Some of the best Defense Drills for Youth Football are ones that challenge the youth football player to attack the ball carrier aggressively without fear of contact to make the tackle. Below are 50 proven Defensive Drills. I have used them all as a player and as a coach. As many coaches say, football is just blocking and tackling so for Defense Drills for youth football should focus on tackling for young football players ages 5U to 12U. They also say Defense wins games so do not spend all your time with the Offense. Young players love to play Defense and hate to block. Win more games focused on Defense.
Too many coaches do not teach defensive fundamentals. Defense Drills for youth football is a controlled way to communicate, demonstrate, implement and execute key defensive fundamentals for you players to learn. Scrimmaging does not teach them the proper fundamentals. Fundamentals need to be taught during drill time and perfected with many reps then scrimmage and games.
defensive ends, d backs, lineman, linebackers and tackling drills
Defense Drills for Youth Football
- Stance & Alignment Drills
- Formation Alignment Walk thru Drills
- Fit & Form Drilling
- Hug and Hold Drills
- Grab Cloth Drill
- Shoulder Roll Tackle Drills
- Tackle on Pad Drill
- Angle Tackle Drill
- Helmet to Helmet Drill
- Oklahoma Drill
- Tee Time Goal Line Drill
- Football Strip Drill
- DE & LB Contain Pod
- Texas Swing Drill
- CB Man Coverage Drill
- 7 on 7 Coverage Drills
- Linebacker Read Drills
- Sprint Tackling Drill
- Monkey Rolls
- Rip / Swing / Hands Drills
- Fight for the Ball Drill
- Pursuit Drill
- Leverage Drill
- 2 vs 1 Drill
- Shed Blocker Drill
- Pass Defense Drills
- 4 Bag Shuffle Drill
- Zone Coverage Drills
- Formation Shift Drills
- Open Field Tackling Drills
- Tackle Wheel Pod
- Tip Ball Interception Drill
- Hot Pursuit Conditioning Drill
- Call the Hole Drill
- Board Drill
- Half Line Drill
- Stay Low Drill
- Break Down Form Tackle Drill
- Hustle to the Fumble Drill
- Pass Rush Drill
- Bingo Break Drill
- LB Reaction Drill
- LB / OLB Shuck Drill
- Cut Block Shed Drill
- 5 Bag Score Tackling Mirror Drill
- Tackle Gauntlet
- Sideline Tackle Drill
- Squash Tackle Ball
- Tackle Baseball Drill
- Bear Crawl Submarine DLM Drill
- Linebacker Open Window Fill / Lead Block Shed
- Game Simulation
What is your favorite youth football drill for Defense? Did Yours make my list? If not please share your favorite Defensive youth football drill.
For more on Defense Drills for Youth Football head over to Coach Parker’s blog post on Defensive Tackling Drills.
If you have any questions, please contact me or leave a comment below.