Youth Football Camp Drills

At youth football camps, young players will learn new techniques to enhance their ability to be successful in the game. Youth camp football drills should be educational and enjoyable, keeping the players interested while they learn new skills.

  1. King of the Hill Drill

    • A fun drill to teach youth players about onside kicks is the King of the Hill drill. Onside kicks are used when the kicking team is behind in the game and needs to retain possession of the ball. The ball must travel ten yards before a player on the kicking team can touch it. For this drill, football-tutorials.com instructs two groups of players to line up behind cones where the football would cross the 10-yard point. Once the kicker kicks, the first player in each line attempts to recover the ball. The player who does not get the ball is out, and the drill continue until one player remains, the “King of the Hill.”

    Bull Rush Drill

    • The Bull Rush drill is a capture-the-flag-style drill that providesconditioning and open-field tackling practice for youth players. Football-tutorials.com says to prepare for the drill by sectioning off a 40yard area with cones and line up the players at one end. Chose one player to stand in the middle. His job is to tackle a player as the team sprints to the other end of the playing area. The player who gets tackled then joins the player in the middle. Repeat the drill until all players are in the middle or only one player remains. Coaches should ensure correct tackling form is used and that players are sprinting, not jogging. This drill makes running sprints a fun task and teaches youth players to use teamwork.

    Set-up, Find Receiver and Fire

    • In football, the quarterback has the responsibility of running the football or passing it to a receiver, who in turn must find an open area and make the catch. The Set-up, Find Receiver and Fire drill is designed to improve the quarterback's reaction time and the receiver's catching skills. Guidetocoachingsports.com advises placing a line of evenly spaced receivers downfield and assigning each a number. The coach will call out a number and the quarterback, standing next to him, must quickly shift his position and throw the football to the designated player. This drill requires both the receivers and the quarterback to concentrate on the coach's instructions and to rapidly make the proper adjustments to throw and catch the football.