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Post by dshanko67 on Jun 24, 2014 12:23:13 GMT -6
I think this has been brought up, but I couldn't find it. Anyways, I am the OC of a 4th grade football team. This is the first year where the coaches will be calling plays from the sidelines. I've read how some people like to use the white boards, wrist bands, and/or picture cards. I was thinking of using the whiteboard since I have those available, but would like to hear other people's point of view. We are a double wing offense and was thinking that the kids would also learn and know the picture cards quickly but what do you do with the pictures if you want the play going left or right? Just some info would be nice. Thanks.
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Post by tpbuck on Jun 24, 2014 14:14:17 GMT -6
I would stick with the old fashioned shuttle method. You could give the QBs wristbands with the plays on them, and just shuttle in the play numbers. I've done that with my middle school teams and it works well, while allowing me to get my MPP their playing time. Practice it throughout the week to make sure your kids are handling it right and your QB knows what to do in case of a breakdown in communication.
A side note: Whenever I see the opposing coach carrying around a white board or clip board to show kids the plays I know 2 things: 1. I'm in for a alow game. 2. We're probably going to win. I've just never seen it work out well.
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Post by dshanko67 on Jun 24, 2014 14:49:52 GMT -6
Good to know...thanks
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2014 15:49:53 GMT -6
Even at the varsity level, I like just yelling the plays in. If you don't get too wordy with it, it's easy to do. Just have the QB stand on the near hash and yell the play to him. It really is easier on everyone, even if the defense does hear it (they 're usually so busy trying to get lined up they don't notice), they still have to stop it.
If you're not comfortable with that or have wordier calls (and I hope you don't at this age) then make up a wristband for the QB to wear. Number the plays, with your most common ones in multiple locations. Then have a call sheet for yourself to use as a reference and call the play. The QB will then huddle up and read the play off the wristband in the huddle.
We used this last season because our HC liked a lot of verbiage in the calls and it worked ok for getting the play in. Ours was 3 color coded columns with 2 columns in the middle numbering the plays 1-15 vertically. We'd call out, say "Red 9" and the QB would find it on the grid and go.
Another way is to just run the play in with a rotating WR without messing with wristband, boards, etc at all.
How many plays (including tags) are you actually planning to use?
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Post by dshanko67 on Jun 24, 2014 17:18:03 GMT -6
I think at this age the wristband. Be easy to just call a play number or a color and play number.
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Post by 33coach on Jun 25, 2014 9:57:06 GMT -6
I think this has been brought up, but I couldn't find it. Anyways, I am the OC of a 4th grade football team. This is the first year where the coaches will be calling plays from the sidelines. I've read how some people like to use the white boards, wrist bands, and/or picture cards. I was thinking of using the whiteboard since I have those available, but would like to hear other people's point of view. We are a double wing offense and was thinking that the kids would also learn and know the picture cards quickly but what do you do with the pictures if you want the play going left or right? Just some info would be nice. Thanks. i use wristbands. i love it. Column = Color Number = Row and we start the numbering at 10 because we found its easier to hear 11 then it is 1 on the field... so i say: Blue 10 and the QB looks at his band and relays the play i keep it to 4 columns and 10 rows...we never need all 40 slots...but thats what we have. |
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Post by dshanko67 on Jun 25, 2014 10:10:59 GMT -6
Thanks coach
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Post by 33coach on Jun 25, 2014 10:18:13 GMT -6
so alittle background on me, im a User Experience / software developer in my real career, so i did sort of a "UX test" for this...and i found that certain colors translate better and sound better from across the field. short (1 syllable if possible) with no "Long" E's. Blue Red Black White Gold that list works really well... Green, yellow, brown...not so much Thats also where we found that 2 digit numbers work better as well (10-99). |
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Post by dshanko67 on Jun 25, 2014 18:40:34 GMT -6
Nice thanks. I will keep those in mind as well within my classroom...I'm a fourth grade teacher. I'll start barking our colors and numbers to the students. haha
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Post by pirate1590 on Jun 25, 2014 22:55:04 GMT -6
Welcome to the family friend!!
First off, good pick on the double wing- there are a ton of teams and coaches that run it- we see almost 100% I form double wing until about 7th grade where everyone runs a multiple spread or something- I run a SW with young teams and a Wing T/ pwr I with more experienced kids with a spread package. First of all, in terms of plays- keep it simple- no more than 15 or so plays-I like 15-25-35 at each inc age bracket. You are going to have to keep it very simple in terms of plays.
Power
Trap
Sweep
WB counter
Wedge
Qb sweep
Counter xx
Jet
Cutback
WB reverse pass
Sweep pass
Power pass
Smoke pass
Go pass
Fb sally
Wedge pop pass
The routes are the same on all the pa passes. As far as calling goes, have two formations-base and tackle over, four tags, flex-te split, deep-fb deep, nasty, and brian/bill (b back over) . Assign a color to the formations, blue/red -r/l and just yell blue left. A parent holds up the whiteboard with the tag/play number (ex flex right, 11) and another parent holds up a board saying 7. One is live-give all the kids wrist coaches- you will run more plays faster and simpler. We run a systemVERY similar to this and we never have a problem with kids not understanding even at 8-9 years old.
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Post by jrk5150 on Jun 27, 2014 13:46:16 GMT -6
I'm in my 7th year coaching 9-10's, so they're 4th and 5th graders.
I run the DW, have for all 7 years at this age group.
I give my QB's a 3 window wrist coach. They're not too bad on E-bay if you poke around some.
I flip my O-Line, so my play calls include the color red or blue to designate line strength.
I also have the columns labeled Red and Blue to coincide with the play call. I just give the QB a color and number - column/row.
So Red 61 would be the red column, row #61. If it's power right the wrist coach would read Rip 36 Power with the play call in the huddle being Red Rip 36 Power.
I typically have power listed at least twice.
Usually the QB jogs about 1/2 way over to me, so I'm not yelling it very loud.
I have also invested in single window wrist coaches for the rest of the O (did it over a couple of years, about $5/piece on Ebay buying 12 at a time) and run some no-huddle as well. I use a spread of #'s for that to make it a little harder for the other team to decode (1-5 = power, 6-10=power sweep, etc.), as I'm yelling those out. But I'm not even 50% no huddle, just do it as a change of pace.
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rambler
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Post by rambler on Jul 8, 2014 19:13:37 GMT -6
I would stick with the old fashioned shuttle method. You could give the QBs wristbands with the plays on them, and just shuttle in the play numbers. I've done that with my middle school teams and it works well, while allowing me to get my MPP their playing time. Practice it throughout the week to make sure your kids are handling it right and your QB knows what to do in case of a breakdown in communication. A side note: Whenever I see the opposing coach carrying around a white board or clip board to show kids the plays I know 2 things: 1. I'm in for a alow game. 2. We're probably going to win. I've just never seen it work out well. I like this idea with huddling. I set up my QB band to have pods that are formations so I run in a player and he says "twins 6" and the qb calls twins and then reads play 6. You can also just yell it out. |
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Post by bigjbuck04 on Jun 9, 2017 13:12:41 GMT -6
I have coached at the youth level for a few years and I think you would surprised at the amount of information they can retain. I coached 5th - 6th graders for 5 years before moving up to coach exclusively at my Alma Mater HS. I had a lot of success with using wristbands. The wristband would be numbered and have all of our available plays. We were a non-traditional Wing-T team and numbered our holes odd to the left and even to the right. Hence my wristband the odd numbers were on the left and even numbers on the right to allow the QB to find the plays quicker.
From the sideline I would call out the formation and then a number. So if I called out Raven 17, that would be a play. But I might be able to run or want to run that same play out of a different formation, like Red or Blue. Being able to freely use my formations at will allowed our offense to look and feel more complicated than it really was. That is a HUGE advantage at the younger levels. We probably had 7 running concepts but depending on formation or ball carrier we could have hundred upon hundred of plays.
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jun 28, 2017 12:04:25 GMT -6
Wrist bands and yell really loud. Worked great for us. No sense in having the kids remember silly symbols and stuff. Plus, then you have to remember them and I know I don't want to do all that.
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Post by aceback76 on Jun 29, 2017 14:39:04 GMT -6
I think this has been brought up, but I couldn't find it. Anyways, I am the OC of a 4th grade football team. This is the first year where the coaches will be calling plays from the sidelines. I've read how some people like to use the white boards, wrist bands, and/or picture cards. I was thinking of using the whiteboard since I have those available, but would like to hear other people's point of view. We are a double wing offense and was thinking that the kids would also learn and know the picture cards quickly but what do you do with the pictures if you want the play going left or right? Just some info would be nice. Thanks. I like sending plays in with a sub because you can add thoughts ("look for Bobby first", etc.). Plus more kids get to play. We call plays by "feel" rather than a script. STEVE SPURRIER: “I don’t script plays – let’s come out and see how they play and call the game from there”. |
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Post by deedot on Jul 1, 2017 3:43:58 GMT -6
Easiest way to coach youth football Youth Football Resources Check It Out bit.ly/2u9LXfG |
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Post by aceback76 on Jul 10, 2017 10:17:10 GMT -6
I think this has been brought up, but I couldn't find it. Anyways, I am the OC of a 4th grade football team. This is the first year where the coaches will be calling plays from the sidelines. I've read how some people like to use the white boards, wrist bands, and/or picture cards. I was thinking of using the whiteboard since I have those available, but would like to hear other people's point of view. We are a double wing offense and was thinking that the kids would also learn and know the picture cards quickly but what do you do with the pictures if you want the play going left or right? Just some info would be nice. Thanks. Just send the call in with a "sub" - more kids play that way & it is EASY! |
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Post by jrk5150 on Jul 18, 2017 11:54:33 GMT -6
I don't disagree about sending plays in with a sub per se, but IMO, at the youth level you'd better be prepared to see some plays being run that you didn't call if you give them a full play call to bring in. If you're using code words or calls that associate with a wrist coach, perhaps that's easier. But I know plenty of youth players who could screw up "Red 17" on the way from the sideline to the huddle. I know of even more youth players who would screw up "Red Rip 36 Power" on the way from the sideline to the huddle...
I'm sure plenty of coaches make it work, so take that for what it's worth.
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Post by Chris Clement on Jul 18, 2017 15:48:00 GMT -6
I've definitely had my share of struggles with messenger guards. The best strategy I came up with was yelling the play in. The defence is rock-stupid at that age.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2017 18:23:47 GMT -6
Write the plays on small 3x5 cards
Give the Qb a wrist coach
Send the play card in with the sub , he takes it reads it in the huddle, puts it into his wrist coach , run the play , sends it back when the next sub comes out
Gave that idea to a friend of mine who still uses it
Another thought is Qb to the sideline every time
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Post by coachrobpsl on Jul 19, 2017 8:50:47 GMT -6
Write the plays on small 3x5 cards Give the Qb a wrist coach Send the play card in with the sub , he takes it reads it in the huddle, puts it into his wrist coach , run the play , sends it back when the next sub comes out Gave that idea to a friend of mine who still uses it Another thought is Qb to the sideline every time QB to the sideline has the qb running a whole lot of extra yardage. Plus, in a rush it will hamper you. We were always hurry up with wrist bands for everyone and yelling it in. We had to stress to everyone to never get set until you were 100% sure you had the right play call. As far as defense stealing play calls, use dead and live numbers or just have multiple calls for your base plays. Anything ran more than 5 times a game probably needs to have secondary calls. Plus, good luck having the defense process all that info if they do catch on. Probably better for them if they just play honest. |
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Post by jrk5150 on Jul 19, 2017 9:48:17 GMT -6
Since I posted what I do in 2014, I have gone to wrist coaches on all players and we're primarily no huddle. I call in the wrist coach code and we go. If we're going fast, the other team doesn't really have time to diagnose what I call and give meaningful instructions to the defense before we're snapping. I've had teams try, but they stop by the second quarter, they're just creating more confusion for their D. And that's without any dummy play calls that could mess with them, LOL.
And the bottom line is, the only way it will matter is if they've done a great job scouting and have specific adjustments to our plays. They can yell "watch counter" all they want, but if they haven't PRACTICED the inside and backside LB and the S ignoring flow and stepping up into the counter hole, they aren't going to shut down counter. Telling Joey - hey, coming at you, does less than nothing. I figure Joey ALWAYS thinks we're coming at him, that's why we're blocking his a*s. The only exception would be PA pass - that would be handy for the DB's to know, but we call that infrequently enough it shouldn't be an issue.
We will also huddle if we need to compose ourselves or slow things down - I'll have my QB come about halfway to me and I'll give him the wrist coach code, and then he just relays it in the huddle and they read their wrist. Usually I can give it to him quietly enough not to be heard by the other sideline.
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Post by bobgoodman on Jul 19, 2017 12:10:20 GMT -6
How about having the field captain choose & call the plays? Won't help if you're no-huddle -- same problem signaling the play to all the players -- but if you huddle it'll save time & accuracy vs. having a coach decide. Then you can concentrate on coaching!
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Post by bobgoodman on Jul 19, 2017 12:12:30 GMT -6
Plus, good luck having the defense process all that info if they do catch on. Probably better for them if they just play honest. It wouldn't be the defense working on that, but their coach. Kids are better at picking up tells than decrypting calls. |
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Post by jrk5150 on Jul 19, 2017 13:05:01 GMT -6
How about having the field captain choose & call the plays? Won't help if you're no-huddle -- same problem signaling the play to all the players -- but if you huddle it'll save time & accuracy vs. having a coach decide. Then you can concentrate on coaching! Actually Bob, not a good idea from that "concentrate on coaching" perspective. If you don't know the play being run, it will be hard to focus on the correct area to identify what needs to be coached up. It's not easy to try to watch all 11 (22 actually) and see what everyone is doing/doing wrong. When you know the play, you can focus on the key parts of it that make it go, and coach those up. |
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Post by Chris Clement on Jul 19, 2017 15:16:51 GMT -6
They're fourth graders, you're not exactly doing fancy sideline adjustments.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2017 15:48:46 GMT -6
Write the plays on small 3x5 cards Give the Qb a wrist coach Send the play card in with the sub , he takes it reads it in the huddle, puts it into his wrist coach , run the play , sends it back when the next sub comes out Gave that idea to a friend of mine who still uses it Another thought is Qb to the sideline every time QB to the sideline has the qb running a whole lot of extra yardage. Plus, in a rush it will hamper you. We were always hurry up with wrist bands for everyone and yelling it in. We had to stress to everyone to never get set until you were 100% sure you had the right play call. As far as defense stealing play calls, use dead and live numbers or just have multiple calls for your base plays. Anything ran more than 5 times a game probably needs to have secondary calls. Plus, good luck having the defense process all that info if they do catch on. Probably better for them if they just play honest. Im no fan of no huddle , it thats the case then disregard everything i said, the wrist band thing came about because a friend of mine kept having kids call the wrong play . |
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Post by Coach Vint on Jul 20, 2017 9:16:55 GMT -6
There are a million ways to do this, and they all have merit. Wrist coaches on the QB work well if you are huddling. You don't need more than 12 calls, and that allows you to give him the play and he calls it in the huddle. That has been done at all levels and is effective.
If you want to add an element of surprise, then you can add a call like "cheetah," which you well out. They will automatically line up in your favorite formation and run your identity play. They don't huddle, they just line up and run it. Then you can add "eagle" and have it be your favorite pass play.
I don't have much experience with young kids, but something that worked with our feeder programs was using land animals for runs and birds for passes. We used fish for screens. It was very simple to do. We ran 3 formations, 4 runs, and 4 passes. We had one screen.
One thing I will say... You don't need 100 different calls. You will run 40 to 50 plays a game at that level. Many games you will run less. You want to have 16 to 20 "calls" that you practice over and over and over. When you find something that works, you run it again and again. Figure out the best way that works for your kids.
This is a bit off topic, but I will throw it in. I will say it over and over, there are many youth coaches that would out coach guys at the highest levels of football. Youth coaches are the guys who will either encourage or discourage our youth from loving the game. And loving the game is about more than playing time. It is about encouraging them to be the best they can be.
I coached with a guy who was terrible playing youth football. But his coaches encouraged him every day. He was short and fat as a 4th and 5th grader. By 12th grade he was 6-5 270 and started 49 college games on the offensive line. He told our middle school coaches they must encourage the worst players as much as the best players, because somewhere along the line one of them might just grow into a beast.
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Post by jrk5150 on Jul 21, 2017 20:36:36 GMT -6
They're fourth graders, you're not exactly doing fancy sideline adjustments. They're 4th grade, so seeing if they block the correct guy, and fixing it if they don't, is a big deal. Because unlike older kids (HS), they usually can't/won't tell you what's going on, you have to see it yourself. |
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Post by davecisar on Jul 22, 2017 6:51:51 GMT -6
Our entire team has wrist bands
We like to go quick so the kids get more snaps
We average in the high 50s
We just call it in via a simple code
All the kids are in formation on the LOS= we call it in
Averaged mid 30s ppg over last 19 seasons doing it that way
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