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 Coaching Articles: What Is Youth Football? |
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What Is Youth Football?
First of all, it's obvious that the youth football players are smaller and slower that the pros. It's apparent that the youth football players can't hit as hard and can't throw as far as their college counter parts. And it's blatant that the youth football players can't kick as far or catch as good as the players on the local high school team.
Secondly, youth football is played by players that are less coordinated than their pro and college brethren. Their passes are shorter and less accurate. Remember these are the same group of kids that struggle throwing strikes in youth baseball. So don't think you can take an NFL scheme, shorten the routes and expect youth team to execute it.
Thirdly, youth football players aren't as smart as higher level football players. Their brains are smaller, their comprehension ability is less and their attention span is shorter.
Therefore, youth football has to be simpler than pro, college or even high school football. For example, a pro quarterback would normally have three to 4 progressive pattern reads on most pass plays. A youth quarterback might be able to handle two.
It has to be simpler. A lot of successful youth coaches would tell you to eliminate the snap count. It just causes offsides penalties because kids jump early too often. If you check, there are several good high school teams that don't use a snap count or always go on the same count in order to eliminate penalties. In fact, Terry Bowden while coaching at Auburn, did the same thing during his undefeated (11-0) season.
So are you going to be one of those coaches that state he is going to keep it simple and then put in 25 or more plays? Or are you going to really remember the K.I.S.S system -- Keep It Simple Stupid?
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