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ROOKIE AND 11-PLAYER

PRACTICE PLAN

American Development Model / 2018 National Opt-In

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THE IMPORTANCE OF PRACTICE

• Designing quality practice is the most basic of

all coaching activities and essential for optimal

learning of skills and game tactics along with

competition.

• One of the primary reasons athletes think this

way and devalue practice is because they have

experienced poorly designed practice sessions.

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COACH JOHN WOODEN’S EIGHT PRINCIPLES

OF PRACTICE PLAN DESIGN

1. Fundamentals before creativity

2. Use variety

3. Teach new material at start of practice

4. Quick transitions between activities

5. Increase complexity from practice to practice

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NUMBER OF

PRACTICES

2 days per week 60 to 75 minutes

3 days per week 75 to 90 minutes

“Long practices are neither desirable nor particularly

benecial.”

- NFL championship coach Tom Coughlan

One of the most common errors is practice sessions

run too long. This leads to a loss of focus.

Replace “How will I ll the practice time?” with “How

can I use the least amount of practice time in the

most efcient way?”

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Drill is run against a bag or another

Contact remains above the waist, and

players stay on their feet.

Drill is run at full speed through the

moment of contact. No pre-determined

“winner.” Contact remains above the waist,

players stay on their feet and a quick

whistle ends the drill.

Drill is run in game-like conditions and is

the only time that players are taken to the

ground.

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QUARTERBACK

• Stance

• Receiving an under-center snap

• Receiving a shotgun snap

• Making a handoff

• Throwing mechanics

• 3-step drop

• 5 step drop

• Play-action fakes and passing

RUNNING BACK

RECEIVER

• Stance

• Route running

• Catching a football

• Above number

• Below number

• In front

• Behind

• Over the shoulder

• Stalk blocking (Rookie and

• Pass protection

• Pulling to block

• Screen blocking

DEFENSIVE BACKS

• Stance

• Shoulder tackling (see pg. 7) or

Flag pulling

• Backpedal

• Backpedal transitions

• Zone drop principles

• Man-to-man principles

• Defeating a block

LINEBACKERS

• Man-to-man principles

DEFENSIVE LINE

• Stance

• Shoulder tackling (see pg. 7) or

Flag pulling

• 2-point stance (Rookie Tackle)

• 3 and/or 4-point stance

• Defeating a block

• Rushing the passer

• Block recognition

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BLOCKING

• Body position. Correct body position leads to safer contact. Poor

body position can make the head and neck vulnerable to injury.

• Aiming points. The head should never be used to initiate the

block. Disciplined eyes give blockers the correct aiming point and

charge and stay in-front of him on pass protection.

SHOULDER TACKLING

• Dominate your leverage. Depending on the position on the eld

and play call, players will either be assigned an inside-out or

outside-in responsibility. They will dominate this leverage by

tracking the near hip and eliminate the ball-carrier’s ability to run

in the other direction.

• Swoop to near foot position. As players enter the contact area,

they will shorten their stride, lower their centers of gravity and get

the leverage foot forward to prepare for contact.

“drive for ve” or a roll depending on the type of tackle.



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