Flag Football Practice Plans
Want the big picture first? Read how to coach flag football. Prefer paper? Get the printable practice plan template (PDF).
Free 60-minute youth flag football practice plans, one for each age group plus a plan for your very first practice. Every plan is a timed schedule with drills, the plays to install, what to say to the kids and what to bring, plus a 45-minute version for short practices. Print it, or pull it up on your phone at the field.
Only have 45 minutes?
Every plan above has a "Short on time?" section that shows exactly which blocks to trim and which one to cut to fit 45 minutes. The rule of thumb: keep the scrimmage and the team install, shorten the warm-up and the water break, and drop one drill that the scrimmage already covers.
How to run a youth flag football practice
Most volunteer coaches get about an hour. The plans on this page all follow the same shape, because it works for kids of every age:
- Warm up with movement, not lines. A quick jog and a few skips and shuffles, or a game like Sharks and Minnows, gets everyone moving right away.
- Teach skills in short blocks. Seven to ten minutes per drill is plenty. Switch before the kids get bored, and come back to the same drill next week.
- Put a water break in the middle. Use it to set up the next drill so no practice time is lost.
- Install only two or three plays. Walk each play, jog it, then run it at full speed. Learning two plays well beats half-learning six.
- Scrimmage every practice. Kids came to play football. Finish with a scrimmage using the plays you just installed.
- End with a huddle. Ask what they learned, praise effort by name, and send them home on a good note.
Tips that make every practice go better
- Keep lines short. Two or three lines of three kids are better than one line of ten.
- Use a parent helper for every drill station if you can. Most parents are happy to hold a cone and count reps.
- Say the coaching point once, then let them go. Kids learn by doing, not by listening.
- Every player tries every position in practice, including QB.
- Write the plan down before you get to the field. A plan on a clipboard keeps an hour from turning into forty minutes of waiting.
For players at home: want more football between practices? Football Bros is a free arcade football game that runs in the browser with no download or login. It's no substitute for reps, but it keeps kids thinking about passing, running and tackling.
Looking for more drills to swap in? See all youth flag football drills with diagrams, or browse the play library.
Choose the practice by its goal
Use the first-practice plan with a new group, even if the players are older. Choose an age plan when its drill difficulty and play decisions fit the group. A plan is a starting schedule: shorten an explanation or repeat a station when players need it instead of racing through every block.
Carry one game observation into the next session
If the handoff failed, begin with exchanges. If receivers crowded one area, begin with landmarks. Select a plan that gives that skill time and keep a scrimmage block to test it. Use the practice plan template when the ready-made plans do not match the lesson your team needs.
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