Flag Football

by John
(Escanaba, Mi, 49829)

Coaching flag football is an amazing experience. It is all about making sure each player first and foremost has an enjoyable time. After that then comes the learing process. For each player it is important to ger them into better shape to play the game. After all they will play both offense and defense. The first drill I like is the forty yard dash. Doing this right at the begingin of each practice and game is key. This helps stretch out the legs and gets the kids heart rate up and ready to play. After the forty yard dash drill then comes a drill running sideways alternating each leg front and back swinging the arms with the hips. This helps the kids learn how to navigate in playing conditions. After these two drills then the fun really begins. I liked giving each player a chance to try key positions. Such as quarterback, wide reciever and kicker. The next part of practice is running drills. Pick two kids to be the quarterback and in two lines have them run routes. Do short easy passes as to get the confidence up in each player. Making them more willing to do the next drill, grabbing the flags. Now take one line of players and have them play defense against the other line, trying to pull the flags off as they run routes catching the football. Rotate the lines and do it all over again. It is very important to give the players many water breaks as for many kids, they do not consume enough and become dehydrated. Make sure to remind them after practice how well they did and stress the importance of drinking plenty of water. Most importantly, make sure they have fun.