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 Coaching Articles: What Youth Football Isn't? |
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What Youth Football Isn't?
Sometimes you can find out more about a subject if you'll just determine what it isn't. What is youth football? Let's look at what youth football isn't...
It isn't what you see on TV.
It isn't a little NFL -- with smaller players
It's not your favorite college team - running their favorite plays.
It's not you old high school team
You might remember one of you old coaches say, "It's just blocking and tackling." Well I hate to tell you but that old coach was wrong, its more. Maybe you've heard from a TV commentator say, "It's a simple game of X's and O's". Maybe that commentator never coached before.
Football is extremely complex. In youth football, it's hard to keep your players from drawing the old "yellow flag". It's even tough to keep eleven players on the field at the same time. It sometimes seems impossible to ensure that all plays are getting their required number of plays in.
Think about it, in a basic system, of let's say 8 plays on offense and one play on each of the special teams, You can compute that you'll need to teach 616 different assignments. Eleven players x 6 different special teams plays = 66 assignments. 8 offensive plays times 11 players x five possible defensive alignments = 440 assignments. 11 defensive payers x 10 offensive plays a opponent may run= 110 assignments, 66 + 440 + 110 = 616 different assignments.
Teaching 616 assignments means one must first figure out in their play book what exactly those 616 assignments are. Then you would need to teach these assignments to your assistant coaches. Then you not only have to explain and teach them to the players, you must practice them hundreds of times -- over and over so your team will have them down pat. And this not only applies to your starters, but to your second and third strings.
So before you go out and have a 30 play playbook and a defense with 12 stunts. Remember two things (1) Football is complex. (2) And a simple playbook in youth football = Winning.
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