Universal Blocking Schemes

One of the main blocks I have used over my 20+ years of coaching youth football has been the Double Team block. It is a very effective block to use at all age levels. It is also a very easy block to teach the players. There are many different times to use a double team which include

• Bringing extra “power” to the area you are running
• Helping out against a dominant defender
• Exposing a weaker defender
• Helping a hurting teammate

Let me go over each of these in a little more detail. There will be times during a game where you really want to open the hole. The best way to accomplish this is to send more blockers than defenders to that area. The double team may come from two linemen, a lineman and a running back or possibly a slot and a lineman. A properly designed play bringing extra blockers can almost assure a few extra yards on that play.

The second situation for a double team is when your opponent has a dominant defender that one blocker cannot handle. I will send a double or even a triple team if I need to control a dominant defender. I always have a scouting report so we have a heads up on this situation and we prepare accordingly.

The third area of double team is when I notice an extremely weak defender of our opponent. If you attack a major weakness, early in the game, with extreme power you should be able to dominate that area with one defender throughout the rest of the day. The theory here is to set the tone early and scare the opponent keeping them off balance on what we are going to do to them next.

The fourth reason for using a double team block is to help an ailing teammate. If we have a lineman who is sick or hurt, we can use double team blocking to help him out. We want to make sure he does not feel abandoned during his time of need so we adjust to help him out.

These are just a few of the areas we will use the double team block when coaching youth football.

I will start by explaining one of the more popular blocking schemes used in youth football. Every play you decide to run will only be as successful as the blocking assignments. You need to make sure players know whom they need to block. This will change based on many different factors including

• Offensive formation
• Offense scheme running
• Running or passing play
• Defensive alignment
• Scouting report
• Your talent
• Opponents talent

These are a few of the major considerations when developing the proper blocking schemes to use. You will also need a simple way of teaching the blocking assignments, especially if you are coaching a very young team.

The Gap On Man blocking assignment attempts to be a set of rules a lineman can follow for all plays. This is not possible, but it can be used for a general run-blocking scheme.

The rule states that every lineman will base his decision of the rules on where the center is. The rules tell the lineman to block the first opponent that fulfills a rule. Below is the more specific description if you are a guard:

• GAP – if there is a defender lined up in the GAP (area between the center and the guard), that is who you block
• ON - if there is no defender in the GAP, but a defender is lined up right on you, that is who you block.
• MAN – If there is no defender in the GAP or lined up ON you then you block the 1st MAN (defender) in front of you. This is usually a linebacker.

It is a simple scheme and teaches the players responsibility as well as trust. They need to work as a team and trust their teammates will be blocking the right defenders.

I do believe that every player that puts on a helmet and shoulder pads can learn how to block. They may not be able to perform every type of block, but they can perform at least the very basic blocks. Every player can be taught how to help on a double team block. The only players I have seen who could not block were the players who did not try. This is not all that unusual at the younger age levels since many of these kids are forced to play by their parents. I have had more than one conversation with parents asking them why football? I explain that basketball is a contact sport while football is a collision sport. There has never been one valid reason I have heard in over 20 years of coaching youth football that justifies making a child play football when the child does not want to play this sport. That is what soccer is for. Let your kid run their rear-ends off with no fear of getting hurt.

Anyway, off my soapbox, all willing kids can be taught to block. The best part of teaching blocking at the youth football level is that technique and brains are most important. How strong or powerful the block is does not matter until the high school level. At the non-select level of play, blocking is running interference. On many plays, all you need is for the offensive line to get in the way of the defenders just long enough for your back to get going. The faster your back is, the shorter time your line needs to run interference (block).

If you do your job as a coach, you will teach the proper blocking techniques and give the players the proper schemes to succeed.

There is an old saying that football is all about blocking and tackling. This is true of youth football coaching as well as the NFL. No matter how complicated or tricky your offensive schemes may be, if there are no blockers it will not succeed. There is that one exception, in youth football, and that is the team that has the God-given greased lightning speed running back. At the very young age levels, a very fast back does not need much blocking. Just pitch him the ball and watch him go. Since this is the exception, and not the norm we will abide by the old saying above. As the players get older and smarter you can use schemes to harness that speed, but when the kids are young, it is next to impossible.

The old debate comes up every year on whether or not the players should be taught to block using their hands or old school with their hands at their own chest and elbows out. My opinion is let your player try it both way. As long as you teach the proper stance, they the technique used by the players will be a personal preference. The younger kids really seem to like the old school elbows out method. I think it is better from them since it is harder for a defender to get around them and it prevents the blockers from holding. I actually teach the kids to hold their own jersey when sticking their elbow out.

When the kids block using their hands it is important to teach them not to grab anything. I prefer to teach this block as a punch block and make the players form a fist. When the players are driving into the defender, they will be tempted to hold if the defender gets away from them. By having your players form a fist, it will prevent the automatic reaction, which is to hold or grab jersey.