Coming up with new ideas when you’re coaching youth football can be a challenge. Here is one football drill that has worked for me in the past.
This is an excellent football drill for 3 different skills:
1) Conditioning – the kids are running several sprints and they don’t know it.
2) The kids are learning to tackle with a lot of other players around them.
3) It can be a great way to end practice and entice younger players to practice harder during your “real” practice.
I’ve found that it is a really good way to end practice and let the boys have a little fun.
I got this idea from a pee wee football coach whose team was made up of 3rd graders. Some parents will be scared to death to see this drill for the first time. Let them know their boys will be okay. CAUTION: If you have some big hitters, take them to the side and have them go lightly on some of the other boys. The big guys should concentrate on form tackling and not trying to “decleat” any of their teammates.
“Sharks and Minnows”
Create an “ocean” by setting up four cones in a rectangle.
It should be roughly 20 X 30 yards.
Pick out one kid to be the initial shark. (You can use this honor as a reward for practicing hard that night, or for whatever you want to reward your kids for.)
Line up all the other players on one of the 20-yard end lines.
On the whistle, all the players attempt to “swim the ocean” without getting tackled and without leaving the “ocean.”
Once you are tackled, you become a shark.
The last minnow “swimming” becomes the first shark in the next game.
Try it and have fun with it!
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