Defense Options

[coach4kids 0]

I'm working a team this year that consist of 5 -9 year old players, there has been a lot of discussion of what D to run. And at this level do you look to have one side better that the other (Offense vs. Defense) the talent levels are all avoer the place from players that can read and react to others that have very little focus.

Thanks You for any comments.

[jag1872 0]

I'm working a team this year that consist of 5 -9 year old players, there has been a lot of discussion of what D to run. And at this level do you look to have one side better that the other (Offense vs. Defense) the talent levels are all avoer the place from players that can read and react to others that have very little focus.

Thanks You for any comments.

Put your best talent and most aggressive kids on defense. Make sure everyone of those kids can tackle safely. That will keep you games while the offense learns the plays and develops some chemistry.

Make sure you have a good line on offense and good things will happen on that end as well.

Jack

www.gregorydoublewing.com

[synwave7 0]

Everything starts with the lineman when your talking offense. Drill the heck out of em and dont give too much slack. Your fastest hardest hitter is your running back and then second fastest hardest hitter is your QB. These two then become your LB'ers on defense.

5-9 yr olds? Keep it simple. It's been my opinion that especially at this age try not to get too fancy keep it to about 5-10 plays. Lot's of sweeps left and right then up the gut. Mix it up.

Same thing on defense. 5-3, 6-2, 5-4, keep it simple. Geezus were talking 5yr olds? Whew. Even the 9yr olds man that's pretty young. The simpler the better. Even 3-4 plays going into the season get those down so good your players could do them in their sleep and your off to a good start. Then after each game or as they start to get good a these 3-4 plays throw in a new one, then another then another as the season progresses.

I went into this football coaching thing trying to come up with new ways to run an offense or defense. Like I was gonna run Mike Shanahans offense or something and spruce it up to suite my needs. No way. Man was I wrong. Pro offense or defense does not equate in youth football. Scour the internet and use whats already out there for youth football. A lot of really does look like pro stuff but it's been watered down if you will to the youth level. You aint gonna run zone blocking with a bunch of 5-9 yr olds know what I mean? When I try to give advice especially to new coaches I always say it's mostly all already been done just find it out on the internet and do what the video or book or chat thread tells you to do. Why mess with success?

Make sure you have someone filming your games then study that tape like theres no tomorrow. before going into the next week. You have to have something to work off of. Unless you have a memory like RainMan you must have your games on film to see what it is your guys need work on.

Do your homework and know why it is your running any particular offense or defense.

Good luck brother!!!

Syn

[coach4kids 0]

Thanks for your comments, last night we got the roster list for offense and defense ( we have 25 kids so rules state 11 on and 11 off and the other have to be rotated in.) There are still so many questions...we have 4 kids that might not make weight (87lbs) and 2 kids that I fear for their safety, they don't pay attention, or even try and in live hitting their getting hammered. One parent pulled there child, the other wants him to "develope" I expressed my concerns to both the head coach and parent, we will see what happens.

[jbrewer 0]

Thanks for your comments, last night we got the roster list for offense and defense ( we have 25 kids so rules state 11 on and 11 off and the other have to be rotated in.) There are still so many questions...we have 4 kids that might not make weight (87lbs) and 2 kids that I fear for their safety, they don't pay attention, or even try and in live hitting their getting hammered. One parent pulled there child, the other wants him to "develope" I expressed my concerns to both the head coach and parent, we will see what happens.

Kids that don't try and don't pay attention can be a real problem. Try and match them up with the less aggressive players on the squad and if it does not get any better then the parent will have to be notified by someone in your orginazations administration that their child is at risk. In extreme cases you might have to go to a written warning.

[Leslie 0]

I am new to the forum but dont dismiss kids that wont hit. It is our job to remove the fear. Please start with tackling dummies then work up to half speed drills then on to harder hitting. So many of these kids will hit once they gain confidence in their equipment. We had a coach last year that constantly did full speed tackling drills without teaching the basics and the kids were terrified to hit against the bigger harder hitting kids. He also played only the best players. What did we get back this year, 5 returners our of lamost 30 eligible kids. So many of those kids never overcame their fear and never got played they will never play again. This year we have tons of little kids that have never played ball and half way through the season with a lot of practice they have gone from one of those kids, to kids who volunteer to line up against are RB and you hear pads pop.

We are working our way through the Gap 8 Defense and it is really starting to work for us and it is super simple too.

Dont forget Michael Jordan was cut from his highschool basketball team. )

Good Luck!

Leslie

Thanks for your comments, last night we got the roster list for offense and defense ( we have 25 kids so rules state 11 on and 11 off and the other have to be rotated in.) There are still so many questions...we have 4 kids that might not make weight (87lbs) and 2 kids that I fear for their safety, they don't pay attention, or even try and in live hitting their getting hammered. One parent pulled there child, the other wants him to "develope" I expressed my concerns to both the head coach and parent, we will see what happens.