Flag Football Help

Thanks for the reply, I really liked the SEGA game idea. We (the coaches) actually try to stay away from "football" terms just as you suggested and it works well (if you catch the kids in an attention groove). We also use a blocking pad but not as much as we did in our earlier practices (our head coach prefers to scrimmage with most of our practice time). To be honest, we block okay (we even made our local playoffs) but we could block better and thus take advantage of an aspect of this age group's playing I noticed. Most plays are end-around running plays (all teams) with very little passing (passing is usually done for 2-point conversions). I've also noticed that very few 1st downs are achieved, too (it takes 20 yds to get a 1st down for this age group). Most plays are either low-yard gainers or losses or long run touchdowns. My general feeling has been that if the kids could block the opposing team man-to-man, then ideally the offense has to only beat one man and the end-aroud run could yield a touchdown every time. Yes, I know I said IDEALLY. However, since typical play usually has 3 to 4 on one currently, ANY improvement in blocking should show some measurable improvement. I keep telling the kids to try to stay on their blocks for at least 3-4 seconds. If the line could do that as well as any backs not carrying the ball, then we should be able to execute devastating end-arounds. Our blocking, however, more often resembles bump and run with the defender simply bouncing off the block and continuing on his way into the backfield to pressure the quarterback or completely missing a block . Oh well... at least we're in the playoffs and even though this season is almost over it's been a lot of fun, so much in fact I'm already looking forward to next season. I'll let you know how we fared.

Good Luck to all your teams, Mark