Flag Football Drills For Beginners Aged 4 To 9

Flag football drills for 4-5 year olds are the Gauntlet, the floor is Lava, handoff relay, Center Snap Relay, Spider Web, and Captain’s Coming.

The core skills of flag football play surround flag-pulling, throwing, catching, defense, snapping, routes, positions, etc. But there are other skills required by your kid to perform well in terms of agility, speed, communication, and coordination. Here we are going to learn about the same drills. 

1. The Gauntlet

It is a high-energy running and flag-pulling drill where players learn the necessity of speed while playing flag football. Here, use four cones to create a rectangular 5 by 20 yard. 

Again use more cones to mark the 5, 10, and 15-yard lines. Provide all your players with a flag belt and place one defender in every five-yard line and the rest along the goal line.

Now call out the game and the players take turns sprinting past the defenders who can only move lateral or side to side while trying to save their flag. Make sure you switch sides once so that the players from both offense and defense can get their turn. 

The defenders will be tempted to move vertically once an offensive player has outrun them. In this game, we have to stay on a white line. Make aware your players that the best way to make it to the end zone is by sprinting straight ahead speeding right past the defenders giving them minimum time to pull the flag.

2. The Floor is Lava

This drill enriches your player with skills to throw with accuracy where a fiery favorite receives a flag football spin. Here also use cones to make a rectangular 20 by 10-yard field. 

Scatter a number of cones randomly keeping them about eight to ten feet apart, consider them your islands. Confused about the number of islands you must own? Well, keep it in a number that matches the number of your player. The Lava is coming!

Divide your players into pair and give each pair a ball. The football rule says, Your player can’t catch a ball while standing on Lava, it’s too hot. They can only throw and catch the ball when they are on the Islands.

The one with the ball will start at an island and the other runs on the lava to find an empty island. Once they find one, they can receive the ball from the ball-holder partner. Again, the initial ball holder runs in search of an island to receive the return pass.

Remind them to count the passes once they complete when the time’s up, the catchers to use their diamond or the pinkies down low, and the passers to keep their non-throwing shoulders turned towards their target.

3. Handoff Relay

Here the players work hard on their handoffs and relay. The steps involve:

• Divide players in half and line each group 10 yards apart
• Give the first player of one line a ball. Then let the ball carrier run toward the first player in another line
• After the carriers approach, the player starts to jog forward making a window to receive a handoff. As they cross they exchange the ball and the new ball carrier runs off to the other line.
• The players continue to do the same and keep the rhythm going without a drop
• Remind the giver to properly hand off the ball rather than letting the other player take it

4. Center Snap Relay

• Set up two parallel rows of eight cones placing each one 5 yards apart. Divide the players into two teams and line them up, one in each cone, all facing forward.
• Give the ball to two players at the first cone. On the call, the first player snaps the ball to the second in line. Continue it until the last player receives the snap
• The last receiver runs to the front of the line stopping at the empty cone the relay repeats until one of them reaches the final cone. This is to teach them how to snap and receive the ball properly. 
• Remind them to keep the ball on the ground while starting every snap. 

Flag football drills for 5-6 year olds are Captain’s Coming, Big Bad Wolf?, Volcanoes and Ice Cream Cones, Clap & Catch, and What Time Is It.

1. Captain’s Coming

This game helps the players to upgrade their cutting, running, and listening skills and is a pirate-themed football drill. The steps to perform are:

• Use four cones to create a 20 by 15-yard rectangular field. This will be your pirate ship. Name the sides as the sea, shore, port, and starboard. It’s fun.
• Call out the side of the ship you named and the players run there as quickly as possible. 
• Keep calling the locations and the players must cut and run their immediately
• When you shout “Captain’s Coming” the players must stand on attention salute and shout back 
• Introduce new commands like “hit the deck” to lay them off on the ground and “raise the sails” to make them raise their hands high and jump

2. What Time Is It, Big Bad Wolf?

This is to make them practice their evasive running in the game. The steps are:

• Use four cones to create a square space of 10 by 10 yards. Let your players line up on one end and you, the big bad wolf on the other end turn your back on them.
• The players call out “Time” and you respond to them by calling an hour, say eight o’clock which indicates the number of steps that the players must take toward you.
• This continues until you call out “dinner time” and turn around to chase your players, while they try to get back to the starting line before getting tagged.
• The first player to get tagged now becomes the big bad wolf for the next round.

3. Volcanoes and Ice Cream Cones

This helps the players to work on their teamwork skills.

• Use four cones to create a 10 by 10 square space. Scatter at least 15 more cones throughout the space. Place half of them right side up like volcanoes and half of them upside down like ice cream cones.
• Divide the players into two groups in red and blues or anything you like
• When you call out the game the players must turn over as many cones as they can in their team shape. Meaning; the volcano team will flip the right side up and the ice cream cones will flip the upside down.
• Play short rounds, about a minute long, and when the time is up count how many cones are placed in either direction. 
• Whichever team made the most cones flip wins the game

Flag football drills for 6-7 year olds include the Anchor, Obstacle Course Relay, Robin Hood, Tic-Tac-Toe, Bull Rush, and many more. 

The mentioned age group players are still on the fundamental level of the game. It is better to provide them with high-energy skills and drills from a young age to mold them into top players. Let’s read about the drills and formation below:

1. The Anchor

This drill helps the players to upgrade their invading skills in the game. 

• Use four cones to create a 3 by 3 square field and place one cone five-yard in front of the square
• Select a player as an anchor to stand inside the square and other players to line up on the starting cone. Give each of them a flag belt
• Each player, one at a time tries to sprint through the square and the anchor will try to pull their flag but the anchor can’t move the feet.
• Exchange the players in position so that each one gets a chance. Tell the anchors to focus on the runner’s hips and flags. While grabbing the flags the players should aim at the popper where the flag connects the belt. 

2. Obstacle Course Relay

These flag football drills for 7 year olds help them to upgrade their agility, teamwork, and accuracy while playing a game. 

• Use cones to make a pair of 15-yard running lanes and mark off three obstacle stations along the way
• Divide the players into two teams and line them up at the start of each lane
• When you call out the game, the first players in line race to the first obstacle station with a ball, reach there, drop the ball, and do five squats
• Then they run to the second station and do five side hopes, Sprint to the third station and perform five sets of high knees
• After they are done they run to the 10-yard cone and complete a pass to the next person in line. 
• The first special team with all its players to complete the relay wins the game. 

3. Robin Hood

Robin Hood is a throwing skill drill that comes together with football and archery. The steps are:

• Use cones to create a larger outer square, a smaller square inside it, and an even smaller square inside the center which is going to be the Bull’s eye. 
• Use two cones to create a throwing line or gate about 10 yards away from the square. Line the players in the gate.
• One player at a time will come up to throw the ball into the target. They will receive 1 point for landing the ball on the larger square, 5 points for the middle square, and 10 points for landing on the bull’s eye. 
• If the ball hits the cone, give them the points for the respective square.
• Make a round of turns to throw the ball and the players with the most points will win the game.

Flag football drills for 8-year-olds are Cone Relay, Tennis Ball Drop, Freeze Tag, Open Wheel Shuffle, the Hand Off, Bull Rush, and so on. 

1. Cone Relay

The drill focuses on the player’s footwork and agility in a fun running drill. To perform the activity, follow the following steps:

• Create two 5-yard squares using cones. Divide the players into two teams and line them up at different squares behind the nearest cone.
• The first player from each team takes a receiver stance ready to run
• When you call the drill, they sprint diagonally across the square, cross to the next cone, and again sprint diagonally and run back around the entire square to the starting cone.
• There they tag in their next teammate
• The first team to complete the relay wins the game
• Ask your players to turn corners remaining too upright. Taller players might find it difficult due to their higher center of gravity. Remind them to stay low while cutting corners and dig deep.

2. Tennis Ball Drop

This helps to improve the quickness and reaction time of players in the flag football game. The steps involved are:

• Keep two cones on the field 3 yards apart. Divide the players into two groups and place them lined up in each cone.
• You stand 5 yards away facing them and holding two tennis balls, one in each hand
• When the first players from each line are set to run, throw the ball directly on the ground.
• The players from each line run to try to catch the ball on their side before it bounces back the second time.
• Play several rounds so that each player gets their turn to play.
• You can allow them to dive for the catch but advise them to stay on their feet as much as possible
• Remind the practitioners to keep their focus on the ball

3. Freeze Tag

• Make a 10 by 10 square space using the cones. Choose one player among them to run the freeze.
• On your call the player will round around the space to freeze the other players
• The other runs around the space doing their best to freeze or trying to tag according to the tag rule and freeze the other player
• To unfreeze the frozen player, you have to throw the ball from outside the play area.
• Once the player catches the ball, they will get unfreeze and throw the ball towards you and start to run around the play area again

Flag football drills for 9 year olds comprise Trust Catch, Tic Tac Toe, Open Wheel Shuffle, The Wrong Foot, Bull Rush, and Keep Away.

Your nine years old must equip himself/herself with a little more skills and energy drills than other age groups. This is the beginning of the transitional age to Youth Football. So, you have to teach a little more to them. Let’s look at those drills to enhance their play.

1. Tic Tac Toe

This drill helps the players immensely in improving their field awareness and decision-making. You have to go through the following steps to perform the play:

• First make a tic-tac-toe grid using 16 cones, make it 5 yards long and five yards wide.
• Place two more cones along a starting line 10 yards away from the grid.
• Divide the players into two teams and line each one up in the starting line.
• Assign each team a color and give the player a cloth of the assigned color as a mark.
• Make a call and the first player in each line runs to the grid, places their markers in the square, runs back, and tags the next person in line.
• Continue the relay until one team places at least three markers in a row and then consider them the winner.

2. Trust Catch

This one is to upgrade players’ reaction time and catching skills.

• Prepare gates for the receivers to stand in by placing two cones. Line up all players next to the gate. 
• Mark yourself as the quarterback and stand 10 yards in front of the gate with a ball. 
• Make a receiver stand at the gate turning their back on QB and placing hands by the sides. 
• Call “Hike” and throw the ball to the receiver. The player will turn back at the same time to receive the ball. 
• Without an adjustment in the beginning, the players might want to be ready to place their hands in the air. But once they get comfortable enough, ask them to bring up their hands later and find the ball with their eyes first. 

3. Open Wheel Shuffle

• This one is to develop players’ most interception scores and skills, speed, and agility. Create a 10 by 10 rectangular field by placing four cones on the ground.
• Consider yourself a quarterback and stand facing the space. 
• Make one player at a time stand in the space, just a few yards away facing you.
• When you call the game, the players pedal back five to seven steps while keeping their eye on you.
• Queue left or right and make them shuffle three to five steps toward the queued direction of the rectangle. 
• make them open their hips to sprint and receive a throw from you at the corner of the space.

Tackling Drills for Youth Football are The Toll Booth, Flag Attack, The Gauntlet, The Anchor, Cross The River, Mascot Tag, Level Tackles, and Rush Hours.

Some of the football drills in youth flag football are similar to those of the young players. Here we will be discussing the tackle drill skills of the older one. Let’s have a look. 

1. The Toll Booth

• Create a 5 yards gates using two cones. Consider it your toll booth. Place another cone 5 yards in front of it. 
• Choose one player to be the defender or toll keeper. Place him or her in the middle of the booth.
• Line up the rest f the team behind the cones and give them a flag belt
• Each player in line run towards the toll booth.
• The keeper shuffles from side to side trying to pull off their flags while the runners try to make it through with the flag.
• Play it till all the runners have made it through the poll and choose a new toll keeper and play again

2. Flag Attack

• Create a 10 by 10 square space. Give each player a flag belt and ask them to scatter on the space.
• When you call the game everyone will run to grab as many as flags they can holding onto all the flags they have pulled.
• The player who loses a flag, continues to play and replaces them with the flags they grab.
• The player with the most flags wins the game
• Remind them that the moves taken to protect their flag are called flag guarding

3. Cross The River

• Divide the available players into groups of three with one runner and two defenders.
• To mark the banks of the river, place two cones about 10 yards apart, and give everyone a flag belt.
• The runners stand at one cone whereas the defenders spread out in the river. 
• The game of the runner is to sprint from one river bank to another with their flags intact while the defenders try to pull the runner’s flag. 
• Make sure they know the rules of the flag pulling

Defensive Line Drills for Youth Football are Pursue and Pull, Swarm, Use the Sideline, Angle of Pursuit, Interception, and Sharks Vs. Minnows Drills.

Let’s discuss these games in the points below:

1. Swarm Drill

The best defense is always like a swarm of bees hovering around their hive. In this play, you will gather your defenders around the ball carrier. 

On your call, the offense will begin their play and when the defenders grab the flags of the ball carrier, ask all the players to freeze. Then look for how many players are around the ball carrier. You must note that this is not one on one play. 

The Players must be advised that there should be a number of players around the ball carrier. This can be practiced with whole defense vs. offense or a fraction of each. 

2. Use the Sideline

This drill will teach the players to use their sideline as the defender whenever the offensive runner reaches the sideline. This is all about limiting the options of the direction the ball carrier is to run.

To practice this, you must shorten the field by using cones on one side and using the sideline on the other. It is performed in this limited area using a single carrier and two or more defenders.

On the coach’s call, the runner runs the ball down the field and defenders cut off the running lanes of the carrier forcing him to the sideline and setting up a trap.