Atlanta Cracker Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 So I got "volunteered" to coach my son's 5&6 year old flag football team this fall. I have assisted coaching soccer, baseball, and basketball for this age group in the past and really been more of the crowd control person. Any tips for simple game strategy and/or practice drills to keep the little buggers occupied and engaged? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt770 Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Xanax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Running plays. My son hasn't played football yet (he is 6), but several of his friends have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millerx Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Plenty of up downs, running laps, and no water breaks! Kids are too soft these days! Seriously though, the best advice I could give is when doing drills, try to do ones that don't consist of one or two long lines. Instead break it up so that the most a kid has to wait for his next go around is 2-3 people. This keeps them engaged and active. Waiting in lines for too long causes more chance for distraction for young kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 I agree with Millerx - try to keep the kids busy even if it is just with jumping jacks or push ups. I would suggest agility drills too like running cones where you can time them and see which kid is fast. When you find your fastest kid, make him QB because the more the ball is transferred to another player, the more chances of a fumble and slowing of the play. ' Teach them just the basic plays: Dives (not that great in flag football) sweeps bootlegs decide on maybe 2 or 3 pass plays only because they rarely work. Keep it all simple and fun for the kids. At that age level, I would keep it very fun and fast paced as I could. There is NO need to yell at any kids that age so watch out for other coaches who want to pretend these are mini-NFL players. One thing I strongly suggest - have one or two trick plays. The kids LOVE them. We ran statute of liberty with much success. We put the QB under center and then hiked the ball through his legs straight to the fullback. Kids love doing those plays. It is a blast - I coached peewee football for three years and it was really rewarding. Kids are great at that age and you are setting their attitude about football - make it fun as you can, Last suggestion (since I always ran offenses), is the greatest peewee play ever. Run a reverse by splitting out a WR by the opponents bench and have the QB bootleg to that side and hand off to the WR knowing he probably won't get much. In the next series, do the exact same play in front of the other team's bench but make it a fake reverse because all their coaches will be screaming "reverse!" and telling their defense to run the wrong way. Pretty funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 In the next series, do the exact same play in front of the other team's bench but make it a fake reverse because all their coaches will be screaming "reverse!" and telling their defense to run the wrong way. Pretty funny. Good Stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawks21 Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 The biggest challenge I had with kids that age was getting everyone involved. The better players know who they are, and the QB gives the ball to the best couple of players over and over again. Teach them a couple of plays that use the better players as decoys for the less athletic kids. Run a couple of kids on crossing routes with their arms in the air as decoys and send another kid out into the flat. He'll be wide open. Your one and only job when coaching kids that young is to not deter them from wanting to play football again next year. Since you're here asking this question, it makes it obvious that you're putting some effort into it and you're heart is in the right place. Just have fun with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted August 6, 2011 Author Share Posted August 6, 2011 The biggest challenge I had with kids that age was getting everyone involved. The better players know who they are, and the QB gives the ball to the best couple of players over and over again. Teach them a couple of plays that use the better players as decoys for the less athletic kids. Run a couple of kids on crossing routes with their arms in the air as decoys and send another kid out into the flat. He'll be wide open. Your one and only job when coaching kids that young is to not deter them from wanting to play football again next year. Since you're here asking this question, it makes it obvious that you're putting some effort into it and you're heart is in the right place. Just have fun with it. I'm sure the parents of the really good kids will be very frustrated with me and how I rotate everyone through different spots and get them involved. My main goal is for everyone to have fun first of all and learn a little about football. Everything else is secondary. I also want to set them up to succeed as much as possible by being reasonable about what I teach and expect and I definitely want to make sure to keep their interest. Is passing even an option at this age really? I don't know too many of my son's friends who could throw a pass, much less many who could catch it. I'm thinking a toss sweep would be a high level play even. What type of center exchange usually happens at this age? Is the QB under center or shotgun or ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeR Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 I agree with Millerx - try to keep the kids busy even if it is just with jumping jacks or push ups. I would suggest agility drills too like running cones where you can time them and see which kid is fast. When you find your fastest kid, make him QB because the more the ball is transferred to another player, the more chances of a fumble and slowing of the play. Sound logic but disagree on fastest guy is your QB. Best combo of surest-handed and smartest guy is your QB. Fastest guy (assuming not a butterfingers) is your HB. And yes you should run about oh 95%+ running plays and KEEP IT BASIC. Our OC's mistake was over-complicating things. Screw this " 3J X Jagger Zebra Triple Loop Fly Right" BS. More like "HB sweep left on 3." Traps, OT runs and sweeps will be your bread n butter, maybe the occasional draw or short pass. Definitely emphasize sportsmanship and fun over winning - the good news is kids at that age are mostly just interested in fun anyway. I loved coaching that age because they weren't in that know-it-all/bad attitude age of teen/pre-teens. One thing I strongly suggest - have one or two trick plays. The kids LOVE them. We ran statute of liberty with much success. We put the QB under center and then hiked the ball through his legs straight to the fullback. Kids love doing those plays.Awesome advice - in fact EVERYONE loves these, working or not, the parents, kids, coaches etc. Just fun to see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ditkaless Wonders Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Make it fun. Everybody handles the ball. No kid is pigeon holed in one position, the Star Q.B. who is fast as lightning takes a turn on the line, and the fat kid gets a turn at Q.B No yelling. Make it fun Reward skill improvement and physical fitness improvement for all. Make it fun. Get to know the moms. Very little standing around Popsicles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Our last game of the season, we got to play in a real HS stadium. I let every single kid run one play so they could hear their name on the loudspeaker. Yeah we got smeared but every kid thought it was cool. When the other coach realized what I was doing, he apologized and sort told his defense to take it a little easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 The coach my 7 year old son had for flag football spent waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much time trying to teach them the intricacies of the game.. Kids would make great plays on his team and he would be more worried about a defensive breakdown than congratulating the kid (who was mine some of the time) giving up his body and diving for a flag. Don't be that guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby's Hubby Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 I really wish we had a pee wee league here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeR Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 ? This place IS a pee wee league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 ? This place IS a pee wee league. You've been reported to the mods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 ... When do our pee wee league fantasy rankings come out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJoTheWebToedBoy Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 They have..... And I'm a little pissed that I'm in the Tier 4 group this year As for coaching, make sure they have fun..... This is the experience that will shape their attitude towards sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 Ok, so just had our first practice today... WOW!! How in the world do you get these dudes to pay attention? I split them into small groups and all had activities where there was no waiting but even then they wouldn't stand still long enough to listen to the instructions on "hey now we are going to snap the ball" or "now we are going to pull flags" I think everyone had fun but it really felt out of control 90% of the time. The running / hopping / skipping activities worked well but I am worried about how I will ever manage to get them to run a single play come game time. I think many of these kids are used to getting away with whatever they want and I certainly don't want to be the one (nor is it appropriate IMO) to lay down the hammer on them but I have to come up with something. Any tips on how I get them interested in lining up in a formation or running a play when I could barely get them to pay attention long enough to snap the ball? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ditkaless Wonders Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 "Who wants to play in the games? The only kids who get to play in the games are the ones that learn the formations. And I have to know you have learned the formations by seeing you get it right. I won't know if i don't see it with my own eyes." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 This is why you always start practice with a long run to tire the little buggers out and then they pay attention. You can always threaten them with laps if they are rampantly not paying attention and they get it eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 This is why you always start practice with a long run to tire the little buggers out and then they pay attention. You can always threaten them with laps if they are rampantly not paying attention and they get it eventually. Good point. Both groups did significantly better at the second setup after they were tired. Of course it was 98 degrees here today so the last thing I want is to be the coach that caused the first Kindergarten collapse. I'll definitely shift the more tiring stuff to the first half of practice and work on details in the second. Thanks for your advice! Would you make the whole group do laps if people aren't paying attention or just the offending kid? Just don't want to ruffle parent's feathers if I can avoid it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 Oh, and any tips on good activity for arrival? It was a good 10 mins past scheduled start before over half the kids arrived. This is Atlanta and traffic is a beast and will probably be the case more often than not. I don't want to start too much before everyone is there but I can't just have the first 8 arrivals running amok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slambo Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Would you make the whole group do laps if people aren't paying attention or just the offending kid? Just don't want to ruffle parent's feathers if I can avoid it. Make the whole group do laps and let them know they're doing laps because of so & so. That way the next time so & so acts up peer pressure might take care of the problem before you have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunning Runt Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Most people seem to want to coach offense. My thoughts on this are to get the ball to the outside as much as possible. Mainly though, I think teaching the simple act of pulling flags on defense is every bit, if not more, important than offense. I've coached lots of flag football and the number one thing I always taught was for the kids not to just swipe at a flag as a kid was running by, but rather to get the arms around both sides of the runner and strip down with both hands. You're slowing the runner down while legally going for the flags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Cracker Posted August 19, 2011 Author Share Posted August 19, 2011 Make the whole group do laps and let them know they're doing laps because of so & so. That way the next time so & so acts up peer pressure might take care of the problem before you have to. I'm not really sure 6 year olds are ready for being called out yet. I do think a group run would work if people aren't paying attention. That way I can threaten it again and frankly, if it's just one or two it would be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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