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Try these two football practice drills for a change in routine.   The first one works well with your younger players and the next tip is for any age–time tested and effective!

If you’re coaching 10 & 11 year olds, it is no secret that they don’t like to run. I talk to them about how important speed is in football and I also explain how endurance is even more important. This is the drill I used to teach running “tricks” to improve speed and endurance simultaneously.   I had them the do the old drill I call The Scout Run.

The group starts jogging in a single file and the person at the back end will sprint to the front of the file. As soon as that individual reaches the front the next person, now the last person, does the same.   It works. They now request this drill first after stretching.

Another coaching tip that might sound a little weird but was always told to me when I was playing football as a lineman. I was told that as I pumped my arms, coming through the chutes or the line, to keep my elbows inside my body – by my sides. My old college line coach told me to “rub off my love handles” as a way to remind me where my elbows should be.

It has stuck with me for 20+ years.

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