Help Teaching K's To Pass?

[HarryC 0]

Hey,

I coach kindergardeners. I am looking for some advice on the best way to help them with passing fundamentals. We do use a small ball but as you know the little hands cannot grip the ball. Some kids have the ability to throw but others just shot put the ball. I want some sound advice that will help them learn the right way when the standard technique won't work. Or your opinons about spending time trying to teach them.

Thanks

[Johnp2 21]

What size ball is it? "Pee-wee"? I coach k-2nd, and that is the size we use.

I personally believe at this age one of the (if not the) most important thing is for them to learn a spiral. I've seen kids who could really chunk it, but could not throw a spiral, which altered the ball's path and made it difficult to catch even if it did make it to the receiver.

1. First teach him the proper way to grip the ball, toward the top of the laces with the index finger on the seam. When I first started teaching my son how to grip it, we then moved on to how to grip it while in action. i.e. I would snap it to him and let him work on putting it proper position while dropping back.

2. Ensure his feet are in proper position (shoulders in front, and his back foot is planted.) Planting the back foot I feel is important as it acts as a "key" for the kids to start executing the subsequent motions.

3. When his arm drops back, have him stop when the ball gets to his ear. Some kids want to put it up off to the side or behind their head--but next to the ear allows greater control and accuracy.

4. Once he is "planted", teach him to point to his target and then as he throws (this helps his balance), and ensure he is shifting his weight (about 70%) to his front leg--which should be pointing facing his target.

5. Teaching a spiral is not too difficult. With my son, I kept telling him to let it "spin" off his finger tips. In other words, his finger tips should be the last thing to touch the ball.

6. Follow through is very important. A good rule of thumb is to ensure their thumb is pointing to the ground after release.

These are obviously just the "basics". At this age, as I'm sure you know, it's important to start getting them into proper form. My son had a difficult time shifting his weight from his back leg to his front leg. At first he kept telling me, "It just feel's weird." But once he saw how much more velocity he got on the ball, it's now a natural motion for him.

Also, and I think this is VERY important, teach the "touch" pass. In other words, once kids start to learn how to throw, they just want to throw it as hard as they can. Obviously if they throw it their hardest when the receiver is five yards in front of them, you will get a lot of dropped balls and/or bloody noses.

Finally, once they have their motion down, practice. Then practice some more. When you are done, practice some more. ;-) For game situations, ensure they know how to drop back (we use a three-step drop). I also think rolling out helps them some. I am unsure why this is, but in games my son always throws much better when he rolls out of the pocket.

I hope this helps some. If you are coaching only Kindergarteners I would not get too frustrated if you only complete a few passes per game, as it takes two to tango, and catching the ball is an entirely different effort. ;-)

[HarryC 0]

Thanks, i am looking for the grip specifically. If they put their little hand at the laces some can't control the ball (yes pee wee) its just too big still. If they move their hand back to where they can grip it their hand is behind the stripe and they have trouble balancing the ball.

[Johnp2 21]

My advice would be to have them grip it properly (finger tips just past the laces, with index finger on the seam) and roll with that. Allowing them to grip incorrectly would result in them developing bad habits right out of the gate.

How many kids are going to be playing QB on your team? Do you plan on passing a lot? You will get a breadth of opinions on here, but my suggestion would be to focus on the other areas of quarterbacking if none of them can throw the ball (i.e. proper hand-offs, fake hand-offs, pitch-outs, etc.).

One play to add to your playbook is a shuffle pass (as anyone can throw those). It worked very well for us this season. Have all of your players save for an interior lineman run their routes either short and wide and/or inside and long. The interior lineman should stand there like he is lost. Allow your QB to roll out a little like he is looking to throw down field. When the coast is clear, he can shuffle it to the interior lineman who (hopefully) will have some space around him.

How many are on the field at once?

[Orange 26]

Honestly I think throwing for kids that age is difficult. If you can find one or two you're lucky. If you can find one or two that can catch it, even better. If you do have any kind of passing game, it will look like a duck lobbed over the middle and the other team will be as likely to catch it as yours. That's why I went with a shuffle pass almost exclusively at a younger age. It's just a simpler pass both on the throwing and receiving end. If you are not familiar with it, you can throw it like a basketball chest pass. I think that using two hands like a basketball pass would even work although one hand is what you see more often. If you do that and keep the pass to under 3 yards then you will have success. I also think that spending more than 5 minutes trying to teach the entire team to throw a pass is probably time better spent doing something else.

[HarryC 0]

Thanks guys. I want to try to teach the fundamentals but as you seem to be saying, it will take alot of time and perhaps growing. We have 6 on 6 with a set playing rotaion. I would like each child to play quarterback some. I do see that I should go with the ones that have the most ability simply because I don't have alot of time with them. Perhpas I can stress this to the parents. If they work with their child, the child will improve. Do you feel the shuffle pass with confuse them? Is it better to let them develop trying to pass rather then having them take the easier way out?

Passing is not a big part of the game at this point. It is like you said only a few usually can throw and only a few can catch. The percent chance of completion is not very good at all. But it is exciting to them when one works.

Lastly I wanted to thank Orange for all the info you put into this site. I have been reading for over a year and you have helped so many in an area where there is very little help! As you know there are virtually no books on this subject and the tackle books don't really help very much. I have learned as much from reading your posts as I have from 2 years of coaching!

[Orange 26]

I would like each child to play quarterback some. I do see that I should go with the ones that have the most ability simply because I don't have alot of time with them. Perhpas I can stress this to the parents. If they work with their child, the child will improve.

Limit your gametime qbs to 3-4 different kids tops. You can have them all practice throwing and taking snaps. You could theoretically work in most of the kids throughout the season but I'd have 2 main guys who you use most of the time.

Do you feel the shuffle pass with confuse them? Is it better to let them develop trying to pass rather then having them take the easier way out?

Absolutely not. It's an easy skill and certainly won't confuse them. There has never been any requirement for the classic throw to be considered a pass. Any time you throw, toss, lateral the ball forward, it's a pass. And it's not taking the easy way out, it's providing them with an effective, easy to learn and use skill that will help them make completions. I think you'd be making a mistake to try and force kids that age to throw and catch passes like adults. They are simply not capable of it. Set them up for success with short shuffle passes.

Passing is not a big part of the game at this point. It is like you said only a few usually can throw and only a few can catch. The percent chance of completion is not very good at all. But it is exciting to them when one works.

I'd bet that the defense catches just as many if not more of your passes than you do if you throw it conventionally. Maybe 2-3 times as many. If you use the shuffle pass and keep it short, you'll easily double your completion rate and rarely turn the ball over. That's another great thing, you'll have 2-3 times as many capable receivers than a conventional pass.

Lastly I wanted to thank Orange for all the info you put into this site. I have been reading for over a year and you have helped so many in an area where there is very little help! As you know there are virtually no books on this subject and the tackle books don't really help very much. I have learned as much from reading your posts as I have from 2 years of coaching!

You're welcome. Maybe I should put a book together on the subject. I've thought about doing that on more than one occasion.

[Johnp2 21]

Do you feel the shuffle pass with confuse them? Is it better to let them develop trying to pass rather then having them take the easier way out?

The only ones it will confuse are your opponents. If the play works it's not the easy way out. The key, in my opinion, is to make sure you set it up. In other words, don't be afraid to throw it a few plays in a row prior to calling it.

Below is what you want to do (you can find also find this play in http://www.y-coach.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1318)

Call 2 or 3 passing plays in a row. Make sure that you a) use the same formation, and have the player who will be the intended receiver for the shuffle pass just STAND there on the 2 or 3 passing plays. Have him look confused or disinterested during the passing plays. Then, call the Shuffle pass to that player from the same formation. Again, the receiver should look disinterested. Have your QB scramble about a little bit, then once the coast is clear, simply shuffle (or shovel depending on where you are from) the ball to him.

Another play that gave us lots of "space" was the Statue of Liberty. Call 2 or 3 passing plays, then on the next play, have your QB drop back three steps and hold the ball back as if to pass. Have one of your players come around on and end-around and grab the ball out of your QB's hands.

I think these plays are especially effective in the age group you are in, as kids are easily "fooled" at this age. I would say 90% of the time we called these plays, the coach would scream "PASS!" (so it fools coaches as well).

Just make it a big chess match against your opponent like this, and if you hit on 2 or 3 of these plays, you have done your job.

We will be starting our new season in about six weeks, and I am already tweaking my playbook. Many of the modifications deal with "set-up" plays like this. I don't consider it "gimicky" or the easy way out, but instead simply keeping the defense on their heals.

Good luck and please let us know if you try either play and how they work out for you.

[Orange 26]

You definitely want to set up the defense by getting them to look for something else. However, I would advise using the shuffle pass more as a mainstay than as a gimmick at the k level. Two years ago with my 1st-2nd grade team we used the shuffle pass about 80% of the time and went undefeated. It can and should be your primary passing weapon. As the kids get older then you start airing it out more. If you've read my posts you probably have come across my drag routes where I have the qb sprinting down the los before passing. That is very effective and keeps the passes from all being right in the middle of the field.

[Johnp2 21]

Agreed, drag routes work well.

Do you give your QB progression reads? I give my son two on each passing play. It's not your typical "inside/out" progressions, but instead, "Look for David first, and then if he is covered look for Austin." If both are covered his then spans the field. For example, on the Center Drag, the C is obviously his primary, and then the RG (on my play) is the secondary.

I started out not using progression reads with him, but noticed that he bird-dogged a lot. Giving him something to "think about" on the field seemed to help this. It allowed him to remember there are other options.

I think a three-progression read might be a little tough at this age (he's 7). Kids at this age can quickly go into panic-mode if they don't see anyone open, so we spent a LOT of time going over "pocket presence". It just comes with experience, and I was grateful we faced some really strong teams who were throwing out all sorts of defenses to give him that experience (probably more so as a father than as a coach). ;-)