subject: Teaching Correct Tackling Techniques To Your Youth Football Team [print this page] Youth football is one of the most popular sports enjoyed by children all across the country. Millions of children of all ages participate in some type of football team during their childhood years. The game of football is a fun sport that is aggressive and yet takes a lot of technical skill at the same time. There are a lot of skills to teach your team full of youngsters, but one of the most important skills is proper tackling techniques. As children get older, there are opportunities for them to play tackle football, which is great preparation for junior high and high school football. It is important to teach these kids how to tackle properly so that they can avoid being injured or injuring someone else they are playing against.
There are a few drills you can use to help your youth football team learn how to tackle properly. These drills are designed to be performed at different rates of speed depending on the skill level and age of the individuals on the team. One of the best drills you can use is a medium speed drill that focuses on tackling form. The main purpose for this drill is for the kids to learn the basic form that is used when making a tackle and then perfect those skills and mechanics so that they can tackle more safely and avoid injury. If you were to try and teach the kids on the team how to tackle in one afternoon and then have them perform these drills at full speed, you would be putting those individual players at high risk for injury. Many young players have bad form and bad habits that can lead to serious injuries on the field.
When you begin this youth football tackling drill, you want to take two individual players and line them up so they are going head to head against each other. Set them between five to six yards apart from one another. Designate one player in the drill as defense and the other individual as offense. Have both players slowly at an even pace approach each other. Have the player who was designated defense to focus on tackling the individual with proper technique.
Have the defense player on the youth football team get low to the ground with their head up. Their backside should be down and their arms are to be back. Have the player explode up in a fluent motion and make contact chest to chest with the other player. Work these drills regularly into practice.
