• Be Organized - Have a plan ready before football practice that includes; warm up, drills and a scrimmage.

• Have structure to your flag football practice - Each activity should have a time limit and meaning

• Stick to the basics of youth flag football - don’t over complicate your practices and flag football plays

• Find committed assistant coaches - you don't need football experts to teach kids.

• Have fun!  The kids are there to learn flag football, keep it enjoyable.

Proper Technique For Flag Pulling:

Run in front of the ball carrier - The first step in proper flag pulling is to position yourself defensively. Being in front of the runner provides more time to grab the flag, as well as causes them to try and dodge around you.

Focus on the flag, not the ball - Watching the ball carrier’s hips gives direction as to where the runner will go. In addition, the ball carrier may use their arms, legs, or the ball to fake you out.  

Grab the flag where it attaches to the belt -  It’s much easier to grab a flag at the belt versus the end of the flag, which adds time and yardage to the play, as well as an opportunity for a miss.

Display proper sportsmanship -  The players should practice and learn to drop the flag after the pull.  This provides the other player the opportunity to retrieve his/her flag quickly. 

These four basic tips are the framework as to what your players should continually perform when pulling a flag. Proper flag pulling techniques and consistency are key to a solid defensive team. Refer to our “Flag Pulling Drills” article for useful activities.

The Set-up 

Four flag football players line up in two lines – 3 yards behind each other and 3 yards apart, the rest of the kids line up behind each other, but in front and facing the 4 other players.

The Flag Pulling Drill

The players in line will run between the other four while the 4 players attempt to pull the flags.  The players running through will loop back around after the run-through. After all the flags are pulled from the players in line, the players switch and four new players set up to do the flag pulling.

 Coach’s Job

This drill is a perfect opportunity to individually look at each player’s flag pulling procedure. Reference our Flag Pulling Technique article to learn the 4 basic techniques each player should consistently follow. Using this drill will allow you to critique and perfect how each player pulls the flag. Consistent, correct flag pulling is essential in winning youth flag football games.

If you have drills you would like to share for flag football please post for others to view.

Good luck this season!

Win games or develop players? 

This is a question that comes up even when we don’t realize it. Many coaches start the flag football season with the right intention of teaching the fundamentals of flag football and building a cohesive team. We hear so often the encouraging position, “It doesn’t matter if we win or lose.”

The hurdle comes a few games into the season when your team suffers a few loses. The parents look at the coach, the kids look at the coach, even the coach looks at the coach. All wondering when and if coaching the fundamentals of flag football will bring wins. With the feeling of defeat stacked with the pressure to succeed, we often see the coach deviate from the original game plan and strive to win at all costs.

There’s no question about how easy it is to play your star football players in order to keep the game competitive. However, relying on a few players has an unhealthy affect on your team as a whole. While you may see immediate results, the problem comes later in the season when the other players have not developed their skill for flag football due to lack of playing time.

My thoughts are simple. The players’ development comes before winning and winning comes after the players’ development. The job of the coach is to not only teach the fundamentals of flag football, but also inspire the players to follow “practice makes perfect”.  If you keep that intact, the wins will come.

The season is not focused on one game, but on improving from one game to the next. In fact, for the most promising results, plan on having your team play their best flag football at the end of the season. I've seen it time and time again - the best teams at the beginning of the season aren't the best teams at the end of the season. Teams that work hard at developing every player will be a better TEAM at the end of the season…Playoff Time.

We'd like to hear your thoughts and experiences.