With the football season approaching fast, you might be showing an interest in playing flag football this year. While some forms of football, such as tackle football, can involve some health risks, flag football is a much safer option luckily, as it involves absolutely no contact.
A great idea to get ready for the flag football season is to start practicing some drills. There is one thing that all successful flag football players share: they master the fundamentals and practice a variety of football drills. The drills lay the foundation in your developmental growth, allow you to hone your skills, and make you a more versatile and well-rounded player. This is particularly important in flag football, where each player has a part in the field.
If you want to get better at flag football or if you are searching for good flag football drills to incorporate into your training routine, then you’re at the right place. We have compiled some of the best flag football offensive drills that will boost your skill set, improve your footwork, give you the techniques for continuously improving your flag football game, and turn you into a more confident player.
Running Around Cones
Running around cones is a simple flag football offensive drill, which assists in developing coordination and ball carrying skills. Besides, it helps in trying to avoid the defenders during the game. You may divide the individuals into 2 to 3 groups and line them in a straight line. Now set up 3-4 cones at every 3 yards distance for each group. The first player of each group will run around the cones at the coach’s command. This drill can be turned into a relay race as well, with the first group that finishes running through the cones will win the game.
Hand-off Drills
With this drill, you involve multiple players that work on the proper way of performing a receive and give hand-off. For this, you can divide the individuals into two groups at a nearly 20 yards distance from one another. One player of a team has a ball in his hand, and on the coach’s command, he races down the field along with the ball while maintaining its proper grip.
Once the player reaches the first player of the opposite group, the player holding the ball hands it off to the first player of the other group. Now, this player becomes the ball carrier, and he races down the field towards the opposite group line. You have to emphasize holding the ball properly during running and a good hand-off exchange. This drill is excellent if you’re employing reverse plays or double or triple reverse plays in your game, which relies on a smooth and effective hand-off.
Passing Drills
Quarterback (QB) is one of the most pivotal players on the flag football field because every offensive play occurs to run through them. They get the ball, hand it off to their running back, can run the ball themselves, plus, most importantly, they pass the ball to their teammates.
Since the QB position is important in flag football, many of you may want to try your hand at this position. Passing drills help you in practicing the primary responsibility of the QB i.e. throwing precise passes and makes one of the essential flag football offensive drills.
One simple drill that can be done to practice this drill is to set up cones at varying distances in the yard. Once they are set up, practice throwing the ball at each cone with the goal of hitting them. This drill will help you in throwing the ball in low-pressure situations and develop good passing accuracy. Besides, the great thing about this drill is that you can practice it on your own with no need for help from anyone else.
However, one thing to ensure is to see if the players are lining their fingers up around the laces of the ball. This is important as it makes the football leave their hand spirally and goes where they want to throw it. The correct form of throwing a football will make your passes more accurate and lower the risk of any possible injury.
Leading the Receiver Drill
Once you have learned to throw the football to target, you can start practicing for game-time throws. In this flag football offensive drill, you will mark off some areas of the field with cones. Its main aim is that the receiver catches the ball inside the marked areas of cones. The quarterback will learn to lead the receiver to an area rather than throwing the ball to a receiver who has just run and is facing the QB. Often, the players will be carefully guarded in throwing the football straight towards them but practicing how to target the football slightly ahead of the receiver while they are running a route is important.
Once the receiver and quarterback have gotten their timing down and are continuously connecting, their difficulty can be increased by adding a defender in the mix. The addition of the defender in this drill further simulates how an actual game will be like and incorporates a new challenging element in the drill. If a defender starts to break up a lot of passes as they know that the football and receiver are always going to a certain area, more cones can be added to the field so that the offensive player gets more options to go to.
Small Scrimmages
Try to incorporate small scrimmages that match up equal teams. While they don’t simulate a full game, they simulate situations that may be encountered by players during an actual game. Moreover, this drill gives an opportunity to every player to get involved and practice making plays. Have a center, a QB, and a wide receiver or running back versus 2 to 3 defenders (a linebacker, a lineman, and a rusher seven yards back) on offense. Try to follow all the rules of the game, yet stop the game frequently to rectify any mistakes or problems and repeat the plays till they’re performed properly.
Moreover, you may want 1 or 2 fewer players on the defense than on the offense in order to make it more difficult for the defense and to enhance the confidence of your offense players, particularly in the passing game. You can have two games performed at the same time so that everyone can be involved.
