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How much of my youth football practice time should I spend on Defense?
Much like the last section, I think we need to clarify what we mean when we ask this question. Most coaches want to know how much time is spent on team defense and not just general defense.
Just like my answer under the offensive question, the defensive side of the ball directly influences many of the daily routine skills and drills. Every single stretch and exercise helps your defense in one way or another.
The way we run, our agilities through the pads are based on a good linebacker stance. We have the players learn to shuffle their feet and keep their heads up so they can see the play develop.
We work on form tackling the pads every day. 90% of my practices will contain some form of either the Angle Tackle Drill or Open Field Tackling.
When the season is underway and we have scouting reports to go on, we will spend extensive time running a “scout offense” against the defense teaching all of our upcoming opponents tendencies and special plays.
I would honestly answer the question that we spend 65-80% of our practice reinforcing some defensive technique or skill and reviewing some opponent.
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