The moment someone volunteers or agrees to coach an adult flag football team they envision pass plays and receivers running wide open all over the football field. Rarely do they think about flag football defense. However, it does not take very long before the coach and entire team understands that this will be the biggest challenge they face on game day. Adult Flag football defense is not that different than tackle football defense. You don’t want to do too much or you won’t get lined up correctly, but you can’t just sit back in one defense all day either. Some of the adult flag football ..read more

It is guaranteed that if you watch any football game these days on Saturday or Sunday you are going to see offensive bunch formations. They are difficult to defend for several reasons. The one we want to focus on today is what they do to man coverage. As is the case with a lot of football, flag football defenses are not immune to this. Defending flag football bunch sets is a challenge. In the first diagram below we have chosen to play man coverage with our 7v7 flag defense. The offense comes out in a 3×1 formation as they move one of their slot receivers to the right side of your defense ..read more

FirstDown PlayBook believes that all of football is organized keep away when it comes to the passing game. Flag football is not an exception to the rule. Sorry defensive coaches, but if an offense executes with equal or better players, the advantage goes to the offense. This is why flag football quarterback reads are a must. This 5v5 flag football play is a great example. It is important for the Center to not only execute a great snap but if he or she can take the top off of this play with speed it gets the whole thing rolling. The Center not only clears out the middle hook area but also ..read more

We have never done this before but here goes. We received an email Friday night from an adult flag football player. He of course, loves FirstDown PlayBook and credited us with helping his adult 7v7 flag football team advance to a higher level of play. His problem was that their flag football quarterback was having trouble getting the pass off before he got sacked. This is one of the most common questions we get here at FirstDown PlayBook with flag football. People don’t understand how fast it is played. In this case the rules allow the defense to immediately rush as soon as the ball is sn ..read more

Last week at the NAIA Women’s Flag Football Playoffs there were many examples of situational football. We want to cover them over the next several weeks. There were game changing decisions that altered the outcome of the games. The one we want to focus on today is playing flag football prevent defense. There were critical examples in Atlanta of teams needing to keep the ball out of the end zone on the last play. The flag football field is shorter. This means your opponent throwing the ball into the end zone at the end of a game is a real threat. It is maybe more real than on an 11 man field ..read more

FirstDown PlayBook has been very impressed with the level of play we have seen with the 7v7 flag football defenses over the past several years. Coaches have done a good job of creating a little deception by hiding their defense until the ball is snapped. This has revolved around hiding who the rusher to the quarterback is. It has also been used to disguise coverages. You have read it here before. It is hard to play anything but man coverage if your numbers are 4v4 or 5v5. There is just too much turf to cover and not enough defenders. It is also difficult to teach young flag footballers zone ..read more

“I want it to be fun for the kids”. You hear that a lot when it comes to youth sports, especially when youth flag football is the sport. Sometimes it seems that as long as there is a ball and a few kids out there on the field running around the goal has been achieved. We think there is more to it than that. We understand that teaching football to young players is very challenging. The younger the players the bigger the challenge. Never so difficult thought that the teaching is omitted. Without the structure and learning that should be a part of every youth flag and tackle football program, t ..read more

Every football team needs to have a few trick plays up their sleeve. NFL teams and your adult 7v7 flag football team are no exception. We want to point out that there are plenty of around and jet sweep passes we could choose here. However, the NFL Philly Special brings a lot to the table when it comes to catching a defense flat-footed. The first coaching point here is to know which hand your Z receiver throws with. For this adult 7v7 flag football diagram we are treating it like our Z is right-handed. Lining up in a Bunch formation to the left ensures that they can have an easier throw into ..read more

All quarterbacks are not created equally. If you coach girls high school flag football it is likely that you have one that has some athletic ability. You are going to want to move them around in the pocket some. There are several ways to do this, but the tried and proven NFL Boot Orbit concept is certainly a good way to start. This is not your grand pappy’s bootleg pass. Think Sean McVay from the Los Angeles Rams. He does a great job of setting his boot game up off of his jet sweep and around game. You can too with your adult 7v7 flag football offense. Obviously, you are going to w ..read more

Adult 7v7 Flag Football Read: 1. In 2. China 3. China When it comes to YAC (yards after catch), it is hard to beat the NFL Levels concept. Stretching the field is important. You want the defense on their heels every time you snap the ball, expecting someone to run by them. However, when you set this tone, it is now time to feed your athletic receivers underneath and let them eat. This NFL Levels concept version is run from a 3×1 offensive formation. it can be run from a 2×2 or 2 Back formation too. All you need is two or more receivers coming across the middle of the field into your quarterb ..read more