How to Teach Listening Skills Through Football

Football provides an ideal environment to teach a few specific listening skills while also giving you an advantage on the field. Active listening is the skill associated with a group of listening skills that include avoiding distractions, watching body language and conversation efficiency. Loud crowds and on-field distractions force players to concentrate on listening skills, developing them as an important tool for effective play. Once players understand how to use these skills, they can use every game as practice to develop effective listening skills and become better communicators.

Instructions

    • 1

      Establish a firm rule for the one player allowed to speak in the huddle. Assign the quarterback as the speaker for your offensive team, and your most experienced defensive player for your defensive team. Discipline players who interrupt speech in the huddle with extra exercise in practice, such as running extra laps or doing extra push-ups. Use this rule to teach players the discipline to stay quiet and just listen to another speaker.

    • 2

      Conduct weekly, mandatory team meetings, to keep your team informed on changes and updates, but also giving your team the chance to ask questions. Explain your changes clearly, giving your team a chance to practice their listening skills. Afterward, open the meeting to questions from your team. Use this technique to give your players practice asking informed, specific questions to demonstrate their understanding of the information from your meeting and practice asking questions for clarity, a vital skill for effective active listening.

    • 3

      Develop hand signals for presnap audibles, allowing your team to react to the opponent on the field, but also teaching another important listening skill. Explain that each player should look for the hand signals, and react to the signals with specific changes. Instruct your players to use these signals to communicate information on the field, even through the loud cheers from the crowd. Use this technique as further practice in reading and interpreting body language, while teaching them the importance of body language.

    • 4

      Teach your players about effective listening discipline by reserving responses and questions until the team is off the field. Once off the field, allow your students to ask questions about specific plays or on field decisions. Discipline players who interrupt the game with questions on the field with extra exercise in practice, like extra running laps or push-ups. Use this technique to teach your players to listen during a conversation, while reserving responses until the other speaker finishes.