Football For All Ages - Middle School Fundamentals For the Game

Strength and conditioning: Up Downs

Out of all of the football conditioning drills up downs is one of the most popular. This drill starts by having the players run in place as fast as they can encourage them to get their knees up as high as they can. Then at random a coach will yell, "down" or blow a whistle at which the players must dive to the ground do a push up and then jump back into running in place. Because this drill can be very taxing, it is important to increase the time spent at this slowly over time as the player's strength increases.

Foot Ball Drills

Protecting the football as you run

One of the fundamental aspects of running with a football is ball security. There is nothing worse than almost getting a first down or even a touchdown and fumbling the ball, for this reason there is a great need for ball security. A great way to teach tight ball security is with four points. First grab the football with your carrying hand with the tips of the football being covered with your fingers. Second, wrap your forearm completely around the football. Third point is to have the ball held tight against the bicep to prevent defenders from punching up through from behind. Fourth, pull the football up and tight against your ribcage closing the gap on the football from all four sides. Practice holding the football and having defensive players try and knock out the football by any means possible. In this way you can practice great defensive moves to force a fumble, and also focus on offensive ball protection.

Open field tactics: covering ground with angle tackles

It is a great idea to practice angle tackles with your defense because not all tackles are made with the opponent right in front of you. Set up a simple drill with two players, on as the offense with the ball running in a straight line, the other as the defender running towards him at some angle. As the opponent comes toward the defender he will need to adjust his body position and shorten the angle, put his foot in front of the opponent, and make sure that he put his head in front of the opponent. The defender follows through with the tackle by straightening his knees in a lunging type motion, wrapping his arms around the ball carrier to pull him down to the ground or push him off sides.

Line of scrimmage tactics

In various plays whether you are on offense or defense you will want to have a strategic advantage over your opponents. Use the proven technique of double teaming to get great results on the field In essence you take two blockers or linemen and have them go after the same person. The strategy works for putting a hole in the line of scrimmage as two easily overpowers one. To execute this properly have both linemen step together at the same time and lock their hips together. They form a wall that the opponent cannot break. Hit the shoulders hard and pin the opponent down as you drive them back. Also, this maneuver needs to happen quickly and efficiently.

Football For All Ages - Middle School Fundamentals For the Game

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