Recommended Youth Football Training Drills

By Nelda Powers


Every coach working on youth football training needs to have in mind that they are kids first. They need to be handled in a way that they will learn fast and not feel pushed too much. Football training drills however should not be the major part of training in any session. Other tactics and team building should be done for a good team to be brought up.

Drill is defined as a closely supervised activity that is repetitive and narrowly defined. This builds into the players habits that otherwise they would resist. Drils are used to perfect techniques into kids that they don't want to learnt unless under close supervision. As much as the drills are necessary, coaches should not waste time doing only those but should allow the team to participate in other skill building exercises.

Repetition is another drill every team should participate in. This helps in making the team learn specific single skills after doing it over and over. Each team can decide what skill works best for them then they repeat it for the benefit of the team. Skills like centers and long snappers are important therefore should be repeated enough times to stick in the mind and muscles. These however require very little supervision from the coach as the players can organize themselves and learn the skills after one or two demonstrations. This helps in creating harmony and synchrony in the team.

Chalk is the other stage. This is basically a classroom like talk to the players. This is important before exposing the players to the actual physical exercise even though verbal drill has little effect on memory. Players learn better when they hear first what they are about to do physically hence the chalk.

The other stage is put-ins; these are the first time activities a team goes through to make them accurate and consistent in what they do. These helps in performing specific offensive moves and defensive stops where necessary. The training process goes from chalk, walk-through and is completed at the scrimmage where full speed reins. Doing these properly makes a great youth football team.

The next stage is walk-through. Here the learnt skill is put into play at slow speed for everyone to see what is happening and for the coach to make corrections where required. This is the longest process since it is done very slowly. The offensive team demonstrates their new skills whereas the other team observes and prepares to react to the offensive. The opposing team stays almost motionless for example the fit-and-freeze technique.

After this walk-through stage, the team will go to a full speed level also known as the scrimmage. Closely watched by the coach, the team shows a skill in full game speed skillfully. The defense also prepares for and stops the offense with accurate timing and analysis. When training rookies, this stage gives them the feeling of a real game preparing them for a real match. Psychological and physical acclimatization also takes place effectively. Reactions to offense and learning to reorganize after passes are also learnt. The coach provides very little supervision here due to the speed.

As little as 20minutes is adequate for drill session in every training time. Youth football training needs a lot of time to master other skills and make the team one. Drill will only tire them out but leave them exposed to defeat in a real game.




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