Anyone with experience coaching youth football?

[Lazarus52980]

My son (8 years old, almost 9) has been picked by the coach to be the main running back on his football team (yay!). However, he has some issues with how to correctly hold the ball so he doesn't fumble. I am trying to help him, and have looked up some different styles of holding the ball, but they all seem to be for much older and taller, so the longer arms allow them to hold the ball differently... Anyone have any advice on he should be holding the ball while running?

 

[leeland]

hold the front of the ball with your fingers forked...so the ball tip is between your fingers.

The other end is generally as snug as you can get it near the armpit...for a third level of protection the other hand goes over the top of the ball in a contact situation.

Always try to keep the ball in the outside arm to reduce the risk of having the ball stripped out as well as leaving the other hand available for stiff arms.

The last one is very hard for kids to not simply stick with their dominant hand...regardless of which direction they are running.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

You should ask Snoop Lion.

 

[CPA]

I have been coaching youth football for 15 years. Every age group from 4 years old through 6th grade. I am currently coaching a 6th grade team. Honestly.

Most fumbles come from handoffs. Arm closest to quarterback should be the top arm. Other arm should be bottom arm. He should NEVER try to grab ball from QB with hands. Let QB place ball in stomach. Clamp with both arms. Slide ball with LOWEST Arm to the side to get secured and to the outside (in most cases).

Teach four points of pressure. fingers pressed on tip of ball, one side of ball pressed against forearm, other pressed on rib cage, inside tip pressed close to armpit.

Additionally, I always teach running backs that when running between the tackles to keep both arms on ball tight until you get past the linebackers. Then using LOWEST arm, bring ball into proper four points of pressure placement. Outside runs don't need this as it will tend to slow a runner down.

Optimally, he should not be looking at the QB or ball when getting the ball delivered to him. His focus should be to his hole and the defense. This may be difficult for an 8 year old, but kids can surprise you.

Work with him by you giving handoffs over an over again. Then when he gets proper arm placement and security down, have him run by you and you try to strip it from him. This will get him to work on pressing the ball tight.

His coaches should be doing very similar training exercises with him. Or do you have coaches that do nothing but work plays all practice?

 

[Lazarus52980]

I have been coaching youth football for 15 years. Every age group from 4 years old through 6th grade. I am currently coaching a 6th grade team. Honestly.

Most fumbles come from handoffs. Arm closest to quarterback should be the top arm. Other arm should be bottom arm. He should NEVER try to grab ball from QB with hands. Let QB place ball in stomach. Clamp with both arms. Slide ball with LOWEST Arm to the side to get secured and to the outside (in most cases).

Teach four points of pressure. fingers pressed on tip of ball, one side of ball pressed against forearm, other pressed on rib cage, inside tip pressed close to armpit.

Additionally, I always teach running backs that when running between the tackles to keep both arms on ball tight until you get past the linebackers. Then using LOWEST arm, bring ball into proper four points of pressure placement. Outside runs don't need this as it will tend to slow a runner down.

Optimally, he should not be looking at the QB or ball when getting the ball delivered to him. His focus should be to his hole and the defense. This may be difficult for an 8 year old, but kids can surprise you.

Work with him by you giving handoffs over an over again. Then when he gets proper arm placement and security down, have him run by you and you try to strip it from him. This will get him to work on pressing the ball tight.

His coaches should be doing very similar training exercises with him. Or do you have coaches that do nothing but work plays all practice?

Honestly, he has only had 4 practices so far, and no real 1 on 1 work done with any of the boys (all drills and tackling practice in the first 3, and then working on plays in the most recent practice). Coach is really only one guy, so I don't expect him to be able to give the kind of development time my son needs, but... he still needs that time, so...Dad to the rescue!

Thanks CPA, this gives me a good idea of things to work on with him today, along with memorizing the names and positions of the gaps on the O line, and using the tacking dummy to practice wrapping up on tackles.

Anything else young boys normally need to work on that I should help him focus on?

 

[z1ggy]

Damn 8yo playing tackle football already??? I didn't start playing until I was 10.

In all honestly I kind of regret playing football entirely. Yeah I was considered cool in high school, the whole Friday Night Lights thing, but I got 2 concussions and probably damaged my brain a bunch, literally making me less smart.

It did provide me a solid foundation for lifting weights, but I could have gotten that from my other sports anyway.

 

[Lazarus52980]

Damn 8yo playing tackle football already??? I didn't start playing until I was 10.

In all honestly I kind of regret playing football entirely. Yeah I was considered cool in high school, the whole Friday Night Lights thing, but I got 2 concussions and probably damaged my brain a bunch, literally making me less smart.

It did provide me a solid foundation for lifting weights, but I could have gotten that from my other sports anyway.

The lifting part is not really a problem, since we have been lifting since he was 6 and he recently set a world record for squat with the AAU (Sorry, proud dad had to take the time to brag about my kid)

I'm assuming that is why he is so freaking fast and thus why they want him to play RB.

Honestly, the concussions part does worry me somewhat, but this is the sport he wants to play (instead of soccer like his mom wants). I could tell him no I guess, but I want to at least give him a chance. Hopefully no concussions at this young age.

 

[mcurphy]

Anything else young boys normally need to work on that I should help him focus on?

I just started coaching this year, I am one of 3 assistants to our head coach for our 3rd/4th graders team. I played football 10 years as a youth and won 2 state championships with my high school team.

After 3 weeks of practice (and one 1 week camp with the high school coaches) a few observations I have seen:

1. The kids have a TERRIBLE time remembering the snap count. Even when faced with extra sprints and up-downs, the kids are still jumping off sides all the time.

2. A lot of the kids have difficulty getting into a proper stance, whether it be 2 point or 3 point.

3. Lastly, exploding off the ball is critical, and difficult for many kids. It would help your son if you could teach him to get fired-up, and to not be afraid to lay it all out there every chance he gets when the ball is snapped. A lot of kids are just too timid for football - intensity is very hard to teach.

And CPA's tips on hand offs and holding the ball are fantastic. Those will both be critical skills to teach your boy as a RB.

 

[Lazarus52980]

I just started coaching this year, I am one of 3 assistants to our head coach for our 3rd/4th graders team. I played football 10 years as a youth and won 2 state championships with my high school team.

After 3 weeks of practice (and one 1 week camp with the high school coaches) a few observations I have seen:

1. The kids have a TERRIBLE time remembering the snap count. Even when faced with extra sprints and up-downs, the kids are still jumping off sides all the time.

2. A lot of the kids have difficulty getting into a proper stance, whether it be 2 point or 3 point.

3. Lastly, exploding off the ball is critical, and difficult for many kids. It would help your son if you could teach him to get fired-up, and to not be afraid to lay it all out there every chance he gets when the ball is snapped. A lot of kids are just too timid for football - intensity is very hard to teach.

And CPA's tips on hand offs and holding the ball are fantastic. Those will both be critical skills to teach your boy as a RB.

A lot of really good points here, thank you. In his case, I do have a lot of work to teach him aggressiveness, but intensity he has down (through no teaching of mine, he was just born super SUPER competitive). I can help him learn his stances, but any advice on how to teach explosiveness? He has the general muscle work for it (since we do a fair amount of power cleans) but I don't know how to teach him to use it on the field....

 

[z1ggy]

The lifting part is not really a problem, since we have been lifting since he was 6 and he recently set a world record for squat with the AAU (Sorry, proud dad had to take the time to brag about my kid)

I'm assuming that is why he is so freaking fast and thus why they want him to play RB.

Honestly, the concussions part does worry me somewhat, but this is the sport he wants to play (instead of soccer like his mom wants). I could tell him no I guess, but I want to at least give him a chance. Hopefully no concussions at this young age.

I know he did, I saw it and commented about it in ATF.

Most likely.

It's a very serious concern. You get hit in the head literally hundreds of times per week when you play full time, even at a young age. When the kids are little, they don't really hit that hard obviously, but they are smaller so their bodies are a bit more fragile.

I think it's a good sport to instill team building qualities and toughness, but coming from somebody who played all the way from childhood up until college (switched to rugby) I kind of wish I never had done it. I had fun, made friends etc, but I wish I had stuck with ice hockey.

If it's not too late, maybe he would consider hockey if it's around your area. It still teaches you how to be tough, team build, etc but head trauma is much less. Also, I personally think it's 10x more fun. Your son is still young enough to start hockey, but he needs to start ASAP if he doesn't want to fall behind other kids.

Anyway, sorry for the off topic. To answer your original question, young kids should hold the ball exactly the same a larger person would, except they should really use the non carrying arm to hold it almost at all times to help secure it. Instead of the two points of the football being between fingers and elbow, it will probably be between shoulder and fingers. Just use the non carrying hand to help keep it locked in place. Also, he should be holding it up against his body when running inside the line. Tosses and stuff there's no point.

 

[mcurphy]

A lot of really good points here, thank you. In his case, I do have a lot of work to teach him aggressiveness, but intensity he has down (through no teaching of mine, he was just born super SUPER competitive). I can help him learn his stances, but any advice on how to teach explosiveness? He has the general muscle work for it (since we do a fair amount of power cleans) but I don't know how to teach him to use it on the field....

Hmm, that's a good question. My son has been wrestling for 3 years, so he had no choice but to learn explosiveness, or he'd have his ass handed to him in seconds. Maybe you could try lining up in front of your son, have a third person snap a ball, or blow a whistle, and try to push each other down. If he gets knocked on his butt enough times, he will eventually learn to get quicker, lol. It really is hard to teach, but it can be done. Sorry, that's all I could think of off the top of my head...heading out of work in five minutes!

 

[CPA]

I just started coaching this year, I am one of 3 assistants to our head coach for our 3rd/4th graders team. I played football 10 years as a youth and won 2 state championships with my high school team.

After 3 weeks of practice (and one 1 week camp with the high school coaches) a few observations I have seen:

1. The kids have a TERRIBLE time remembering the snap count. Even when faced with extra sprints and up-downs, the kids are still jumping off sides all the time.

2. A lot of the kids have difficulty getting into a proper stance, whether it be 2 point or 3 point.

3. Lastly, exploding off the ball is critical, and difficult for many kids. It would help your son if you could teach him to get fired-up, and to not be afraid to lay it all out there every chance he gets when the ball is snapped. A lot of kids are just too timid for football - intensity is very hard to teach.

And CPA's tips on hand offs and holding the ball are fantastic. Those will both be critical skills to teach your boy as a RB.

Here's an easy drill for snap count. It may seem simplistic, maybe funny, but it works, at least in my experience.

First, at that age keep the snap count simple. A three cadence call. Wait until they get a little older for something more advanced (going on a silent count, going on 2). Do something like, "Ready...Set...Hut" or "Go...Set...Hut".

Now the drill. After they warm up, have them remain in their lines/rows. Pull the quarterback out (and any backups). Have the everyone, including quarterback, put up their hands ready to clap. Have the quarterback tell them when to clap "Ready", "Set" or "Hut". then go through his cadence. When he gets to the call he told them everyone claps together.

QB to group: "On Hut, on Hut"
QB: "Ready"
QB: "Set"
QB: "Hut"
Group: clap

They need to all clap together. Have them do this 5-10 times in a row without a mistake. Have the QB change the count. Do it EVERY practice. Team needs to get used to the QB's voice and timing.

Also, make sure the QB is not altering his cadence timing either. The kids are expecting the Hut to be said after the Set at the same time, every time. No long pauses either. And of course, QB needs to be loud.

Stance: With your experience, you probably have a good feel for how a stance should work. Here's what I do: feet should be shoulder width apart, same side foot that hand is going down, should be slightly back. Have kids bend knees like sitting on toilet. Do not put hand down yet. Slightly bend at the hips, place hand down. NO pressure on the hands. If the knuckles are turning white his weight is not over his feet, which is where it should be. have him shift his weight back. I know this is counter-intuitive to firing out, but the problem is with their weight forward, they cannot move their feet quick enough to get into good position and then work their guy. With weight forward, they will tend to wiff/miss their guy completely.

 

[CPA]

A lot of really good points here, thank you. In his case, I do have a lot of work to teach him aggressiveness, but intensity he has down (through no teaching of mine, he was just born super SUPER competitive). I can help him learn his stances, but any advice on how to teach explosiveness? He has the general muscle work for it (since we do a fair amount of power cleans) but I don't know how to teach him to use it on the field....

It's less about explosiveness and more about quickness and using legs instead of arms to move someone. Quick short steps going forward. Also, make sure to teach proper hand position when blocking - thumbs up, grab inside of shoulder pads, keep arms close to body. It is actually legal to hold if you keep hands inside and close to body. Once you extend the arms, that's when holding becomes illegal.