Each week Coach Bass brings his 30 years of NFL coaching experience to USA Football. Email Coach Bass your question.
The following question was sent:
Is the Wishbone offense a good offense to teach 7- to 9-year-olds? What do you think about Wildcat formations and/or the spread offense?The kids I have are small, not athletic andteam speed is average.Also, what is a good motivating tool to use at this age?
Hi Ed,
Choosing an offense for your team to run is a very important decision. First and foremost, you should select an offense that you know and believe in. It should be one that affords your players the best opportunity to experience success and develop their abilities to the fullest.
I would be hesitant to try to implement any offense that requires unique and special ability at any one position. Often if you run an offense like the Wishbone, you may have one player who can master the reads and perfect the footwork needed to have success, but you may find that the second-string player lacks the ability to run the offense and so any injury to the starter will automatically cause you to make massive adjustments.
The same would be true for spread or Wildcat formations, where the ability to pass the ball is at a premium.
My suggestion is that if you know and understand a base offense like the Wing-T that you go with that. You have a variety of plays that you can run, and no one player has to carry the load. If you find a player who has advanced skills, it becomes easy to feature that player's skill with your play calling.
Players become motivated when they feel that you care about each of them as an individual, when there are no stars, when they receive praise and are coached in a positive way, where effort is rewarded as well as performance, and when every player is allowed to perform in the games.
Give it some thought this off-season and based on their ability, try to put your team in the best situation to achieve success.
Coach Tom Bass
Coach Tom Bass, the technical writer and advisor for USA Football, is a 30-year NFL coach who has also authored several books, including "Play Football the NFL Way" - the first "how to" book ever authorized and published by the NFL. Coach Bass is happy to personally autograph his books to you. Book ordering information can be found at http://www.coachbass.com/.
