Category Archives for "Football Strategies"

What is a Pooch Kick in Football? (Full Explanation)

By Coach Martin | Football Strategies

In football, a kickoff always occurs at the beginning, at the start of the second half, and following every score.

This is how a change of possession occurs in these situations.

In most kickoffs, the kicker will simply drive the ball as far downfield as he can — looking to either get a touchback or at least pin the receiving team deep within their own end.

But, there are other times when they might want to use a different tactic to prevent dynamic returners from gaining a lot of yardage on a kick return.

This tactic is what’s called pooch kick.

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What is a Shovel Pass in Football? (Explained)

By Coach Martin | Football Strategies

Shovel passes were hardly ever called in football before.

In recent years, though, that trend started to change as offensive coaches now integrate new wrinkles into their play calling.

Coaches do this to keep defenses off balance and take advantage of players’ different skillsets.

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What is a Squib Kick in Football? (And When to Use One)

By Coach Martin | Football Strategies

A squib kick is a strategy that teams can deploy if they don’t want the receiving team’s best players to return the kick.

It’s rarely used in the college and professional game, but is employed at a much higher rate in youth football.

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What is a Dig Route in Football? (Full Explanation)

By Coach Martin | Football Strategies

The Dig route is designed to make a defender think that the receiver is going to run a Go route straight downfield.

At the last minute, the receiver will stop, turn and run straight across the middle of the field.

The route is called the Dig because it requires the receiver to dig his feet into the ground when so that he’s able to stop and shift his weight properly for the second part of the route.

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What Is a Blitz in Football? (Explained)

By Coach Martin | Football Strategies

Simply put, a blitz is a play call by a defense that’s designed to rush the quarterback with more defenders than there are blockers.

For example, if there are 5 blockers on an offensive play (the 5 offensive linemen), then a blitz would be a play that has 6 players rushing the quarterback.

It’s easy to understand, but it’s not so easy to execute it properly. There are also different types of blitzes as well as different reasons why you’d want to call a blitz.

Let’s take a closer look at why you’d want to run a blitz and what type of blitzes you can run.

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Kick Return Formation and Schemes to Score

By Coach Martin | Football Strategies

The kick return formation can be rather boring in football.

It’s a special teams play that occurs at the start of both the first half and second half of a game, as well as after every scoring play.

There are two parts to a successful kick return: The formation and the scheme. Let’s take a look at both.

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What is a Wheel Route in Football? (Full Explanation)

By Coach Martin | Football Strategies

The wheel route in football is one of the simplest, yet most devastating passing routes.

The route forces the defender to move quickly laterally, and then quickly turn around and start running upfield in hopes of covering the receiver.

It’s a great route to teach football players of any age because it’s so easy to learn and can be run from pretty much any area of the field.

Let’s take an in-depth look at what the wheel route is, why it’s called that, and how to run it.

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What are Special Teams in Football? (Explained)

By Coach Martin | Football Strategies

What’s so special about special teams in football?

A lot, actually.

When most people think of football teams, they think of only two units — the offense and the defense.

But special teams is that often-forgotten third unit that can have a huge impact on the game.

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Icing the Kicker: Does it Actually Work? (Answered)

By Coach Martin | Football Strategies

There are a lot of different strategies that football coaches employ to give their team an advantage in games.

One such strategy is strictly mental, though, and the merits of whether or not it works are constantly being debated.

The strategy to which we are referring here is known as icing the kicker.

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