Boosting Middle School American Football Preparation

Ball handling Drill: Hot potato

Without a solid foundation of ball handling players will be easy prey to a solid defensive team. This drill is meant to help players control and develop their ball handling skills. In this drill players will be constantly moving or passing the ball from one hand to the other. The drill starts by having players hold the football above their head and start to pass it around their head, moving to the chest, under the arms, around the waist, knees, and completing with passing it through the legs.

In this drill the coaches responsibility is to observe the smoothness of the drill, and to also shout commands of body positions to move the ball around, and also to reverse the direction of the football. The reverse option is an important command as it will keep the players on their toes and focuses on concentration and ball handling.

We recommend that you end this drill by doing several football drops. For example, the player drops the ball and retrieves it quickly. They also should rotate which hand they are using to pick it up so that you can increase ball handling with both.

Running Drills are a big help

Running drills are one of the most basic ways that you can enhance your endurance. Running drills will help you gain stamina so that you will be able to play to your full extent throughout the game. Even with all of these benefits you will notice that most of the complaints in practice come from running drills. Because in the end, the team or players that are the fastest are the ones that win the championships. Running also will teach you how to push yourself even when you don't want too.

Drive Block

Driving and blocking are the bases for a good lineman. Hence the name for the most common drive: the drive block. It is a simple yet effective way to move your opponent. The first step of this block is the scrimmage alignment, in order to drive to the right or left this basic block will push your opponent in the way that they are aligned, so if they are aligned to the right the drive will push them to the right. When executing this block start with your play side foot, meaning if the play is on the right side of you it will be your right foot. Bring the other foot up quickly and make a solid contact for your drive.

Staying Hydrated

Drinking plenty of water is all it takes to prevent dehydration, and thus should be an important part of football practices. Each athlete should bring or have a water bottle provided, and they need to use it often. Always remember that if you prevent, punish, or otherwise use water as a motivational tool it is very counterproductive, and there are many other motivating paths that you can take. When players are hydrated and energized they will practice harder and learn more.