 plays will allow you to move the ball and score points even if your offensive line struggles.

• Article: 5 Great Plays for Weak Offensive Lines

The Wing T Offense is a system of plays that all complement each other- it is truly a systematic attack. The Wing T will give your team a structured attack based around deception and leverage / outflanking the defense. This article has everything you need to know about the Wing T Offense.

• Article: The Wing T Offense: Fast- Powerful- Deceptive

The Double Arch Counter is one of the toughest plays to defend. It combines misdirection with a gap blocking scheme that can easily move defenders and punish over pursuing defenders. When you force the defense to defend the QB in the Counter Read game it will be even more deadly.

• Article: The Double Arch Counter Play out of the Pistol Spread 

The Power I Formation is a very youth football friendly offense. It’s easy to install and it is actually used with great success on all levels of football. This article includes play diagrams and whiteboard videos of the Power, Trap, Counter, and Power Pass play (play-action).

• Article: Power I Formation Plays & Playbook

Top Article- Defense

The 3-3 Stack Defense is one of the hottest defenses in football right now. It allows you to easily align to any formation with minimal adjustments. It will allow you to defend all the exotic spread formations while still being able to defend against double tight-end- run heavy offenses. Here’s everything you need to know to install the 3-3 Stack.

• Article: 3-3 Stack Defense Base Rules and Blitzes 

Defensive coordinators have one of the most difficult jobs in football. Defensive coordinators have to prepare their defenses for several different ways an offense can attack. I think we’ve all made this mistake at one time or another, I know I have.

• Article: The Biggest Mistake Defensive Coordinators Make 

Having three distinct levels to your defense will allow your players to pursuit to the ball carrier, it will help defend against pass plays, and it will allow you to utilize the different physical skill sets of your players. Don’t fall into the trap of putting your entire defense on the line of scrimmage.

• Article: 5 Reasons Why You Need Levels to Your Defense 

The 4-4 Defense is one of the best defenses in football. It is utilized on all age levels of football with consistent success. This defense will allow you to easily adjust to any offense and it will allow you to be multiple with your blitzes and coverages. This article includes an interior pressure, off-tackle pressure, edge pressure, and an overload pressure.

• Article: 4-4 Defense Blitz Packages for Youth Football 

Top Articles- Special Teams

One of the most difficult things in Special Teams is teaching players to change from dropping back to moving forward to make the block (kick return). This drill will teach your players how to just that.

• Article: Kickoff Return Fly Zone Drill 

This article provides you with everything you need to know about how to coach special teams. This article covers all aspects of special teams.

• Article: Coaching Special Teams in Youth Football 

This article features: Kick-off, Kick Return, Punt and Punt Return Plays.

• Article: The Best Special Teams Plays for Youth Football 

This article breakdown all the techniques for kicking the extra point, kick-offs, punts, and holding. Kicking techniques are often overlooked on the youth football level- don’t be one of those coaches. Special teams is one of the 3 phases of football and needs to coached up.

• Article: Youth Football Kicking by Expert Coach Chris Husby

Top Article- Drills

The ability to keep leverage and make a tackle on a ball carrier can be one of the most difficult aspects of tackling. With that said, the Vice Drill will teach your defenders how to do just that!

• Article: Teaching Your Defenders How to Maintain Leverage With the Vice Drill 

The Approach Drill is getting attention across the country as one of the top tackling drills in football. In the Approach Drill athletes learn how to track the near hip of a ball carrier and adjust to any moves by the ball carrier.

• Article: Practice Tackling the Near Hip with the Approach Drill 

We all know that the success of your offense depends almost entirely on our offensive line’s ability to block the defense. With that said, here are the best drills for building up your offensive line.

• Article: The best Offensive Line Drills for Youth Football 

One of the best conditioning and strengthening drills is the bear crawl. This drill is challenging and it works several different aspect of physical strength and conditioning.

• Article: Bear Crawl for Spine and Neck Strength 

The post A Year of Awesome Football Content: Our Top Posts from 2019 appeared first on Youth Football Online.

10 Second Drill for Special Teams

The setup of the drill is very simple. The whole team should be on the sideline with the field in front of them. The coach who is running the drill will yell out a Special Teams unit and that group has 10 seconds to get on the field in the correct position. For example the coach may start out by yelling for the Kickoff Return team. That team then has 10 seconds to get in alignment for the kickoff return.

Related Content: Coaching Special Teams in Youth Football 

Once the team is able to get the starters onto the field quickly the coach can start to increase the difficulty. During a game the first unit for Special Teams is rarely an issue. The majority of times they are on the field and prepared to go. The most likely time for a problem is when a player is injured or otherwise can’t go out onto the field and his sub has to be notified to go in. The best way to prepare for this is to pull players out of the 10 second drill. So instead of just yelling out Kickoff team the coach will now yell Kickoff team and Johnny is injured. It is now on the Kickoff team to make sure that Johnny’s replacement is on the field and in the correct spot.

There are multiple ways to get the whole team involved in the drill. One of the best ways to give players an incentive to make sure the right personnel is on the field is to give a quick punishment exercise for the team. After a round or two the whole team starts to get involved in calling for the players to get onto the field which is what you need during a game.

Related Content: Kickoff Fly Zone Drill 

The 10 Second Drill is one of the most simple drills in football but by doing it before the game you can help to ensure that your players will be prepared for any phase of the game that comes their way.

The post 10 Second Drill for Special Teams appeared first on Youth Football Online.

Special Teams: Kickoff Fly Zone Drill

In the Fly Zone Drill there is one blocker and one coverage player and a gate down the field. The goal of the coverage player is to get through the gate and the goal of the blocker is to keep the coverage player from getting through the gate. What makes this drill so effective is that each player is getting a live competition rep on a skill set that is very difficult to practice.

Related Content: Coaching Special Teams in Youth Football 

Similar to a game scenario kickoff, the coverage player is at an advantage. The blocker must not only run backwards and get set up but he also needs to come forward and engage the coverage player. The coverage player must use this to his advantage and press the blocker by using his speed. The coverage player has three option to beat the blocker. His first option is to beat the blocker to the point and rip past him. We define the point as the place where the blocker can only stop the coverage player by hitting him in the back. If the coverage player can’t beat the blocker to the point he will step hard off his point side foot and rip through the back of the blocker. With either of these options it is critical that he resets himself and re-establishes his relationship with the rest of the coverage team.

The third option for the coverage player is when he can’t avoid the blocker. In this situation he will use the butt and press technique to get past the blocker. When the coverage player uses the butt and press he will build up his speed and get his pad level below the blocker. As he hits the blocker he needs to shoot both hands into the blockers chest plate, extend and continue to drive the blocker back. Once he has located the ball carrier he can rip through to the correct side and get back into his coverage relationship.

While the coverage player has the advantage of speed the blocker has the advantage of leverage and numbers. The hardest part of covering a kickoff is the vast amount of space the coverage unit has to account for. If the coverage unit has 8 players in active coverage (1 kicker and 2 safeties) by taking out one coverage player they take out 12.5% of the coverage unit. This opens up space for the return man. The main idea is that this block doesn’t have to be the world’s greatest block, if he can simply occupy the coverage player he can take away 12.5% of the coverage unit.

Related Content: Punt Coverage in Youth Football 

The coaching points for the coverage player are relatively basic but difficult to master. The first point that must be stressed is that the coverage player must get to the point first. By getting to the point first he gives himself leverage over the coverage player. Once the blocker gets to the point he must come forward. If he remains stationary the coverage player has all the advantage of momentum and can use the butt and press technique. Instead the blocker must get to the point and then come forward. As he is coming forward he wants to attack the inside jersey number of the coverage man and drive him further outside than he wants to go. While it’s ideal to drive the coverage player outside to the sideline, the major goal is to cover him up so he can’t fill his lane.

While Fly Zone can be a physical drill there are ways to minimize the contact while still getting the coaching points in. The best way to take away the major hits is to remove the option for the coverage man to butt and press. If he is only allowed to avoid the blocker the amount of collisions will be decreased drastically.

The Kickoff is the most dynamic play in football. Everytime the ball is kicked each team is in a position to gain or lose upto 80 yards of field position. As a coach, if you expect to win Special Teams, it’s important that you give your players the skills necessary to dominate the play.

The post Special Teams: Kickoff Fly Zone Drill appeared first on Youth Football Online.

A much more effective strategy is to pick specific members of the coverage unit to double team. On most coverage teams there are 2-3 players who make the majority of the tackles. If the return team can effectively stop these players from being a factor in the return they have a great chance to break the play for a long return. The Cage Drill is a great way to practice this double team.

Kick Return Team: The Cage Drill

In the Cage Drill the front wall players will be set up like they would on a normal return with a coverage player lined up 10 yards away from them similar to a kickoff. Before the drill starts it must be clear who will be the anchor and who will be the wall.

These roles can change depending on the coverage player you decide to double team but the job of each role remains the same. The Anchor is in charge of stopping any downfield pressure. He must square the coverage man up and stop his charge downfield. The Wall is responsible for the horizontal movement of the coverage player. If a middle return is called he must stop the defender from getting inside. If a Power Return is called he must stop the defender from getting out to the numbers.

In the drill set up a defender will come down the field at full speed. It is the responsibility of the anchor and wall to set up their trap and keep the defender out of the return lane. One of the key things that they have to be prepared for is for the coverage player to attempt to split the double team. This is why they must fit up tight hip to hip and then drive the coverage player out (keep in mind that they cannot lock arms and that most leagues won’t allow more than 2 player to get hip to hip, make sure you know your leagues rules regarding kick return blocking). 

The Cage Drill is a great drill because of the amount of reps you can get in a short span. If there are enough coaches one can take the right side and one can take the left. This doubles the amount of reps on a very specific skill set.

(See Also) Coaching Special Teams 

(See Also) Kickoff Cover Drill 

The post Kick Return Team: The Cage Drill appeared first on Youth Football Online.

Kickoff Coverage Drill for Youth Football

The first step in teaching this technique is to execute it against a stationary defender. This is a great drill to start practice, since it is done at 75% speed it gets the players’ bodies warmed up while still working on technique for the skill. For this drill the players will be on the sideline at the intersection of a 5 yard line and the out of bonds line. The stationary player stand on the yard line, halfway between the out of bounds line and the hash.

Before the drill is executed the Coach will tell the players which way they will be avoiding the blocks. On the coaches whistle the coverage player will run directly down the line at the stationary player. As he approaches he will take a jab step with the foot opposite of the direction he will avoid. The goal of this step is to convince the blocker his is trying to beat him to that side and force the blocker to turn their hips in that direction. He will then step hard towards the side he is avoiding to while clubbing the defender’s shoulder with his avoiding arm and ripping through with the opposite arm. Once the coverage man clears the blocker he gets back on the original line as quickly as possible to simulate getting back in his lane. The drill finishes when the coverage player reaches the hash. Once everyone has completed the drill going from the sideline to the hash they turn around and do the drill coming back.

There are a couple of key things that coaches should be looking for in this drill. On the stick step it’s important that the coverage man sells the move with his head and body. In order to get the blocker to step in the opposite direction, the coverage man must make him believe he is planning on beating the blocker to that side. A great coaching cue is to tell the player to imagine they are crossing them over in basketball. As weird as it sounds it is the perfect way to describe a really complex movement.

The second major coaching points come on the Rip section of the drill. For this section the players must focus on getting through the back of the blocker, this is the reason the stick step is so important. When the player uses his stick step to open the blocker’s hips opposite of where he wants to go, he needs to use his full upper body to get clear of the blocker. When the defender takes a stick step he must also get the arm opposite of the stick step ready to club the defender in the back. This helps push the blocker opposite of the defender and ensures that the blocker can’t get his hips around.

The second stage of the rip drill is for the defender to rip through the back with the arm closest to the defender. This should be done in a low to high motion like he is throwing an uppercut punch. If the stick step was effective and the blocker has his hips turned, the rip doesn’t need to go very low. By going low the coverage man loses speed. If he has already beaten the blocker he should look to punch through the lower back of the blocker while staying tight to the man so he can’t get an angle to cut him off.

If the blocker doesn’t fall for the stick step and keeps his hips towards the coverage man the rip needs to be much lower. This is done to decrease the surface area that the blocker can get a hold of. The phrase we use is that we want the blocker to have to block hard plastic (top of the shoulder pad and helmet) instead of soft plastic (chest protector). In this case the coverage player must drop his shoulder down as he is ripping through and accelerate to break any contact.

The final stage of the Stick, Rip and Stack Drill is to stack the blocker behind the coverage man. This is a phrase Wide Receivers use quite often when they are running routes. For a receiver the idea is to get past the man and then get between the defender and where the ball is being thrown. The concept is that if the defender wants to make a play he has to go through the blocker. The same idea applies to coverage men but in a different context. In this context, the coverage man is looking to put himself between the blocker and the return man. If he can do this successfully the blocker can only block him from behind, which will be a penalty that almost always results in the return team starting the drive inside of their own 20.

To practice this in the drill the coverage man will work to get back on his line as soon as possible. In the game it’s important that he gets back to his original landmark and then gets his eyes on the coverage men to his left and right so they can keep their relationship as they converge on the return man.

(See Also) Coaching Special Teams 

The post Kickoff Coverage Drill for Youth Football appeared first on Youth Football Online.

The team that wins the field position battle will win the football game more often than not.  The image below gives great insight into how critical winning the field position battle in youth football is.  You can see that teams that start with the football inside their own 20-yard line score points only 10% of the time. It is very difficult for a team to drive the entire length of a football field and score without committing a mistake or a turnover. Field position is especially important in youth football because most teams need to get into the end zone to score points (no long field goals).

How to Win the Field Position Battle:

# 1.Don’t Give Up Big Plays. On defense we stress the importance of not giving up big plays. We put a ton of emphasis on our defense swarming to the football. We want every single defender to get to the ball carrier. Being disciplined with our blitzes, pursuit, and cover 3 zone helps us deter big plays.  Hammer home gang tackling and hustling to the ball carrier on a run and  pass plays. GET TO THE FOOTBALL! The likelihood of an offense going the entire field in 10 plays and scoring without making any mistakes on a consistent basis is very slim. Give nothing easy. Make them earn their points.

(See Also) Defense Philosophy

# 2. Generate Turnovers! Our goal on defense is to generate at least 3 turnovers a game.  We do our turnover circuit every single practice. We do the rip and punch strip drill (stripping the football from the ball carrier), we do the scoop and score drill, and we also do the 2 vs. 1 drill. The 2 vs. 1 drill has the first defender in securing the tackle, and then the second defender in strips the football. In order to generate turnovers in the game you have to practice getting turnovers at practice. Also, relentless hustle to the football will naturally generate turnovers.

# 3. Don’t Turn the Football Over! It is absolutely critical that you do not give away possessions.  You must practice ball security on a regular basis. Most turnovers are the results of fumbles. Fumbles are the most common turnover because coaches do not work enough balls security and QB – RB handoff exchanges.  The ball carrier must keep the football high and tight and always have two hands on the ball once contact arrives.  The next most common turnover is a fumbled exchange between the QB and the center.  Just like ball security, I feel that QB and center snaps aren’t practiced enough.  It is critical that you have 3 centers that can snap the football. Snaps need to be practiced before, during, and even after practice!! Get those snapping reps in whenever you can.

# 4. Dominate Special Teams.  The last thing you want to do is to give up a score or big play on special teams. Your team must be able to cover kickoff and punts (tackle the returner). You must be able to kick or punt the football away from their returner who is probably their best athlete.  Practice onside kicks!  Practice onside kicks every single practice. You never know when you may need your onside kick team to come up big. Recovering an onside kick will give you excellent field position and will demoralize the opposing team.

(See Also) Kicking, Punting, and Holding Techniques 

# 5. Consistency on Offense. Being consistent on offense will naturally allow you to control the field position battle. When you are      consistently moving the football you will  be forcing your opponent back. Even if you don’t score a long drive will pin your opponent back and force them to go the distance of the field to score. Consistency on offense will help you win the field position battle and it will keep the football out of your opponents hands.

(See Also) Developing Consistency on Offense

Winning the field position battle in youth football is a critical aspect that is often overlooked. Don’t give up big plays, win special teams, generate turnovers, don’t turn the football over, and have a consistent offensive attack and you will win the field position battle more times than not. Make the opposing team have to go the distance to score.

The post Importance of Winning the Field Position Battle in Youth Football appeared first on Youth Football Online.

Having an extra point block play & scheme is absolutely critical. In many youth football leagues kicking (field goal) the extra point is worth 2 points. Teams that are able to kick the extra point have a huge advantage. If you are facing a youth football team that is able to kick the extra point you better have an extra point block play or scheme you can call to block the kick.

Last season we won a game 23-20.  We scored 3 times, they scored 3 times.  We converted 2 out of 3 extra points (kicking the 2), they missed 2 out of 3 extra point attempts (kicking for 2). We blocked one kicking attempt. The other attempt they had a bad snap over their holder’s head.  They lost solely on their inability to covert their extra points. This was in a playoff game where our teams were very evenly matched (this was one heck of a game). The difference was we committed  a lot of our practice time to converting and deterring extra points. They clearly didn’t. We practice our extra point block play & scheme daily. We also practice our snap, hold, blocking, and extra point kicking every single practice.

This extra point block play & scheme features an overload blitz to the left side and an twist blitz on the right side. You can run an overload to both sides, or even the twist to both sides.

Overload (Left Side) 

The overload blitz on the left side will send more defenders than the offense can pick up. There is a defensive linemen covering every offensive linemen. There will also be linebackers in the gaps between each defensive linemen. The D-linemen that are covering the O-linemen will engage the linemen and bull-rush them back.  The linebackers will rush the gaps between each linemen. The DL bull-rushing will occupy the OL and give the blitzing linebackers a path to block the extra point attempt.  The linebackers can line up right on the line of scrimmage. I like to have them creep up because if we show too early it will let the offensive linemen adjust.  Also, keep in mind that even though the D-linemen are bull-rushing/engaging the O-linemen, you still want them to try to block the kick. Bull rush, then rip through and block the kick. Also, the linebackers blitzing between the linemen should be your best athletes.

Twist (Right Side) 

The right side will run a twist blitz/stunt. The defensive linemen on the right side will also line up over an offensive linemen. On the snap of the football, they will rip through the outside shoulder of the O-linemen they are head-up on and try to block the kick. The (M) backer will line up directly behind the right (T) show a blitz right, then blitz A-gap (to the left) once the ball is snapped. You can also bring a linebacker over from the left side and run a double twist to the right side. You can run a twist behind the (T) & a twist behind the (E).

We had most of our success with the overload side.

The post Extra Point Block Play & Scheme appeared first on Youth Football Online.

Punt coverage in youth football requires a lot of practice time. When your team is forced to punt the football it is vital that you are able to block, get the punt off, and cover the punt. Ideally, you do not want the return team to return the football because their returner is probably their best athlete. We believe in punting, but many teams don’t punt at all. For us, it really depends on a couple different factors.

Some teams prefer a spread or shield punt formation. Some other teams prefer a compressed/tight punt formation. Here is a breakdown of a compressed/tight punt formation.

Punt Team

Blocking Scheme:

When punting in youth football, every linemen is responsible for securing their inside gap. You always want your offensive linemen to secure their inside gap first. You do not want your linemen going down field, but you also do not want them leaning/stepping back. If the blockers step back or lean back, it will allow the punt rushers to drive the offensive linemen back/bull them over, which could lead to a blocked punt. Make sure your linemen are in good strong stances, keeping low leverage. Every player will step down creating a wall.  You want to meet force with force, have the linemen step into their blocks!

The blocking back is always lined up to the kicker’s kicking foot side. He is responsible for plugging up any leakage in the interior of the line. The wing backs (3) & (4) will take any defender rushing outside the TEs. They will be 2 yards behind the ball, in a square 2-point stance. You want the wing backs to get into a wide stance, making themselves big. When they make themselves big the defenders will naturally line up and rush wider, taking themselves out of the play.

Wing back (4): Secure D gap fan out, contain (outside TE).

Right Tight-end: Secure C gap, fan out.

Right Tackle: Secure B gap, fan out.

Right Guard: Secure A gap, fan out.

Center: Get wide, help secure A gaps. Focus should be entirely on getting off a good long snap. Most youth football leagues do not allow a defender to line up over the center, so snapping is all the center needs to be concerned with. Once the ball is kick the center goes right to the football.

Left Guard: Secure A gap, fan out.

Left Tackle: Secure B gap,  fan out.

Left Tight-end: Secure C gap, fan out.

Wing back (3): Secure D gap fan out, contain.

Punt Coverage:

The coverage team does not stop blocking until the ball is punted away. After the punter punts the football he should yell go! go! go! The punter needs to be loud! When the blockers hear “go”, they stop blocking and get down the field. The direction the ball was punted should also be yelled.

Coaching Points

1. The punter must NEVER punt the ball right to the returner, or to the middle of the field. For example, if the ball is placed on the left hash, the punter needs to punt the ball to the left sidelines. If the ball is placed on the right hash, the punter needs to punt the ball to the right sidelines. The punter needs to aim for the short side sideline. If done properly the ball will usually run out of bounds.

2. Always make sure your coverage team fans out after the ball is kicked. It should almost look like a kickoff team running down the field. It is vital that the coverage players fan out because you can bet the returner will field the ball and go outside with it. If you are concerned about containment you can have the TEs split out and make them gunners and have them run down field as soon as the ball is kicked.

3. Offensive linemen need to step into their block. Meet force with force. DO NOT have them step back (like a pass block) and get bulled over.

4. Practice long snapping and punting everyday. We will actually do punting and long snapping before practice. If the kids are there early have them practicing punting and long snapping. Make sure other kids can do it as well. Do not have just one kicker and one long snapper.

Here is an excellent article on the proper technique for Punting and Kicking the Football.

The post Punt Coverage in Youth Football appeared first on Youth Football Online.

It is now playoff time! This is what your players and coaching staff have work hard for since the spring. The best thing about playoff football is that any team can make a run at the championship. You have to be in it to win it. In the playoffs the playing field is somewhat balanced. Most teams in the playoffs are good teams with good athletes. The playoffs is where coaches make the biggest difference. Some teams will have a couple of stud players that carry their team. But, in the playoffs you are likely to compete against teams that also have a couple of stud players. The superior coaches will become revealed during the playoffs.

Proper-Perpetration-Prevents-Poor-Performances 

Here are the keys to victory for the playoff practice week :

Statement

Bring a large dry erase board with the words CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE WON IN PRACTICE! Preach to your players and their parents the importance of coming to practice on time, focused, excited, and ready to go. Create a mission statement and run with it.

Script Practices

Organized, efficient, and upbeat practices are probably the most important aspects of preparation leading up to the playoff game. Make sure you have scripted practices and all the coaches are on the same page. You want to keep your normal practice routine (if it isn’t broke then don’t fix it) but you have to increase the tempo and intensity. No non-sense, all business. Also, make sure you have an excellent warm up. Make sure the kids have a crisp-upbeat warm up.

Fundamentals

During the playoff week do some extra fundamental work. Conduct more blocking, tackling, and block destruction drills. Do a little bit more competitive contact run and pass blocking drills. Do some additional tackling throughout the week as well. Do not beat your kids up by doing only live tackling drills during the week. When I say do tackling drills, work some live tackling obviously, but also do some form tackling and other non-live contact drills.

Competition

Competitive and Tough Practices Breed Physical Teams
Make everything a competition during the practice week. Make your kids compete in any drills they are doing. Make them compete with each other and even make them compete against a timer in any kind of individual or conditioning drill. Just make everything competitive.

Confident Demeanor

All coaches need to have a confident demeanor. All coaches need to be positive. All coaches need to show that they are excited and want to be there. The vibe of the coaches will definitely rub off on the kids. Tell your coaches to come with a positive demeanor and come excited, or don’t even come at all. Believe that you will win.

Enthusiasm/ Intensity/Fun

It doesn’t matter if you are the first place seed or your team barely made the playoffs, anything can happen. One of the beautiful things about football is that anyone can win a playoff game. Many times teams will naturally elevate their play because it is a playoff game. Keep practices intense, enthusiastic, and positive. Make sure your team knows that you are going to see your opponents best effort. What I mean by intensity is have up-tempo practices and up-tempo attitudes. Make the practices fun as well. We will always end our playoff week practices with something fun. This will keep the kids interested and allow for everyone to have some fun at the end of the night. Do rely races, a game, or something along those lines. Again, make the game/race fun but competitive.

Overworking

It is important that you do not over condition or beat up the kids by hitting all week long. You do not want to tire and beat up the kids before you even play the playoff game. We are talking a lot about intensity, competition, and enthusiasm here, but keep in mind that most of this is a mind set and a fluent up-tempo practice philosophy.

Scouting

Hopefully you will have game film on your opponent. Having game film will allow you to take advantage of their weaknesses. It will also allow you to prepare your team for what they do on a consistent basis. Having a scouting report will allow you to practice against their tactics during the practice week.

Team Defense: Have a scout team run through the plays your opponent likes to run (vs. your defense-this is a non-contact session). If you do not have enough kids for 11 on 11 just have the coaches walk through the plays. What we do in our team defensive scouting session is set up a line mat and just have the coaches run through our opponents offensive plays and have the kids just execute our pursuit drill. Give the kids the scouting report as well. Talk about who their best players are and what they like to do. It is also very important that you work your defensive alignment. You have to adjust properly to the opposing formation. You cannot allow the offense to out flank or outnumber you on any side of the field.

Team Offense: Have a scout team align in your opponents defensive formation. If you do not have enough players to set up the defense use cones or block/tackling dummies and assistant coaches. Run through any blitzes or stunts your opponent executes. This will give your offense an idea of what they are going to see.

Special Teams: Have a scout team line up how your opponent lines ups. Make your kids understand what your opponent does in their kicking game. Do they onside kick or kick deep every time? Whatever they do make sure your special teams is ready for it. Oh, one more thing-DO NOT kick to their stud plays.

Discipline

Make sure your players are disciplined and do not take any stupid penalties. Preach this during the practice week. Make sure your players always maintain their composure. You do not want to take stupid penalties. You always have to make sure players understand and execute their responsibilities. You can bet on seeing some gadget/trick plays at some point during the playoff game. If a player is playing safety make sure he is deep, if a player has containment, make sure he contains. Be ready to defend reverses and half back passes as well.  Do you job and be disciplined!

Special Teams

Win the special teams battles! Win the field position battles. Performance in the special teams can and probably will determine if you are going to win or lose a playoff game. Giving up big plays on special teams can be demoralizing and game changing. You do not want to give a short field to the opposing offense and you sure the heck do not want to give up a special teams score. Be sound in the kicking game. Remember, you do not want to kick to their best players. I would also practice your onside kick recovery and onside kick defense (hands team) often throughout the practice week. If the game comes down to an onside kick situation you will be glad you worked hard on it all week long. Reps. Reps. Reps.  Have the kickers kicking a few before, during, and after practice. If the kick is there early have him get some kicks in before practice starts.

Parents

Believe it or not, the parents play a vital role in the success of your team in the playoffs. The parents have to get their child to practice on time. They have to make sure their child is fed and hydrated properly so he can have a productive performance during practice. You should talk to the parents about getting hyped up and routing the kids on during the playoff game. If the parents are committed then the kids will be there on time and ready to go.

Keep in mind-when it is all said and done as long as your kids played hard and the coaches put a prepared and competitive team on the field everyone  should be proud.

Good Luck!

The post Playoff Time-Championships are won at Practice appeared first on Youth Football Online.

Youth Football is a very fun and exciting time in many young athletes and parents lives.
For many of them, it’s their first introduction to playing competitive football.   Many kids have dreams of playing in the NFL, and also on down to playing under the Friday Night Lights with their local high school.

At the youth level of football much time is focused on just teaching kids the terms and plays on offense and defense.   Often times special teams, kicking and punting is overlooked, or just given to the kid that can naturally kick the ball the farthest.  In most youth leagues a kicking a PAT/extra point can be worth 2 points because it is rare that you have a youth kicker that can make a 20 yard extra point.

Personally, as a private kicking instructor, I really enjoy working with youth athletes and teaching them the proper techniques for kicking, punting, holding and snapping. With Youth, you have to play to their strengths.  Many times they can’t quite physically do everything needed to kick, punt, and snap that you see at the High School and College level, but you need to keep things simple and work with them on the basics.  Below is a basic step by step approach to Kicking, Punting, Snapping and even Holding.

PAT/Field Goals

• Typical distance form snapper is 7-8 yards deep
• Let your Kicker place the holding block, not your holder.
• Kicker should line up body facing target (Uprights)
• Plant foot should be approx. 1 shoe length from kicking block
• Kicker should take 2-3 steps in backward approach.
• Make sure kicker is squared up and facing uprights.
• Take 2 steps 90 degrees to the left (for right footed kickers) or 90 degrees to the right (for left footed kickers).
• Once kicker is ready he should nod or give a signal to the holder, who then gives a signal to the snapper.
• Once snapper snaps back and holder firmly has hold of ball, kicker should make his approach to the holding block.  *Note- you can speed up the process for the kicker to start as your snapping unit is comfortable and fluid.
• Kicker should make his approach toward the “plant foot” area.  This forces the kicker to swing up through the ball utilizing kicker’s quad in the swing.
• Kicker’s leg, ankle and foot should be straight and locked.
• Foot contact on the ball should be the “instep” of foot making contact on the bone that connects to the big toe, but closer to the ankle.
• After contact, the kickers leg should swing up through the ball and toward the uprights.
• If physically possible, kicker’s plant foot should skip forward after kicking ball.  Alleviates stress on ankle and knee.  *Sometimes young athletes aren’t able to do this.

Kickoffs

• Kicker should line up body facing target (Uprights)
• Plant foot should be approx. 1 shoe length from kicking block
• Kicker should step back 5-9 yards backward approach depending on comfortability.
• Take 4-7 steps 90 degrees to the left (for right footed kickers) or 90 degrees to the right (for left footed kickers).

• Ideally the angle/approach the kicker takes on a Kickoff should be similar to that of a FG approach. This allows for having the same kicking swing for both kicks.

Punting

• Feet Parallel and shoulder width apart
• Catch the ball with hands out away from body
• Mold ball with laces up, with arm extended over kicking leg
• Take 2 or 3 steps to get punt off
• Flat Drop
• Drop the ball between 11-12 o’clock for right footed punters or 12-1 o’clock for left football punters
• Lock out (point toe) foot.
• Ball contact on laces of shoe/cleat
• Swing leg up through ball.

Holding

• Holding for Right Footed kicker
• Right knee down, left knee up
• Align kicking block 2-4” from left foot
• Keep left hand/fingers on block as a guide.
• Use right hand to give single to holder.
• Voice prompt as well for team
• Bring both hands up to catch ball
• Use left knee as back stop and guide to bring ball down onto block
• Hold the ball with left hand (thumb, index and 2nd finger) or whatever is easier; just don’t put too much pressure on the ball.
• Use right hand to rotate the ball to get laces out.
• For left footed kickers, reverse the following steps.

(See Also) Special Teams Playbook 

Coach Husby owns and runs Special Teams Football Academy.  He is a Professional Kicking, Punting and Snapping instructor and a former NFL Free Agent Punter of 6 years.  He trains athletes of all levels (youth, High School, College and Free Agent Specialists), and holds one on one lessons, small group lessons and clinics, Special Teams camps, and National Camp Series evaluations and camps for kickers, punters & snappers.

The post Youth Football Kicking by Expert Coach Chris Husby appeared first on Youth Football Online.