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Youth Football Coaching: Direction Of Basic Defense

By: Kevin O Keefe

One of the most important things that we teach in our youth football coaching program is to know the direction of basic defense. This is something we focus on specifically at our youth football coaching site. This is because if you know the direction of basic defense and apply it in your coaching program, the outcome is that you are most likely to become successful in any youth football game. In our youth football coaching program, we teach our team the fast way to defend and how to defend.

In our youth football coaching program, we have what we call the 5-3 defense. For us, this is the most effective direction of basic defense that you can have. This kind of defense would consist of 8 people: we have 5 down linemen and then 3 linebackers. The Linebackers and the linemen usually go in opposite direction. For instance if the power is to the right, the linemen will go towards the power and shade the gap of their responsibility. On the other hand, the linebackers will go to the left and shade their gap responsibility. Now, the purpose of this defense is to have 8 people in these positions who are the most technique-sound people: they do not need to be the biggest, nor the fastest; they just have to cover their gaps. This defense is designed to stop the run first of all and then defend the pass. The way we teach this type of gap-attack defense is that the deepest the linemen are to go is one yard past the line of scrimmage and settle and then find the ball. They will pursue down the line of scrimmage with the proper angles to cut off the running back before they cross the line of scrimmage and help with the tackle and a minimum gain at best. The linebackers will take their step sideways into their gap and do their checks to locate the ball. The linebackers first goal is to secure the gap, second find his read, which usually is the back side running back or the linemen in front of him, third responsibility is to pursue the ball not from behind but with the proper angle to narrow the field and make the tackle. These basic rules will put you in the right position to defend or attack!

Now the other 3 in a 5-3 defense are the defensive backs or 2 corner backs and a safety. Their primary role in this defense is to defend the pass first. Everyone of the defensive backs should be going backwards at the snap of the ball and recognize through their reads where the ball is going. They are not supposed to come up on run support until they are sure that their pass responsibility has forfeited that option, usually when the ball crosses the line of scrimmage and attack with their outside shoulder protected.

The defensive backs in our defense usually play a man to man defense and the linebackers play run first priority and drop off into coverage after they have taken their first steps and read the play.

To get a Free Lessons about How You Can Take Your Youth Football Team To The Next Level In Minimum Time, please visit our website at: www.youthfootballcoachingsecrets.com

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