Three Common 7on7 Mistakes
We are big fans of 7on7 football here at FirstDown PlayBook and have been for awhile now. We are totally for multi-sport athletes, and in fact we believe that is the best route for a young football player.
However, if there are kids who want to throw the football around, year round, that is good too. If this happens to take the form of team based or club based 7on7 then that’s where we think you have to be careful.
When adults get involved that means that instruction to the players is going to be interpreted as coaching. Often times when we see 7on7 tournaments or leagues we see bad habits being reinforced.
This is where we think 7on7 can be a negative and harmful thing to the game of football and the young players who suit up in the fall. Here are three very common 7on7 mistakes we see each year around this time.
Allowing Untimed 7on7 Plays
The game of football is meant to be a game of timing. If it’s the run game, there may be a hole to run in, but only for a split second. If the timing is off so is the play execution. The passing game is no different.
If you are allowing your quarterback to stand in the pocket for more than three or four seconds than it isn’t realistic. 7on7 should always have a clock and a horn to prevent this from happening. If the horn blows, it’s a sack. This is going to make your quarterback and everyone else on the field better.
Using Only Pass Friendly Formations
We all want to win because we are competitive. However, if you are really trying to get better at the game of football then you want to be diverse with your formations and play calls.
It might be to your 7on7 advantage to run all one back or empty formations, but it’s detrimental to the overall development of the players. Running backs need work too and that means from the backfield. Some of the harder routes to complete and catch are out of the backfield.
Using Only Pass Friendly Coverages
Okay defensive coaches, you are not off the hook here. Playing two deep safeties every snap is not realistic. Your players need to be playing some middle of the field closed coverages too.
This is a great time to introduce quarters coverage and the adjustments to all of the different formations that comes along with it. Locking up in man coverage is also good for the players, even if the matchups are not always in your favor.
You Choose The Player Size With FDPB
Once again we are big big fans of 7on7 and we know some will say that even if you play 7on7 for the pure purpose of winning the game, it’s still good for the players. Possibly, but we still lean towards keeping it as “real” as possible. You never know, by approaching 7on7 this way you may be the changeup that teams are not used to playing!
