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Passing Offense for Youth Football versus Throwing the Ball
Far too many rookie coaches think they can throw the football at the youth level. These rookies watch the NFL and think they can copy what they are watching. The result usually ends in disaster.
Let me share my 20 plus years of experience with you regarding passing in youth football. There is a huge difference between having a passing attack versus just throwing the ball. Anyone can throw the ball up for grabs, but this is not a passing attack. Throwing an occasional out pattern or swing pass is not my definition of having a passing attack.
My definition of a passing attack is a team that can attack all six zones of the filed. I give the complete breakdown of all zones in my book, but suffice to say, I believe that multiple passing plays must be designed and used to attack each of these six zones.
Furthermore, the offensive team must be able to read the defense and take advantage of the weakness it shows. Audible are a must and the offense must be in complete control of every situation. The line must be able to make line calls right on the field as the play is being called.
The enormous amount of practice time necessary to develop such an attack is usually not available. The coaches are usually not skilled enough to understand such an attack, let alone coach it to young kids.
During my early coaching years, my teams were a non-stripe group of players in seventh and eighth grade. I am a Run and Shoot coach at heart, so that is what we ran. We had a quarterback throw for over 3,000 yards in 1 season and 30+ touchdowns. One year, we ran a no huddle for the entire season. The team did not huddle one time all year. Most of my teams never had to punt for the entire year. Needless to say, you can run a very successful passing attack at that level.
Over the last two years, I have been coaching four to eight years old flag players and seven to nine year old tackle players. Being the ambition coach I am, I attempted to install some Run & Shoot with these levels. Ironically, we had some great success at the flag level, but not so at the tackle level.
To run an effective passing attack, you need to be able to make a defense fear you. The defense must pay if they load the box or blitz. This requires the appropriate read from the quarterback, receivers and lineman. Let us assume for a minute that they all make the right read, now the problem is the actual execution of the play. Young players in equipment do not have the arm strength or the poise required to back off a defense.
The release seemed to be the biggest hurdle as the quarterback would panic when defenders rushed and he would just throw the ball up in the air. It was not the passing attack I was used to.
Do not get me wrong; other teams will throw the ball. You can try to throw the ball. If you can trick the defense, throwing the ball can be a big play. I would just warn to not go overboard and try to turn your offense into a passing attack. There are much more details in my Youth Football Offense book which is being updated and will come out soon.
For my complete article on this topic please purchase my book.
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