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Football IQ - West Point & Oklahoma Drill
There is no substitute for the smart youth football ballplayer. Certain players will be able to use their brains to gain an advantage over the other players.
This will become very apparent during drills like West Point, where you will continue to see the smarter players outshine the other kids.
During West Point, you will also find certain kids that start to emerge as leaders. Take note there is a big difference between a leader and a know what all.
West Point, which is also known as Oklahoma, sets up with three defensive linemen, versus three offensive linemen. There is one tailback behind the offensive line and one line backer behind the defensive line. The coach stands behind, the linebacker and points to an offensive lineman which becomes the “hole”. The hole is the area the running back is to run to. Then the coach holds up between 1-3 fingers making this the snap count to start on. The coach them barks out the snap count and they players execute the run. This drill helps every aspect of coaching youth football. It is the equivalent of running a mini youth football scrimmage. The big advantage here is with only 4 players involved at a time the coaches get a really good look.
It is also nice to have a youth football drill where 8 players are involved at one time. West Point can be expanded to 10 by adding a full back and another line backer. You can also add another offensive and defensive lineman.
We run this youth football drill, intensely the first week of contact to find out who's a football player who's not. The football IQ of the players will be tested. You will see which players can take instruction and listen.
Below is a Diagram of West Point
West Point will always be a big part of my practices. I even run this when coaching a youth football flag team. You need to have a tough line and this “heavy” contact drill fits the bill.
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