By Coach Martin | Football Basics
Understanding what these gaps and holes are and how they’re used in football terminology is essential for any football player as they try to carry out their duties on every play.
Let’s dive a little deeper into what gaps and holes are, and how they are used to teach and run the game effectively.
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By Coach Martin | Football Basics
If you’ve watched a National Football League game before, chances are that you’ve seen a punt returner execute a fair catch.
As soon as he catches the high-flying punt, the play is instantly blown dead, with players on the kicking team simply running by him without making any contact.
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By Coach Martin | Football Basics
There are many ways to score points in a football game. The most common point-scoring plays include a touchdown (6 points) and a field goal (3 points).
Smaller point totals are also given for conversions after a touchdown, including 1 point for an extra point and 2 points for what’s known as a two-point conversion.
Teams can also score 2 points on a safety, which is a much rarer occurrence.
Even more rare is a 1-point safety.
This scoring play is so rare that not many people even know it exists — but it does.
Let’s take a look at the history of the 1-point safety, and what a team would have to do in order to convert one.
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By Coach Martin | Football Basics
Kickers aren’t often thought of among the most important players on a football team.
That is, of course, until they become the brunt of the blame for missing a key field goal… or until the entire team rushes the field to celebrate after the kicker makes a game-winning kick as time expires.
Kicking is an extremely important part of football that is often overlooked by the everyday fan.
Football coaches know just how important having a good kicking game is, though, which is why an entire coach is dedicated just to helping the kickers get better.
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By Coach Martin | Football Basics
Following the proper tackling form will not only allow you to avoid injury — and to avoid causing injury to another — but it’ll also ensure that you tackle the most effectively, accurately, and with the most power.
Practicing the fundamentals will also keep you from being faked out by a ball carrier and left in the dust as he runs downfield.
Let’s take a step-by-step look at how to tackle in football properly.
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By Coach Martin | Football Basics
This list of football books is a great reading list for all football junkies out there.
Whether you’re a coach or player trying to develop your skills, a novice fan just trying to learn the ropes, or a devout follower who wants to read something football-related while waiting in between seasons, these 75 football books are for you.
This list is complete with biographies of legendary coaches, memoirs of star players, inspirational messages from respected football figures, and manuals for strategies and schemes.
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By Coach Martin | Football Basics
Almost all offensive and defensive linemen start every play bent halfway over with their hand touching the ground.
It’s a technique that is done to get these big-bodied players lower to the ground from the start, so that when the ball is snapped, they can remain low and burst through the opposing team’s line.
This is known as the three point stance.
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By Coach Martin | Football Basics
The pocket is a term that’s thrown around a lot when you watch football games.
It’s a way to describe an area of the field that forms around the quarterback on passing plays.
The pocket isn’t a set space on the field, as it is something that changes and molds based on the specific play.
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By Coach Martin | Football Basics
It is a pass play that is designed to get the ball out of quarterback’s hands and into the receiver’s hands as quick as possible.
The work, then, is on the receivers to do the initial blocking, and for the player catching the ball to make a move or two to get downfield.
Let’s have a closer look at the bubble screen so we can know exactly what it is, how it’s run, and when it’s best used.
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By Coach Martin | Football Basics
All footballs are not made equally.
That is to say — just because you’re playing the game of football doesn’t mean that you will be using the same ball.
Unlike a sport like baseball, where the size of the ball is always the same regardless of what level of the sport you’re playing, there is a different size football that you should use depending on how old you are and what level of the game you’re playing.
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