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Coaching Book This question is from Michael Beckley:
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| Answer: You didn't indicate the
age of the kids you where going to be coaching. So here is some general
advice. At the young ages (7, 8, 9) you need to keep things quite simple
and remember that these are kids not small adults. They have limited
abilities to understand sports jargon or complicated
explanations or to concentrate, execute, and carry out complex
assignments. Most have trouble understanding that they are playing offense
or defense. Passing with this age group is risky because young kids can't
throw very far or very accurately and kids have trouble catching the ball
plus pass
blocking at this age is a challenge.
When the kids get to 10, 11, 12 you can do a few more things and can expect a little more but simplicity is always the best policy. Having said all that, there are several web sites that provide plays and drills for youth football coaches. Some have age specific plays. Check out http://www.cyber-shack.net/cybercoach/ and http://www.eteamz.com/ for starters. Remember kids sports should be always be fun for ALL the players and it is up to the coach to make it so. All kids don't have the same abilities and they don't all learn or develop at the same rate. Treat each player as an individual and don't expect all players to perform equally well. Focus on teaching ALL the kids how to perform. Recognize and reward effort and measure progress by how much the players improve from week to week not by the win/loss record. Good luck and stay in touch to tell me how things are going and to ask any specific questions you may have in the future. |
