Flag football shares many key skills and techniques with traditional American football, just without the full contact tackling. Here are some of the top flag football skills and drills to practice in order to improve your individual abilities and work better as a team.
Individual Offensive Skills
Route Running
Precise route running is vital for getting open as a receiver to catch passes. Useful solo drills are:
Cone drills - run around a series of cones set up simulating routes
Quick ladder drills - rapid footwork in and out of small ladders
Side-to-side shuffle - lateral hip movements across field
Catching
Set up passing drills with a partner or against a wall to react and cleanly catch balls thrown leading away from you, above your head, at your feet etc. Work on catching then turning upfield swiftly.
Speed and Agility
Cone hop, ladder, and shuttle run drills build explosive start-stop movements and change of direction speed critical for flag football offense and defense.
Defensive Techniques
Backpedaling and Defending Routes
Set up dummy receivers and have a defensive backpedal and pivot to cover their movements downfield. Shadow route runners to defend passes.
Flag Pulling Technique
The key flag pulling approach is ripping the flag straight out from their hip rather than upwards. Solo drills to practice involve rapid grabs towards a dummy target’s flag area. You can tie flags to cones or your own waist.
Team Drills
Offense Timing and Execution
It’s vital to sync quarterback decision making, receiver routes, blocks and overall play execution. Two hand touch can replace flags initially.
Five vs Five
The best drill for all positions is five vs five scrimmages. This allows practicing game speed reads, adjustments and strategies in a competitive team environment.
By mastering these key flag football techniques through regular individual skills development and team scrimmage reps, players can excel during league and tournament play.