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Parrish

4 0N 4

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I'm coaching my son's 8 and under boys flag football team and need some help . It will be 4 on 4.

1. OB can not run

2. Ball must be snapped between centers legs

3. Only direct hand offs behind the line of scrimmage. No laterals or pitches.

4. Passing is allowed and all 4 players are eligible.

Defense

1.All players rushing the line of scrimmage must be 5 yards off the ball when it is snapped. Any number of players may rush. Once ball is handed off 5 yard rule does not apply.

Shotgun snap or direct snap under center?

Man-to-Man defense?

Do you rush or just play the ball?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Shotgun snap or direct snap under center?
8 and under? I started shotgun at age 8, but that was with my son and we'd practice in the backyard a lot. Shotgun is great if you can find someone who is a good snapper, but wasting downs on bad snaps can be frustrating.
Man-to-Man defense?
Boy, 4 vs. 4 doesn't leave a lot of room for a good zone. You could play a 1-3 zone and send someone from the 3 as the rusher. The weakness of M2M is the potential mismatches that occur (e.g. speedster vs. slower player). A zone tends to "cover the sins" of your weaker players.
Do you rush or just play the ball?
Personally, I'm a big fan of rushing. I rarely run into a team that executes their plays quickly or QBs who can handle the rush. We mix up the rush using different players and will fake the rush to keep the offense guessing. As a side note, try to get your kids to execute on offense quickly, you'll take away the effectiveness of a rush.

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Shotgun snap or direct snap under center?

Coach Rob and I differ here. I have my QB under center almost exclusively (age 10& under). My reasoning is that I get near 0% fumbled snaps and I don't think the extra few yards buys you much anyway. Our rushers come from 7 yards back too whereas yours are coming from 5 yards so maybe you want to consider shotgun since your QB will have less time. If you do go shotgun, practice it a ton. I can tell you that a good rusher coming from 7 yards is in the QBs face in the blink of an eye. 2 yards less and he'll be there even faster. This would affect my game planning on both sides of the ball.

Man-to-Man defense?

That's an interesting prospect with only 4 defenders. I'm not sure where you'd place them in a zone. I'd like to know the dimensions of your field because I'm assuming it has to be narrower than what we play on. My instinct would be go man if you have good athletes. I guess for zone you cold go 1 safety and 2 corners. Your rusher would come up the middle and have to watch quick passes.

Do you rush or just play the ball?

I'd rush 100% of the time, especially from 5 yards back. Rusher HAS to contain. HAS to contain. I can't say that enough. You don't have enough kids back on defense to help out if things break down.

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Rusher HAS to contain. HAS to contain. I can't say that enough.
Great point about the contain, most kids run in full speed and over pursue the QB. They think they HAVE to pull the flag, when really most of the time you just want them to pressure the QB into a bad throw.

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This is my offensive formation I plan to run. We will run 75% of the time. My fear is the opposing defense lining all 4 players 5 yards off the line and rushing everyone. Thats alot of pressure on a 7 year old.

0 0

0

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Defensively we have deceided with the man to man with a rusher. I just do not see many passes going down field. If they do then my rusher can play rover in the secondary.

Here are the rules

FIELD

A. 60 yards from goal line with two end zones of 10 yards each.

B. Field shall be divided into 6 zones of 10 yards each.

C. Field shall be a minimum of 35 yards wide and a maximum of 60 yards in length.

PLAYING REGULATIONS

A. The home team will decide if they want to start on offense or defense and the side of the field they would like to occupy. Teams change sides after halftime.

B. The offensive team takes possession of the ball at their 5-yard line and has three (3) plays to cross the mid-field. Once a team crosses mid-field, they will have three (3) plays to score a touchdown. If the offensive team fails to cross mid-field or score, possession of the ball changes and the opposite team starts their drive from their 5-yard line.

C. All possession changes except interceptions start on the offenses 5-yard line.

D. Each time the ball is spotted a team has: 30 seconds to snap the ball. Teams will receive one warning before a Delay of Game penalty is enforced.

E. No contact allowed and no blocking.

F. Ball must be snapped between the legs to start play.

G. Touchdowns will be worth 6 points. Extra point (1) from 5 yards out and (2) from 10 yards out. Safety is worth 2 points.

Rushing the Quarterback

A. All players that rush the passer must be a minimum of 5 yards from the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped. Any number of players can rush the quarterback.

B. Players not rushing the quarterback may defend the line of scrimmage.

C. Once the ball has been handed off the 5 yard rule is no longer in effect and all defenders are eligible to rush.

D. A special marker, or the referee, will designate 5 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Running

A. The Quarterback cannot run the ball.

B. Only direct hands-off behind the line of scrimmage is legal. No laterals or pitches of any kind. Offense may use multiple hands-off.

C. The player who takes the hand-off can throw the ball as long as they do not pass the line of scrimmage.

D. Spinning is allowed but players cannot leave their feet to avoid a defensive player.

E. The ball is spotted where the ball carriers belt is when the flag is pulled, not where the ball is. Ball & flags must break the plane for a 1st down and touchdown.

Passing

A. All passes must be forward and received beyond the line of scrimmage.

B. Shovel passes are allowed, but must be received beyond the line of scrimmage.

C. Quarterback has a 7 second “pass clock”. If a pass is not thrown within the 7 seconds, play is dead, loss of down ball returns to line of scrimmage. Once the ball is handed off the 7-second rule is no longer in effect.

D. Interceptions change the possession of the ball at the point of interception. The ball comes out to the 5-yard line if the interception occurs in the end zone.

Receiving

A. All players are eligible to receive passes (including the QB if the ball has been handed off behind the line of scrimmage).

B. Only one player is allowed in motion at a time.

C. Player must have at least one foot in bounds when making a catch.

D. Pass may not be intentionally tipped in any direction to another teammate.

Dead Balls

A. Play is ruled “DEAD” when:

-Offensive player’s flag is pulled.

-Ball carrier steps out of bounds.

-Touchdown is scored.

-At the point of an interception (interception returns are not allowed)

-Ball carrier’s knee, hand or the ball hits the ground.

-Ball carrier’s flag falls out.

-Receivers flag falls out. (Play is dead at point of reception)

-If the QB takes a snap without both flags, the ball is dead where he or

she received the snap.

-There are no fumbles. Ball is spotted where it hits the ground. Anytime

the ball touches the ground, it is dead.

This is my first year to coach and I was not expecting it to be just 4 on 4. By the way 6 of 8 players have never played before. We do have some speed though. 3 players run in a track league.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

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My fear is the opposing defense lining all 4 players 5 yards off the line and rushing everyone. Thats alot of pressure on a 7 year old.
Doubt that would happen, we send two rushers once in a while, but never a full out blitz.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Best bet is to check out the pinned thread called New To The Youth Football Coaching Discussion Board?

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My fear is the opposing defense lining all 4 players 5 yards off the line and rushing everyone. Thats alot of pressure on a 7 year old.
Doubt that would happen, we send two rushers once in a while, but never a full out blitz.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Best bet is to check out the pinned thread called New To The Youth Football Coaching Discussion Board?

I did, but nothing with 4 on 4 with the rules in our league.

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I did, but nothing with 4 on 4 with the rules in our league.

Your rules seem to be the "norm" with a few variations on the theme. The 4 vs. 4 is definitely a challenge, but you can look at some of the playbooks and modify them for your situation. If you're looking for a specific answer on a topic, throw out the q and we'll try to answer. Another option is using the Search function with the Advanced link, I've found some great answers doing that. We've probably kicked around every imaginable topic on flag football over the past few years on this forum.

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I did, but nothing with 4 on 4 with the rules in our league.

Your rules seem to be the "norm" with a few variations on the theme. The 4 vs. 4 is definitely a challenge, but you can look at some of the playbooks and modify them for your situation. If you're looking for a specific answer on a topic, throw out the q and we'll try to answer. Another option is using the Search function with the Advanced link, I've found some great answers doing that. We've probably kicked around every imaginable topic on flag football over the past few years on this forum.

Thanks for the info. I will let you know how it goes this year.

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Hi Parrish,

Welcome to the boards. There is a wealth of information in the posts here, you just might have to dig a little to find it. If you search though you can find info on just about every aspect of flag football though.

So here's my 2 cents on your defensive scheme. With only 4 players on the field you have a lot of field for each player to cover, which makes it difficult to run a zone. I still think a zone is your better option however, because at your age group, you are not going to see any deep passes, and probably very few good medium passes. All of the passes you will probably see successfully will be the 5 yard or less variety. In a zone defense you will allow your kids to keep the recievers in front of them, and not get lost in crossing routes which easily confuse young man to man defenders. It will also let them keep their eyes on the QB and what is going on in the backfield.

If you play man to man, 2 bad things will happen. Whenever your opponent runs any deep route, your defender will turn his back to the offensive backfield and essentially be "out of the play" until the reciever turns to look for the ball. This will leave your defense easily susceptible to running plays when the defenders backs are to the play. Also it leaves your defenders out of position, so that if one player misses the flags, the other kids won't be aware, and so will probably not be able to make a play (except maybe the safety).

Since you will probably see 70-80% runs at this age level, my #1 goal would be to stop the run. I would line the kids up 3 across, 3-5 yards off the LOS, and have 1 medium/deep safety to watch for passes. Teach them to "stay at home", i.e. not follow the ball, but rather cover their portion of the field, and let your safety cover the deeper throws. If you want to add a blitzer you could have the middle guy line up 5 yards from the LOS and blitz him up the middle.

I coach 9-10 yr olds, and I have always used zone defenses, and they really work for the younger kids.

Good Luck!!

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Had our first practice yesterday and it was a border line a diaster. Out of 8 kids I have one that has played flag football. 3 have never played any kind of football including pick up football in the yard. I have 4 kids that picked up things fairly quickly and are athletic. Questions

1.Since all kids have to play at least half of the game and the league encourages all kids play all positions what is the best wat to divide my team up? (I was thinking splitting up the talent 2-2)

2. How do you guys play your players? (12 min halves with a running clock in our league. There will be a ref. timeout after 6 min to allow for subsitutions) Do you play the same 4 on offense and defense at the same time or do you split them up? One group plays offense then when your on defense the other group goes in?

1st & foremost just calm down.With a brand new team practice is never smooth to start.Its up to the coach to make it happen.Just have to control it.I'm a huge control freak with football and its still hard for me lol...

Question 1...Everyone is going to have different answers on this.I prefer to just rotate kids in/out.But in this case the kids are younger.I honestly wouldn't worry about winning/losing at this age.Typically I coach older kids so it always matters.I would teach these kids the basics of football.Catching with there hands,throwing,how to take a handoff,QB/Center exchange,flag pulling.We would do that stuff every practice over & over again.With doing that you'll see where you can/cannot play certain kids.Explain to them your going to play them to there strengths.Then play the kids where they fit.

Question 2...Again i prefer to rotate kids.at this age i would do a set 4 on offense & a set 4 on defense.knowing me i would say that and end up rotating it.so its mostly a coaches preference.

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Agree with Rush here, first few practices always have kinks to be worked out. Shoot, first few games aren't usually real pretty either. As you move through the season your kids will improve, and by the end of the season when it's time to quit, you'll wish you had a few more games left to play.

the league encourages all kids play all positions what is the best wat to divide my team up?
Personally, I disagree with having all kids play QB for the simple reason that you end up with a lot of wasted plays and opportunities for ball touches. Trying to rotate all 8 kids through at QB in a single game would be suicide. I'd pick 2-3 capable ones and have them QB the majority of plays. Allow the other kids to play QB with some easier plays, but mix it up each game so everyone eventually gets a shot at QB throughout the season a few plays.
Do you play the same 4 on offense and defense at the same time or do you split them up? One group plays offense then when your on defense the other group goes in?
I'm like Rush, I do all this on the fly, sometimes a group stays on after being on defense because they shut it down in two plays, sometimes I sub a lot. Sounds like you don't have that luxury. Easiest way in your situation is to pick two teams and try to spread out the talent. Let one team play offense the first half, then switch the second half. You'll get a feel for who plays well together.

With regards to only one kid playing flag before, that can be challenging, but you'll find that it boils down to pulling flags and running plays. Teach your kids to be good flag pullers and to run fast, straight, and not to look down to see if someone pulled their flag. Don't stop until they hear the whistle.

I had two girls on my team a few seasons back who'd never played football. It was quite a challenge in the beginning. We ended up winning the championship that year and those girls played a vital part.

Take those kids who've never played before and make them want to come back for more next season. That's your job as a coach. Hang in there, remember to keep it FUN, it will get better!

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We had our first two games on Sat.02-20-10. We lost the first game 7-14 and the second game 6-12. A drive killer was I was having to put all four players in different positions during the drive. The kids were getting confused on what to do. One kid took the hand off ran two yards and threw the football to the ground when the defense swarmed him. Another one took the hand off four yards deep and just froze. Then my QB did not even attempt to hand off and took off running with the football (not allowed). We have 3 plays to get it past mid field (25 yrds)and 3 more plays to score (30yards). We have a 12 min half with a running clock . It only allows you two possesions per half. The two teams we played played the same kids in the same positions the entire game. One team even had some kids play offense and defense only.(This teams coach was telling his defense who was going to get the ball as I was lining up my offense, he had watched previous plays and caught on to my offense. I asked him if he would not do this because we were a new team with no experience and he just snickered at me.) The League recommends you play all kids in all positions but its not a requirement. There was only one other team besides us that did this the entire day.

Coach Rob has a good idea that I'm going to try with only two playing QB.(One is my assistants son he he has no desire to run the ball and he is my better QB) We have a referee time out after 6 min to allow for subsitutions. So each kid gets (2) 6 min. quarters on offense and defense. I going to play the same players in the same positions for (1) 6 min. quarter and then move them around on the (second) 6 min. quarter. What do you guys think?

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