What should you practise the week before the first flag football game?

The sheet: 60 minutes, 6 blocks

Coaching it in the trenches, block by block

1. Movement warm-up

   The same warm-up you will run on Saturday. Rehearse the routine, not just the body.

   0:00 8 min
   Set up

   Cones twenty yards apart, exactly the way you will set them up at the game.

   Run it

   Run the identical warm-up you intend to use before kick-off, in the same order, with the same words. Half the value of this block in game week is that nobody has to be told what happens next on Saturday morning, which is when a team of nine-year-olds is at its most scattered.

   Say this

   • “This is the Saturday warm-up. Learn the order.”
   • “Same lines, same cones, every week from now.”

   Watch for

   Players moving to the next station without being told. That is what you are buying here, and it is worth more on game day than any extra conditioning.

   The mistake

   Inventing a special game-week warm-up. The point is that Saturday feels like Tuesday, and a new routine in game week does the exact opposite.
2. Catching under pressure

   Hands away from the body, with somebody nearby. Most first-game drops are fear.

   0:08 10 min
   Set up

   Threes: a thrower, a catcher, and one defender who is allowed to stand close and be a distraction but not to touch.

   Run it

   Twelve catches each with a defender within a yard, calling out and waving. The catch itself is the easy part and they can all do it alone; what they have not done is catch with somebody in their ear, and Saturday will be the first time. Do it now so it is the second time.

   Say this

   • “Watch it all the way in. He cannot touch you.”
   • “Catch it first, then worry about him.”

   Watch for

   Eyes staying on the ball through the catch with a defender in view. A head that turns away early is the drop you will see in the first quarter.

   The mistake

   Letting the defender get handsy because it feels more realistic. It is not realistic, it is illegal, and it teaches the receiver to expect contact that will not come.

   Go deeper

   Back to the ball
3. The snap, twenty clean

   Count the clean ones. This is the single most likely way to lose the first game.

   0:18 10 min
   Set up

   Centre and quarterback on cones at game depth, with two spare balls so nothing stops.

   Run it

   Twenty clean exchanges on your real cadence, counting only the clean ones out loud. Then five with two players a yard away shouting, because Saturday has parents and another team on the sideline and the count will be harder to hear than it has ever been in practice.

   Say this

   • “The snap is a handoff you throw.”
   • “Same cadence, same volume. Do not shout over them.”
   • “Centre, you know the count. Do not listen for it.”

   Watch for

   Twenty clean inside the block. If it takes thirty attempts to get twenty clean, that is the most useful thing you learned all week and it changes what you practise on Thursday.

   The mistake

   Treating the snap as a warm-up formality. More youth flag drives end on a bad snap than on a good defense, and it is the one failure that no amount of scheme protects you from.

   Go deeper

   Snap under noise
4. Your three calls, against air

   Pick three. Run those three only. The huddle is the drill.

   0:28 12 min
   Set up

   Full offense, no defense, and a written list of exactly three plays in your hand.

   Run it

   Four reps of each of the three calls you intend to use on Saturday, from the huddle, at full speed. If a fourth play is in the playbook and not in this block, it is not getting called in the first game. Deciding that now is the whole point of the block.

   Say this

   • “Three plays. These three. Nothing else on Saturday.”
   • “Huddle, call, clap, go. Time it.”

   Watch for

   A huddle that breaks cleanly and a line that gets set without being counted into place. Both are game-day problems that only show up when you rehearse the whole sequence rather than the routes.

   The mistake

   Running six plays because they are all installed. Installed is not the same as ready, and the first game is decided by how confidently three plays get run, not by how many exist.
5. Live, with a scoreboard

   Move the ball. Keep downs and a real clock, because neither has been practised.

   0:40 14 min
   Set up

   Split into two teams, cones for a line to gain, and somebody genuinely keeping downs out loud.

   Run it

   Two full drives each, with downs counted and the ball moved. The football is the easy part by now; what nobody has practised is what happens between plays, which is most of a youth game. Make somebody call the down and distance out loud every single snap.

   Say this

   • “Second and long. What is the call?”
   • “Get lined up. The clock does not wait for you on Saturday.”

   Watch for

   The time between the whistle and the snap. If it is over thirty seconds here, it will be a delay penalty on Saturday.

   The mistake

   Stopping to coach after every play. In a live block the thing being trained is continuity, so save the coaching for the end of the drive and let the mistakes happen at full speed.
6. Break it down and hand out the calls

   Three plays, named, out loud. Everybody leaves knowing the first one.

   0:54 6 min
   Set up

   One circle. A wristband or a card each if you have them.

   Run it

   Name the three calls, say which one is the first play of the game, and give them the Saturday details: time, field, what to bring. Then one thing that went well, named and attributed to a person. Finish on time.

   Say this

   • “First play Saturday is this one. Say it back to me.”
   • “Bring your belt. Be there fifteen minutes early.”

   Watch for

   The whole group able to name the first play. If half of them cannot, you have three plays on paper and one in the team.

   The mistake

   Using the last six minutes for a motivational talk. They are seven to twelve and they will remember the logistics and the first play, so spend the time on those.

Why this order

• Add nothing in game week

  Everything installed now is what they will be thinking about instead of playing. A team that runs three plays confidently beats one that knows six slowly, and game week is when that gap is decided.

• The snap gets its own block

  More youth flag drives end on a bad snap than on a good defense, and it is the one failure no scheme protects you from. Ten minutes, counted out loud, a week before the first game is the cheapest insurance in the sport.

• Rehearse the operation, not just the plays

  Huddle, break, line up, snap. Saturday is the first time any of that happens under pressure, and it is where a first game actually goes wrong.

• Live work with real downs

  Nobody has practised what happens between plays, which is most of a youth game. Keeping downs out loud in practice is how thirty seconds between snaps becomes fifteen.

Where to go next

• Open it in the plannerThis exact plan, editable. Drag drills in, move blocks up or down, then print the sheet.
• Next: Flag Football Defense Practice Plan (60 Minutes)After the first game you will know exactly which side of the ball lost it. Usually this one.
• The drill libraryFilter by the problem you have, the space you have and the age you coach. Anything there drops into this plan.

The 60 minutes, block by block

1. 1

   0 to 8 minutes: Movement warm-up

   The same warm-up you will run on Saturday. Rehearse the routine, not just the body.

2. 2

   8 to 18 minutes: Catching under pressure

   Hands away from the body, with somebody nearby. Most first-game drops are fear.

3. 3

   18 to 28 minutes: The snap, twenty clean

   Count the clean ones. This is the single most likely way to lose the first game.

4. 4

   28 to 40 minutes: Your three calls, against air

   Pick three. Run those three only. The huddle is the drill.

5. 5

   40 to 54 minutes: Live, with a scoreboard

   Move the ball. Keep downs and a real clock, because neither has been practised.

6. 6

   54 to 60 minutes: Break it down and hand out the calls

   Three plays, named, out loud. Everybody leaves knowing the first one.

Adapting it

• Two practices this week

  Run this one on Tuesday and repeat the snap and live blocks on Thursday at half length. Do not use the second session to install; use it to shorten the huddle.

• A team that has played before

  Cut the catching block to six minutes and put the time into the live block with a scoreboard. The operation is already there, so what is left to sharpen is decision-making under a clock.

• Seven and eight year olds

  Halve the live block and spend it on getting lined up, which at that age is the actual game-day failure. A first game is won by the team that gets set and snaps it.

What to cut when you are running late

• Cut the catching block

  It is the most valuable block in an ordinary week and the most expendable in this one. Hands do not change in seven days; the huddle does.

• Never cut the snap block

  Ten minutes, and it prevents the single most common way a first game falls apart. If you only have twenty minutes this week, spend them on the snap and the three calls.

• Do not add a fourth play because there is time

  Spare time in game week goes to running the three calls again, not to a fourth. The fourth one is what gets called under pressure and run wrong.

Take it to your team

Related questions

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• Install Mesh in 60 Minutes→
• 30-Minute Flag Football Practice Plan for a Rained-Out Field→
• Flag Football Defense Practice Plan (60 Minutes)→
• 90-Minute Situational Football Practice Plan→
• Build your own practice plan→
• The flag football drill library→