Flag football drills at home for 16 year olds

At a glance

At 16

59 flag football drills the app opens for a 16 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 50 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 75 minutes for a 16 year old.

How often

At most 5 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 16 hours for a 16 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: cones (37 of the 59 drills), flag football (32), flag belts (11), agility ladder or chalk lines (1), chair or fence (1), colored cones (1), laundry basket (1), tape (1). 2 drills need nothing but space. 40 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

Safe at home

One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

59 at-home drills

Flag football drills for 16 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for a 16 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

catching

Catching

• Bad Ball CatchesAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Catch, Tuck and Turn UpfieldAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Over-the-Shoulder CatchAges 11 and up · 12 min

evasion

Evasion

• Stutter and GoAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Hand-Off and RunAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Zigzag Cone RunAges 7 and up · 8 min

flag pulling

Flag Pulling

• Pull Left, Pull RightAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Pursuit AnglesAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Eyes on the HipsAges 7 and up · 8 min

route running

Route Running

• Timing Routes With a PasserAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Cone Path Follow the LeaderAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Hitch: Stop and TurnAges 7 and up · 8 min

speed & agility

Speed & Agility

• Cone Reaction DrillAges 11 and up · 10 min
• L-Drill FootworkAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Ladder In and OutAges 11 and up · 10 min

A 50-minute session

A home flag football session for a 16 year old

A warm-up, 3 drills and a cool-down, 50 minutes in all. Do it up to 5 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Flag Football Warm-Up, Ages 14 and UpA 12-minute moving warm-up for flag football players 14 and up: moving stretches, strength, single-leg control, cuts and build-up runs, then flag football moves at practice speed.12 min
2. 2Pinkies Together Low CatchLow ball, pinkies together.8 min
3. 3Over-the-Shoulder CatchHead turns, hands follow.12 min
4. 4Catch, Tuck and Turn UpfieldCatch, tuck, then turn.10 min
5. 5Flag Football Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 14 and UpA 8-minute cool-down for flag football players 14 and up after training: stretches for the legs, hips, inner thighs and shoulders, each held 20 to 30 seconds, never to pain.8 min

At 16

What changes in flag football training at 16

The app opens the same 59 at-home drills at 16 as at 15; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 16 hours for a 16 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting flag football into a week at 16

At 16 the limit is 16 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 5 sessions of 50 minutes is 4.17 hours, which leaves 11.83 for team practice and games. Even 5 days at the app's longest, 75 minutes, is 6.25 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 13 to 15 are the "specializing years", after the sampling years of 6 to 12.

  Côté and Vierimaa 2014

• Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.

  NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers