Many times a youth football game won’t go the way you want or expect it to go. Sometimes you can even have the officiating apparently go against you. No one, not you or the officials are ever going to call a perfect game. Then there are other games where the other team just seems to get under your skin a little. Maybe their kids play a bit past the whistle or even jaw with some unkind or even swear word language. As youth football coaches, how should we respond?

Here is what one youth football coach did last week:

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Watch the video, the coach pushes a kid from the opposing team out of the handshake line by his facemask. This coache’s excuse was that this player had supposedly been using foul language in the game and was saying something negative to his kids as the players went through the handshake line. The player that was pushed played on the winning team, the coach doing the pushing was on the losing team. The coach stated that he wanted the kid to “knock it off” and was just “doing what he would do to his own son”.

Of course the pushed player and his parents claim the lad said nothing and is an angel on earth, a classic, he said, she said situation. They are pressing assault charges.

Does it really matter what the player said? What kind of an example did this coach set for his players? When confronted with a situation you feel you are being disrespected, answer with force. While most of us coaching youth football would like all the kids to behave as well as out own kids, do we have the right to handle all kids we come in contact with the same way we would our own children? The way I discipline my children is what works based on what my wife and I believe is right for our family and fits the personalities of our children, Our kids are well adjusted, fun, outgoing and well behaved. My guess is we are far stricter than 90% of the population and it works for us, but that doesn’t give me permission or the right to use the same methods on your kids, even if your kids are foul mouthed spoiled brats. Especially if your idea of discipline involves any type of physical contact.

What should this coach have done if this child had been acting in the way that he described?

He could have made note of the players number, the exact language the player was using and talked to the players coach well after the coaches and players had finished their post game meeting. The coach could have then used that supposed incident as a ‘teaching moment”, instructing his players what SHOULD be done in a handshake line and how by NOT responding they were doing the right thing. A better approach may have been to ask your players what they thought this players actions made the player look like to them. Hopefully your players would realize that acting in this fashion (if he did), what a buffoon and low life the jawing player appeared to all. Games should be settled on the football field not by jawing before, during or after games. Hopefully this is what your players learn from you and your actions.

Fortunately I’ve never been subjected to this type of behavior. I can think of just one time it was remotely even close. A player from the opposing team was flagged for a flagrant unsportsmanlike on the next to last play of the game. He had done the same thing on 2 previous occasions but had not been flagged for it. During the handshake line this kid had a smirk on his face a mile wide. I didn’t say anything nor did my players, the game was over and finished. We used it as a teaching moment for our kids. who by the way aren’t angels all the time either. We always hand out pop to the other team in the handshake line, after a loss we saw several of our players shaking up the pop so it would “explode” when opened. We addressed it immediately and aggressively (involved lots of running) and it never happened again. I guess if that’s the worst we have to deal with we are probably doing alright.

While this is a reprehensible act by the coach and he should be removed from coaching immediately and not allowed to coach again, is a lawsuit really necessary? The player had his equipment on and he wasn’t hurt. Wouldn’t a permanent ban on this coach and an apology to the player and both teams suffice?

Dave Cisar-With over 15 years of hands-on experience as a youth coach, Dave has developed a detailed systematic approach to developing youth players and teams. His personal teams to using this system to date have won 97% of their games in 5 Different Leagues. For 350 free youth football coaching tips: Youth Football Plays

If you’re a keen football coach or player, and want to get certified, and want to know more about the coaching methods the professionals use, then perhaps you’ll be interested in professional coaching courses.

Here in the U.K, there are a number of football courses which are run by the Football Association. The following article looks at what some of the basic football courses consist of, and some of the courses which are available to those who want to get into coaching.??

Research has shown that over the past few years, there has been a steady decline in the number of 11-a side teams playing football in the U.K. This has led to a shake up by the football association, with a host of new football coaching courses being made accessible, with the intention of encouraging a new generation of coaches and volunteers.

As part of this shake-up, the following basic coaching courses have been introduced:

FA Level 1 Football Coaching Courses – As the UK’s most popular coaching course, this is a great introduction to coaching for those with little, or no previous experience. This is an open-entry coaching course, meaning that candidates do not need to have any previous football experience, just an interest and desire to improve and develop.

FA Level 2 Football Coaching Courses – For coaches at a slightly more advanced level, the Level 2 football coaching course helps to develop coaching skills further. Although this is also an open entry course, it is strongly recommended that candidates have at least some degree of relevant coaching experience.

These courses both offer vital first steps on the coaching ladder, with individuals given the opportunity to progress on through the various FA football coaching courses which are on offer.

Coaching Course Resources

A number of resources have been produced to support these football courses. These include handbooks, videos and computer programmes, all of which have been designed to help the candidate to get the most out of their course

What Areas do Football Coaching Courses Cover?

Typically, most football courses not only cover the development of the technical aspects of footballers, but also a host of related subjects, which are necessary for the successful running of a football team. These include areas such as team administration, child protection, fitness, nutrition, warm ups and warm downs.

Finding Work as a Football Coach

After taking a football course and becoming adequately qualified, coaches are then free to find work as a football coach. Employment can be found through the local football in the community scheme or directly with a club. Over the summer and school holidays, many find work at the many junior football coaching schemes which take place.

Now you know more about football coaching, when will you become a qualified football coach?

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Different football coaching courses have assumed utmost importance for an enthusiastic football player or a coach who is willing to get added certification. Such professional courses can impart an individual with additional information in the case that one wants to acquire more related information about the methods of coaching that are used by the thorough professionals. In the country of United Kingdom the football association is responsible for running different types of football courses.

The level 1 coaching course is one of the well known football coaching courses that have been introduced. This particular type of football course assumes immense importance in the case that an individual has no prior knowledge of coaching. There is no previous football experience that is required for enrolling in this particular type of course. It is only a keen interest and a burning desire to excel that is expected to get an entry in this type of football course.

Level 2 is one of the other types of football coaching courses that is available. This particular type of course is best suited for the coaches who are of a slightly more advanced level. This particular type of course is mainly meant for the coaches who seek to improve their skills further. Although it is a free entries course but basically this particular type of course is the best suited for the candidates who have a certain degree of prior coaching experience.

There are a host of related aspects that are covered by the football coaching courses. Apart from the technical aspects, other subjects that assume prime importance for the successful running of the football team is covered at depth in such football courses. Child protection, team administration, fitness, nutrition warm downs as well as warm ups are the other significant aspects that are covered in such courses.

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Conditioning: Quick step crossing

Football is all about action and reaction, and those that practice reacting quickly in a variety of directions will dominate the field. The point to this drill is having players practice quick directional changes on the field. Start out by placing the player on any crossing lined area on the field, anything like a small for square area. Once a players positions themselves in one of the corners they will proceed to jump from one corner of the area to other in either a patterned function or randomly. Changes can be made so that the player will only use one foot and then the other while they run the drill.

Football tackling 101

Learning how to perform a proper tackle is fundamental to the game of football. Tackling can be fun and exhilarating, but done improperly and it can be dangerous. Here are three important steps to practice:

First, plant yourself in front of your opponent. Plant your cleats in the grass squarely in front and in the middle, bisecting the player in half. At the same time you want to bring your arms back in anticipation for the next phase.

Second, thrust your other foot again squarely in front of your opponent and with all the momentum that you have brought to the tackle grab your opponent. At this point you are well planted in front and your head should be in direct contact. To protect yourself never, ever try to tackle with the crown of your head, but instead keep your head back, and your head square. A great way to insure that you are in the right position is to practice touching your facemask to the football of the opposing player.

Third, throw your hips up and hard as you drive the offensive player backwards. The squarer you are in the first step the easier it will be to perform the third step.

Some fundamentals of ball security

One of the fundamental aspects of running with a football is ball security. Nothing is worse for your offensive team then turning it over carelessly to the other team in a fumble. A great way to teach tight ball security is with four points. First grab the football with your carrying hand with the tips of the football being covered with your fingers. Second, wrap your forearm completely around the football. Third point is to have the ball held tight against the bicep to prevent defenders from punching up through from behind. The final point is keeping the football high and tight against the ribcage. Practice holding the football and having defensive players try and knock out the football by any means possible. By reducing the risk of a fumble you will increase the offensive strength in effectively driving across the field and scoring touchdowns.

Conditioning Drill: Up Downs

Out of all of the football conditioning drills up downs is one of the most popular. Players will start this drill by running in place as fast as they can, keeping their knees high as possible. Then at random a coach will yell, “down” or blow a whistle at which the players must dive to the ground do a push up and then jump back into running in place. This drill is an excellent workout and should be worked in slowly at first and then increased in intensity and length over time.

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If you plan on coaching youth football this season them I’m sure your season is about to start. Most organizations have tryouts and player evaluations the first week. The first few days are usually in helmet and shorts only, without any shoulder or pant pads. Most pee wee and pop warner leagues have a travel select team and then either an in house league or travel B level teams.

As a coach, make sure you are prepared for the upcoming tryouts. The player evaluations are an important part of coaching pee wee football. There is a great Tryouts and Evaluation for Youth Football book, written by Jim Oddo, that explains a time tested approach to getting a great evaluation on all of the players. Check it out as it will give you an advantage over the other coaches in your draft.

If you are fortunate enough to run the tryouts, follow the drills mentioned in the book, especially all of the competitive drills and make sure the tryouts are fair and even. The last thing you need is parent complaints about how unfair your tryouts were.

Also, make sure the players are kept busy the entire time. Nothing sets off parents more than an unorganized tryout week.Trust me, you are handing them a loaded weapon for the entire season if your tryouts are run like garbage.

In closing, I know the time is running short, but when coaching youth football, please remember you get one shot at it every year, so please make the most of it. There are no “do overs” after the teams have been drafted so make it count.

Jim has over 22 years of hands-on experience as a youth coach. The system he has used with great success for both youth football and youth basketball. His personal teams have won over 80% of their games.

I think those who are interested in coaching youth football are admirable. Not only do you get to teach kids football fundamentals; but you teach them well-documented life lessons and become an example and mentor. A youth football coach’s responsibility is to instill quality values such as confidence, discipline, sportsmanship, and teamwork. Applying these values to the game of football will help you to produce winners on and off the field. Here are a couple simple tips to focus on as you approach your first time coaching youth football.

Youth Football Coaching Strategies

Rules – Set the ground rules for the players and their parents at the start of the season. Be clear on the rules for practices, attendance, player participation, fundraising, effort, and sportsmanship. That way everyone knows what to expect and there are no surprises during the season. Time Management – You have the football field for a limited amount of time. Don’t waste it performing extensive conditioning drills. Use the time wisely and teach “real” football during these sessions. You want kids to have fun and learn the game. That’s what they signed up for…they can run conditioning and agility drills any time. Drills – Yes, you need to run conditioning drills but limit them in your practice. You should be teaching your kids life skills such as developing the discipline to work out and perform interval training on their own. Develop the child’s love of the game first, but keep them accountable.Moreover, there are many elaborate football drill libraries on the Internet such as those at Weplay. While a coach should select a variety of age-appropriate drills for coaching his team, focusing on these basics and making them fun for the team will often lead to greater success. Morale – End your practices on a high note. Too many coaches run sprints or laps at the end of the practice and the players dislike them. Instead, run special team drills such as kickoff returns or punt coverage for your end-of-practice conditioning drills. You’ll get them in top shape while making it fun and teaching valuable football skills at the same time. Playbook – In youth football, its better to run a few plays really well than run many plays poorly. Pick four or five plays as the core of your offensive strategy and practice the execution until the players can run them in their sleep. Only then, should you start introducing new plays.

With a focus on some simple basics, youth football coaches can successfully start down their path. By teaching youth football and the life lessons of discipline, self-motivation, sportsmanship and fair play, a coach’s experience can be both enjoyable and meaningful. The integrity that you insist they use on the field will follow them off the field.

By Trevor Sumner who works for Weplay.com, a youth football community dedicated to providing parents coaches and athletes the tools and information to celebrate the love of the game. Weplay.com has one of the most comprehensive, free football drill libraries in its active football community.

Every coach has witnessed or experienced this kind of situation in a practice.

Little Johnny screws up on a tackle due to poor form, so the coach asks him to do the drill again, again his technique fails him. Finally the coach takes him out of the drill and aside to personally re teach him how to tackle correctly, taking anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, and then throws him back into the drills. Little Johnny does it correctly once, but soon reverts back to his old habits.

No improvement made
No confidence gained
AND overall time wasted.

Now I’m not saying that it is EVER a waste to spend extra time on any given athlete. That’s your job as a coach. However I will say that if you find yourself re addressing the situation over and over again, then something is wrong on a fundamental level. That fundamental level is what I’ll call “Teaching in a Progression”.

Progression teaching is king in youth sports, especially contact football for a couple of simple reasons.

* You can NOT tell a kid at that age to “just do it”. Life is not a Nike commercial.

* Time is often a limited resource in youth sports. It is MUCH better to simply teach athletes in a slow deliberate progression the first time as opposed to re addressing specific issues all year long.

* A progression breaks a technique or fundamental down into youth friendly pieces: Muscle memory repetition (doing it CORRECTLY), and small, manageable, chunks of information.

So you’re going to be saving a TON of practice time, your players are going to become what pro scouts call “technicians”, and you’ll be able to do it with each player! Meaning the overall quality and development of your football team will go WAY up, and at the youth level, player development is your next most important priority behind safety.

Teaching in a progression just HAPPENS to be one of the safest ways to teach complex physical activities such as blocking and tackling. At the youth level most football fundamentals should be taught in this fashion. So how does progression coaching work?

* Teach fundamentals with a step by step approach.

- Break the mechanics and steps of a movement down into small manageable chunks. Make it as simple as possible or tailor it to the age group. EX: Throwing a football. 1 – proper grip, 2 – point nose of the ball backwards, 3 – rotate and flick ball forward (throw), 4 – follow through.

* Pay attention to detail and correct imperfect technique now, that way the athletes know what your be looking for. Give feedback and provide the mental target for their arrow.

- There is added value in this. Not only can you teach perfect technique this way after you’ve broken it down into easy steps, but the feedback you provide is the real essence of the “coach em up” mentality youth sports requires. High expectations = higher results.

* GO AS SLOW AS YOU NEED TO GO!

- There is no law that states you need to get to your second offensive play or your blocking AND tackling in the same day. Take quality over quantity every time. EX: First day of practice, first step for blocking and tackling. Second day, second step for blocking and tackling. OR first day of practice, full tackling progression. Second day of practice, full blocking progression.

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Tackling Fundamentals and Safety

Tackling is fundamental to football, and should receive proper attention at practices. Tackling can be fun and exhilarating, but done improperly and it can be dangerous. Some points to remember when tackling:

First, plant yourself in front of your opponent. You can do this by placing your foot between your opponent’s feet. Also, and in coordination with your feet throw your arms back preparing to grab.

Second, thrust your other foot again squarely in front of your opponent and with all the momentum that you have brought to the tackle grab your opponent. As your feet plants your head should be making its first contact. To protect yourself never, ever try to tackle with the crown of your head, but instead keep your head back, and your head square. Tell yourself, or your players to imagine that they are biting the football.

Third, throw your hips up and hard as you drive the offensive player backwards. Setting yourself up for this last step will ultimately prove the success in the tackle.

Powerful Blocking Strategy: Double Teaming

In various plays whether you are on offense or defense you will want to have a strategic advantage over your opponents. A great technique that will give you an advantage on the line is double team blocking. In essence you take two blockers or linemen and have them go after the same person. If you ever need to get a running back through or perform a great blitz, remember this technique. The basics are simple for this technique: First, both players will need to step together, and put their hips together. They form a wall that the opponent cannot break. Concentrate on this wall so that the opponent cannot duck around or go through the double team. Work it fast and work it hard

A great Handoff Drill

Running backs should constantly practice the hand off. A simple drill for a hand off is to line up all of your running backs in two lines facing each other in what we will call line A and Line B. A player leaves line A with the football and runs at line B. At the same time that the first player leaves player B leaves his line towards player A, as they pass each other in the middle player A hands off the football to player B. At this moment another player leaves line A and accepts a handoff from player B. It should be a constant motion. Practice this drill every day to ensure that your running backs are effective on their hand offs.

Making a great hand off

Handoff skills can secure yardage on the field and increase your overall success. Let’s look at a simple hand off between a quarterback and a running back to point out the fundamentals of this skill. The running back starts the hand off running towards the quarterback with his arms open creating a pocket for the quarterback to slide the football right into the running back’s chest. When the running back receives the football he clamps down both arms hard on the football to protect it. As the running back runs off with the football it is important to stay low to increase agility and speed.

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Your main goal in coaching flag football, even before winning, should be for the kids to have a safe and fun environment to play in. Let your team know that in order for them to be successful, they must work together and they must have a good attitude. Flag football is designed so that everybody is able to play so you must make sure that they work in harmony.

Coaching flag football means that you’re going to set an example of good sportsmanship! Do not be a coach that marches to the middle of the field and screams at the referee. If you truly feel that an unfair call was made, calmly approach the ref to find out his reasoning. You can discuss it with him but don’t take it too far, it’s only one call.

Let the kids play! During practices it’s essential to teach them different plays but don’t get too complex; they’re not there to learn in a classroom setting they are there to play flag football. The sport is mostly for younger kids and they’re not going to be successful if they cannot understand what to do. Start with some simple plays and then build off of the simple plays into more complex plays. You will be pleasantly surprised about how easily they will be able to catch on to a difficult play if they are comfortable with the basics.

Always keep in mind that teams play how they practice! If they’re scared of the ball during practice then they’re going to be scared of the ball during the game. Your practices should consist largely of practice games. This conditioning includes not only flag football skills but also good attitudes. If a player shows misconduct to other players or to any of the coaches during practice, they must be disciplined. Otherwise they’ll continue with their foul behavior and set a bad example for other players. If they’re properly disciplined (without being too harsh) then they will see that playing time will be lost if they display that kind of attitude.

Also, do not cancel practices in strenuous conditions like snow or rain. If there is a chance of bad weather during the game then you want your team to be prepared. If it happens to be nice sunny weather on game-day, they will play with the effort that they used in practice under bad conditions. However, you don’t want them to have the practice of playing under perfect conditions and then have game-day be a rain shower, they’ll not be prepared. Coaching flag football gives you seniority to make decisions. It’s good coaching to prepare your team for the worst but make sure that you never compromise their safety.

Teach your team to win the games and teach them to have a winning attitude. You must always remember to practice what you preach while you are coaching flag football.

About The AuthorCoach Tucker has been coaching flag football for well over a decade. You can get instant access to his flag football practice plans by visiting his website:http://www.FlagFootballPractice.com/For a limited time, all coaches who visit Steve’s site will also get a free copy of his special report: “The 7 Biggest Mistakes Flag Football Coaches Make”. Go get your free copy today!

It wasn’t all that long ago that only the Dallas Cowboys had football coaching software. The jokes about how the coaching staff were robots relying on the information that the computer spit out aren’t quite as funny anymore as even youth football coaches now regularly keep track of their plays on their laptops on the sidelines.

In the 1960′s, Dallas Cowboy’s coach Tom Landry became the first football coach to realize the value of a computer. He revolutionized computer use for the draft and on game day. The Cowboy’s complete belief in the results that the computer spit out was lampooned by former Cowboys wide receiver Pete Gent wrote a best-selling novel, North Dallas Forty based on his time with the team. The book, which was made into a movie starring Nick Nolte.

In the 40 plus years since, football coaches at all levels have found more and better ways to keep track of every results from every football play. These statistics have produced major changes in the way a youth football coach approaches game day. It all starts in the preseason where height, weight, strength and the results of numerous sprint distances are timed and put into spreadsheets. These results are tabulated and allows the coach to put together his starting line-up.

Once the line-up is set, most football coaching software tracks results of each and every football play against certain teams and/or certain defenses. This gives the the coach a clear picture of what plays will work and what will not. There is even coaching software that will script your practice.

All football coaches are looking for an edge, that special something that will put one in the win column. Football coaching software is just one tool to help.

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