If defense wins championships, how come so many youth football teams do not spend much time on team defense? I watch year after year as teams ignore working on team defense except when they scrimmage.
Much like the last post, I think we need to clarify what we mean when we ask this question. Not only overall defense, but individual and team defense needs to be practiced.
Just like my answer under the offensive question, the defensive side of the ball directly influences many of the daily routine skills and drills. Every single stretch and exercise helps your defense in one way or another.
The way we run, our agility through the pads are based on a good linebacker stance. We have the players learn to shuffle their feet and keep their heads up so they can see the play develop.
We work on form tackling the pads every day. 90% of my practices will contain some form of either the Angle Tackle Drill or Open Field Tackling.
When the season is underway and we have scouting reports to go on, we will spend extensive time running a "scout offense" against the defense teaching all of our upcoming opponents tendencies and special plays.
As a general rule, at least 70-80% of our practice time is going over our defensive gameplan or working on some defensive skill or concept.
Teaching the players to trust each other and not to try to make every play can be a challenge with the little kids. It is second nature for the kids to just run after the ball carrier and try to make the tackle.
It takes time for the players to understand that their individual responsibilities are most important in a team setting. You cannot roam over the field and have a successful defense if the individual assignments are being ignored.
Outside containment is the hardest responsibility to teach the young players. When the plays appears to be heading the other way, it takes great discipline to stay home.
I am always on the lookout, when scouting an opponent, for the players who do not stay home. I know I can run reverse and counter plays for big yardage against him.
In conclusion, take the time in practice to make certain the players are well schooled in the defensive scheme you have choosen to use this year. If your opponent cannot score, they cannot win.
Jim Oddo has been coaching youth football, basketball and baseball for over 23 years. Jim has had success teaching kds ages 4 to 14 years old. Find over 400 FREE articles and great ideas on becoming a successful youth football coach at http://footballplaybooks.info. In addition to coaching ideas, there is a variety of systems and schemes available as Youth Football Playbooks.
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