Gottria 0 Report post Posted September 10, 2011 Got our first game today and this is my first year coaching 5v5 flag. Only have 6 kids showing up for the game so they will all get a good amount of playing time. Only had 1 "meeting" as practices are discouraged from our league, yea it's a rough start for the new teams that are starting from scratch.Made a playbook of about 6 basic plays and talked about 2-1-2 zone coverage and how to switch it into a 2-3 or a 3-2 zone. Problem is what I don't know when to run which defense? Do I run a 3-2 on a run play or 2-3? Love it!!! This is gonna be a blast working with a great bunch of kids. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johnp2 21 Report post Posted September 10, 2011 If your league throws a lot--I would run a 2-3, else I would run a 3-2. We always look to stop the run first and then once a team proves they can throw on us we'll adjust accordingly. Good luck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gottria 0 Report post Posted September 11, 2011 Thanks John, we got creamed 45-15. Loooong day!!! We did have some good plays and got 15 points on the board but with just an hour practice before the game I had no idea of who could QB. I'll try the defense and see what happens next Saturday. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johnp2 21 Report post Posted September 11, 2011 Sorry to hear about the lop-sided score (I'll assume the other coach eased up some, if not that is not very sportsman-like). It's very difficult to win your first season...and has little to do with one's knowledge of football, IMO. I look at it like an expansion team in the NFL. Just focus on asking your players to "stay home" on defense. By that, play a true zone and tell them not to move until the ball crosses the LOS. Split your ends out wide to prevent runs to the outside, and have your ends force the ball-carrier in the box and let your LBs maintain the middle. I'm sure you'll see vast improvement as the season goes on. Let us know how you do! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gottria 0 Report post Posted September 11, 2011 Is it best to purchase one of those playbooks that has a lot of plays and such, http://www.flagfootballplans.com/collections/5-on-5-flag-football-plays/products/5-on-5-football-plays-advanced Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hollad6636 0 Report post Posted September 11, 2011 Gottria,I am not going to say that those are not good playbooks. I have never looked at them. I however don't understand why you would want to pay for something that I doubt is better than what you can get for free.There are a lot of 5 v 5 playbooks that are available for free right here. Below are just a few taken from various post's under the Youth Flag Football Playbook Section. You can simply use them as is or modify them to fit your needs. Remember you have a new group with limited practice time so keep it simple and don't go overboard on the number of plays that you have them learn. Have them learn 5 or 6 plays maximum and then get them to execute the plays over and over so that it becomes effortless.Orange New 5 v 5 PlaybooksRushbuster 5 v 5 PlaybookHusker Fan 5 v 5 Playbook No PitchCoachCurt's 5 v 5 PlaybookCoachRob's 5 v 5 PlaybookTexas D Coach 5 v 5 Playbook Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coach Rob 26 Report post Posted September 12, 2011 Remember you have a new group with limited practice time so keep it simple and don't go overboard on the number of plays that you have them learn. Have them learn 5 or 6 plays maximum and then get them to execute the plays over and over so that it becomes effortless.I agree. Every season I find myself drawing up new "cool plays" and end up with more than I ever use. Honestly, plays won't mean anything unless you can exectue them, as the saying goes, "everything looks good on paper". Getting a few basic formations and running variations off those is a good start. Less for the kids to remember and you're showing the same look to the defense but throwing a twist on it each time. Need the kids to realize what a good fake looks like. Doubling over and rolling the shoulder and not looking back to see how the play is going. Tell them you want their fake to be so good, that someone on the D actually pulls their flag, thinking they have the ball.Having 3 common routes in your plays and making sure the kids all understand how to run them properly is important. Teach the kids to execute the plays quickly, especially if you have a rusher. Hope this helps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gottria 0 Report post Posted September 12, 2011 Thsnks!!! Didn't see any playbooks, just a few pages of plays here and there. I will print these up and take a look. Damn this is a cool forum, thanks guys. Seems we have 2 dominate teams and 2 not so dominate as the other team had a blow out also. I'm starting to wonder about this league. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gottria 0 Report post Posted September 12, 2011 Rob, thanks for the tips. I like using the 3 routes method. I had a book with some basic plays for short, medium, and long passes but my QB can't throw that long so I scratched those out. I like the idea of having the 3 routes, I assume it's left, right, and middle? Then look at the defense and run on their weak-side? The rusher kicked our QBs but, he was fast and couldn't shake him to easy. Since we only have 5 on the field I found the plays with a WR sweeping back across didn't have enough time to fully sweep to the other side, maybe I'm doing it wrong but he needs to start moving as the QB is calling his counts that way he's half way across. I'm looking over some of the playbooks posted here and picking 6 basic ones and go from there, hope you guys don't mind me stealing some of them Thanks again with all the feedback and help, I can have this team for 2 years so I wanna see what I can do with it.Remember you have a new group with limited practice time so keep it simple and don't go overboard on the number of plays that you have them learn. Have them learn 5 or 6 plays maximum and then get them to execute the plays over and over so that it becomes effortless.I agree. Every season I find myself drawing up new "cool plays" and end up with more than I ever use. Honestly, plays won't mean anything unless you can exectue them, as the saying goes, "everything looks good on paper". Getting a few basic formations and running variations off those is a good start. Less for the kids to remember and you're showing the same look to the defense but throwing a twist on it each time. Need the kids to realize what a good fake looks like. Doubling over and rolling the shoulder and not looking back to see how the play is going. Tell them you want their fake to be so good, that someone on the D actually pulls their flag, thinking they have the ball.Having 3 common routes in your plays and making sure the kids all understand how to run them properly is important. Teach the kids to execute the plays quickly, especially if you have a rusher. Hope this helps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coach Rob 26 Report post Posted September 13, 2011 I like the idea of having the 3 routes, I assume it's left, right, and middle? Then look at the defense and run on their weak-side?On the routes, I meant pick 3 patterns and have them run those well, so when the pattern shows up in one of your plays, they know how to run it properly. The rusher kicked our QBs but, he was fast and couldn't shake him to easy. Since we only have 5 on the field I found the plays with a WR sweeping back across didn't have enough time to fully sweep to the other side, maybe I'm doing it wrong but he needs to start moving as the QB is calling his counts that way he's half way across.You can do that or just have the WR scoot in a bit, maybe not so far out. Play action works well too, so hand to the WR sweeping across, then turn around a few plays later and fake it.On the rush, a lot of times you'll see the kid who's going to rush by the way they stand, one foot back ready to run. If you're playing against a 2-3 zone and they send a rusher, one of the zones should be open. I've attached 3 plays that might help. The MIDDLE play works like a charm if the routes are run properly. The QB looks where the rusher is coming from and throws to that zone. Since you have a receiver going to each zone, one should be open. If no rush, the blue is your outlet. Rush.doc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Orange 26 Report post Posted September 14, 2011 I missed the age group of your team. What is it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tom48160 0 Report post Posted September 14, 2011 If no rush, then blue is your outlet.I like the outlet pass a lot, myself, especially if the D is rushing their best athletes. Speaking of the blue outlet, we face 3-2 zones almost exclusively with most coaches sending 1 or 2 on the rush each time. From time to time, I like to bust a type of bubble screen out a trips right formation if they stay in the zone (which most will, as the end around is used a lot by all the teams). If they send the right-side rusher (or both--it doesn't matter), then you have a 3-on-1 on the edge. If your QB has enough poise to hang onto the ball under the rush until the last second, long enough for your C to join your wall, you could actually build a 4-on-one or 4-on-two matchup. When the safeties do not rush, they usually bust hard toward the trips...the boys love being tricky when we can, and twice we've tried a pump-fake statue of liberty type of handoff to the C with laughable results so far. Perhaps, someday we'll do that one right... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gottria 0 Report post Posted September 14, 2011 I missed the age group of your team. What is it?They are 13,14, and some 15 year olds. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites