How to Coach Youth Football Drills

Coaching youth football requires patience, a positive attitude and a willingness to teach. Football drills teach the fundamental skills, such as blocking and tackling, that are essential to the development of any young player. Three of the most important aspects of coaching youth football drills are tempo, repetition and encouragement. A fast tempo lets players get more repetitions, while keeping them focused on the drill. Encouragement keeps kids interested and leaves them hungry to achieve.

Instructions

    • 1

      Set up stations for different drills. This ensures that as many players as possible are actively involved at the same time. Setting up a rotation with a coach at each station lets you maximize player activity and increase repetitions.

    • 2

      Blow a whistle to indicate when players should rotate to the next drill. Encourage players to sprint from one drill to the other. In addition to saving time, it also helps conditioning and focus.

      Start each drill by completing a walk-through example with one or more players. Kids usually feel privileged when used as an example for everyone else. If you consistently reward the first players in line--who are usually those who hustled in between stations--you create a sense of healthy competition at practice.

    • 3

      Provide positive reinforcement to players. Some kids take longer to understand drills than others. Criticism, especially with young players, often leads to feelings of embarrassment or isolation. While older players can learn from criticism and turn it into motivation, it might have the opposite effect on young players. Never make an example of a player for something negative.

    • 4

      Spend most of practice on fundamental drills and skill-building exercises rather than game planning. Youth football does not require an elaborate game strategy. Installing plays takes time and leaves many players standing around watching.

      When plays are installed, get different players ready to go so you can quickly substitute players into scrimmage situations. Remember, the faster things get done, the more repetitions you can complete. And the more repetitions completed, the more experience the players get.