We call this training drill – “THUNDER BALL”. It’s like a good old fashion game of touch football but with a little twist. It’s almost like half court basketball because we try to run the game very quickly and don’t give the boys any rest in between plays. It’s fast paced and the boys love it.
THUNDER BALL
This is how we do it:
We use half the field and split that field in half again and that is where you need to pass in order to get a first down.
One team punts the ball to the other team and the game begins.
As soon as the receiving team is touched that is where they begin their first offense series of 4 downs.
Once they pass the mid-field marker they get another set of 4 downs until they score or fail.
At that point they turn it over to the other team and they try to go the other direction for a score.
It’s kind of like a 7 on 7 drill with no huddle.
The key is at the end of every play you, as the coach, get them reloaded as quickly as possible then all you do is cheer them on from the sidelines. The plays and the quarterbacks are determined by the respective teams and anyone can be the QB. It’s that simple.
We use this to identify leaders as well as uncover some hidden talents of our boys; we also see how good they can perform under pressure and make quick decisions.
We do this at the end of practice for some conditioning and a way to break-up the seriousness and focus that we ask our players to commit to during our regular practice.
The boys really seem to enjoy it. This is especially fun for the younger little league teams.
