All the flag football play calling advice and plays in the world won’t help you if the other team equally or more prepared, so this is when learning how to put those plans into action will help set your team apart.
Part 4: Execution
Fundamentals
If there’s anything I’d stress over everything we’ve already talked about, it’s stressing to your team that fundamentals are the key to victory, and without them you’ll never be consistent enough to win the big games regularly. You can have the best game plan in the world, but if your guys are not running the routes correctly, can’t catch passes consistently, won’t pitch the ball when there’s a clear opportunity for more yards, and not make smart plays like stepping out of bounds before crossing the line to gain on a long first down play, it will be hard to dig yourselves out of the holes that those type of plays will leave you in.
Take what the defense will give you, move the ball down field consistently with high percentage flag football plays, do the little things right and use the big plays as a boost to your offense without relying on them for every score and you will be better off than 95% of the teams you face, regardless of athleticism.
Extra Points Can Make or Break You
One of the most underrated and often biggest areas of struggle for new quarterbacks and young teams is making plays inside the 5 yard line. Your flag football playbook is limited, the defense will be playing close to the line of scrimmage with no threat of getting beat deep and you will have to make accurate throws to guys who will probably not be wide open. So many games come down to only a 1 or 2 point difference and extra points are extremely important in putting yourself in a good position to win, and keeping the pressure on the other team to keep up.
I would start with 1 or 2 very good goal line plays that you can get comfortable with and work well with your team and focus on executing them to perfection, making only small changes to the routes to keep the defense guessing. Once you have a go-to flag football play ready, you can start working on other plays that work vs. man or zone or with different personnel packages, etc. Do not underestimate the importance of winning the extra point battle.
Putting it All Together
There is a lot more that goes into making and executing a successful game plan than one might think, but each step is extremely important in making you as versatile and effective on the field as possible. If you can master everything from having the right flag football playbook, using your players effectively to their strengths, recognizing the defense and their adjustments, thinking one step ahead, using deception to confuse the defense and executing properly, you should be able to compete with just about anyone out there regardless of pure athleticism and skill. If you’re new to the sport, focus on one area at a time starting with Part 1: Gameplanning and slowly implement the different skills needed to improve your team.
Please let me know in the comments below if you have any additions, suggestions or comments and how these strategies have helped your team!
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
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