Youth Football Question

We had a kid go down in practice last night during a live team drill and it raises the question not only for me (one of the coaches) but also the rest of our staff. How much live hitting and tackling should we be doing in practices? During this particular drill we asked our groups to go live but not tackle the ball carrier, just make contact and release. Unfortunately the kid got rolled up on by a falling defender who was being blocked and fractured his tibia.

We do form tackling drills where we have them get their head on the right side and wrap up but never take the kids to the ground. The lineman do board drills where they battle for position and try to stay low so there is definitely some contact needed drills.

I just wanted to get other's opinion on this and see what other teams are doing around the state in their youth leagues.

The kids seem to love the hitting drills and it is hard to get the point across to them that we cant go live like they want when we do game situation stuff.

I coach in the Midget Divison in the NKYFL. I can tell you that my team does live hitting drills almost every practice. We'll do Oklahoma, Hamburgers, Tackle Baseball etc. The only way to be able to tackle in a game is to do it imo..Especially at the younger ages..

Originally Posted by raiderbird

I coach in the Midget Divison in the NKYFL. I can tell you that my team does live hitting drills almost every practice. We'll do Oklahoma, Hamburgers, Tackle Baseball etc. The only way to be able to tackle in a game is to do it imo..Especially at the younger ages..

What is tackle baseball?

Originally Posted by Qryche11

What is tackle baseball?

It is a fun game for the kids. You set up cones for the bases. A kid goes to the pitcher's mound and he is the tackler. Another kid is at home plate and he is the runner. The coach blows the whistle and the kid at home tries to make it to first without getting tackled by the kid on the mound. If the runner makes it then he gets to stay at first. A new kid goes to the mound and to home. Then the kid on the mound can choose to either tackle the kid running to first or second. So on and so on..

Knowing where you coach has a lot to do with how I am going to answer this question. Without a doubt you should be doing the live board drills for the lineman as this aids them in firing out and keeping a wide base so that they are in control of the line of scrimmage. However, you should always make sure that kids of equal abilities are going against one another in order to get the maximum benefit out of the drills. Always good to have lb's and db's work on making open field tackles as well. I noted that you said something about getting your head on the right side to make a tackle and that is not how tackling is being taught nowadays. Kids are being taught to tackle breastplate to breastplate thus minimizing necks injuries and hopefully concussions. There should always be live tackling on everyone when team drills are going on, especially during the preseason. Once the season gets under way, you may cut back a little on the tackling of qb's and rb's.

JOAT we do a lot of form tackling where we stress, butt down, head up and wrap under arms, especially the DBs and LB's. We did a drill tonight for only 10 minutes of a 90 min practice called "meet me in the alley" and we had parents pacing back and forth worried about their kid. I matched kids up evenly and stressed form tackling and breaking down with head up before impact. Kids loved it and everyone did great but our Head Coach said he will probably get an email in the morning. I don't get it, you have NKYFL teams going full go for 90 min and we go 10-15 min and you can see the parents cringe on the sideline. You send kids out on the field who never experience what it feels like to deliver a lick and the kid is going to get hurt. Jmo

Side question...does anyone else's youth team practice on Friday night?

South Kenton starters do live tackling drills about most the practice usually or do scrimmaging.

Originally Posted by True blue (and gold)

Side question...does anyone else's youth team practice on Friday night?

Never in Ft Thomas.

They've got to learn to get their head across, bow their neck, wrap up and drive through. I use several live drills each and every practice, and they are dually instructive for ballcarriers because we try and smack the ball away.

Originally Posted by True blue (and gold)

Side question...does anyone else's youth team practice on Friday night?

No, we take them to the high school games. I let them help me with the PA system sometimes.

Originally Posted by True blue (and gold)

Side question...does anyone else's youth team practice on Friday night?

Never in the Belfry Youth league.

How does the Belfry YL handle contact drills?