Getting the Most out of your Football Practice-Be Productive

Most teams only can practice 3 times a week, 2 hours a practice. With that said, getting the most out of your football practice is absolutely vital!  Practice time is valuable, do not waste a minute of it.  Have all youth football coaches on the same page, and run practice energy.

‘Championships are won at practice’

Youth Football Practice Tips:

• Organized practice routines. Coaches all need to be on the same page.  Have a plan! You need to practice all phases of football each practice.
• Fluid, up-tempo practices.  No kids should be standing around. Switch phases with great energy and passion.
• Never walk on the field.
• Set up the same drill twice. Example: If you have 10 kids going through a drill, set the drill up twice so that there is 5 in line instead of 10. This will double the amount of reps the kids get and it will take up only half of the time.
• Do not waste too much time on conditioning.  I know that conditioning is the most important aspect of football. The secret is to get your conditioning in during practice by doing everything fast and up-beat.  Example: instead of conditioning for 30 minutes per practice squash two birds with one stone: when running team offense or defense have the kids carry the plays out for 20 yards at full speed.  You can do sprints from the pursuit drill as well. We will never just do sprints or laps.

• Have kickers kicking, snappers snapping, holders holding,  and have the QB and centers taking snaps before practice. If the kids are there early, have them do something, rather than throwing the ball around. If they are at the field early, practice something. The extra reps will make a difference.
• Work youth football special teams whenever you can, it will win you games.
• Rotate starters and back-ups every other play.  Run every play correctly 2-3 times (depending on team size). The first time have your starters run the play, then run the same play with the second group.
• Script practices. Again, have a plan. Plan out each practice. Every coach needs to know his responsibility and they must execute. Coaches will says well hey, the kids need to execute- the same goes for the coaches.

Here is an fantastic article regarding- Youth Football Practice Planning 

Good Luck.