Football Practice Exercises

The key to becoming better at any sport is practice. Football practice exercises seek to improve individual aspects of the game, which a player might feel he is not so good at, as well as work on the overall improvement of the game. They are also applied to stay in touch with the finer instincts of a football player, and to improve football fitness.

  1. Fitness Training

    • Fitness training is the biggest and most fundamental aspect of any football training drill. A player is only as strong as his strength, fitness and endurance level, and skill is purely secondary in nature that comes through lots of practice. As such, each practice session must devote time to improving overall fitness which focuses on acceleration and sprinting speeds, lower body and upper body muscular endurance, high level of coordination of nerves with the muscles, agility, discipline, flexibility and leg balancing between the right and the left legs.

      A simple fitness training routine takes place as in the following sections. Speed Workout: Short sprints and shuttle sprints. Muscular Endurance: Jogging and running drills, leg, upper body and abdominal workouts, lower body and upper body strength training, coordination improvement and ladder drills. Stretching: Dynamic stretching and warm-ups.

    Skill Drills

    • Practice drills for throwing include proper gripping practice, positioning just before the throw, and then stepping forward and throwing. Exercises for this are simply to repetitively practice the motion. A second player should watch and point out any mistakes in form.

      Once a player understands the proper way to catch a football, proper training scenarios can be employed for catching practice. Receivers are to get off the line quickly and the defensive backs should be positioned properly for these scenario-based exercises.

      Drills for tackling focus on teaching proper form for tackling, and how players must tackle in the open field. Wrapping the opposing player up with your arms and driving the player to the ground is key.

    Special Teams and Group Drills

    • These drills are specially conducted to teach a player about his position and the decisions to make in crunch times. Kicking drills teach the kicker about the sweet spot of the ball and the foot, which is an area approximately 1 1/2 inches below the dead center of the ball. The kick is made with the laces of the shoe. Focus must be laid on the follow-through of the foot to ensure proper power. Also, a player must be given practice to kick the ball without giving it wobble.

      Defense practice includes stepping, arm movement, avoiding blocks, pursuing the ball carrier tackling and individual assignments.

      Offense vs. defense group drills simulate a real game and are key to bringing all the individual drills together. These drills also help to build teamwork and accountability.