It won’t be long before another football season is upon us, and coaches can get their players out on the practice field.

Through its National Practice Guidelines for Youth Tackle Football, USA Football is further redefining what constitutes a proper youth football practice by setting a daily full-contact limit of 30 minutes and identifying what full contact is.

Following the preseason acclimatization period, it is recommended that youth teams conduct no more than four practices per week – with a limit of no more than 30 minutes of full-contact drills on any given day. No two-a-day practices should ever be allowed.

Once the regular season begins, USA Football recommends the number of practices decrease to three to account for the weekly games. Full-contact drills are again limited to no more than 30 minutes per day.

“We recognize that preseason practices may require more full-contact time than practices occurring during the regular season to allow for the teaching of proper fundamentals with sufficient repetition,” USA Football Senior Director of Football Development Nick Inzerello said. “That’s why coaches are encouraged to introduce contact through a progressive manner to ensure they are using proper technique before full-contact drills are allowed.”

Along with limits on time and number of practices per week, USA Football’s guidelines also stress the importance of conducting all contact drills in close spaces, limiting the distance between players during drills.

USA Football’s youth practice guidelines offer leagues a clear, medically endorsed process to implement heat acclimatization procedures, clear definitions of contact and time limits on player-to-player contact to construct a proper practice plan. The guidelines were designed with input from USA Football’s Medical Advisory Committee and Football Advisory Committee and are endorsed by the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. They provide youth football organizations with recommendations to establish consistent methods designed to limit the chance for injury during structured practice sessions.

Every USA Football coach membership includes access to a Practice Planner tool that measures the amount of full contact within a practice. As coaches input drills and select the intensity level for each drill, a meter counts the time – turning red and issuing a warning if the count surpasses the limit of 30 minutes.

USA Football’s Levels of Contact focus on varying intensity levels throughout practices to build player confidence, ensure the safest possible environment and prevent both physical and mental exhaustion. Five intensity levels are used to introduce players to practice drills, which position them to master the fundamentals and increase skill development.

• Air. Players run a drill unopposed without contact.
• Bags. Drill is run against a bag or other soft-contact surface.
• Control. Drill is run at an assigned speed until the moment of contact. One player is designated by the coach ahead of time as the pre-determined winner. Contact remains above the waist and players stay on their feet.
• Thud. Drill is run at competitive speed through the moment of contact with no predetermined winner. Contact remains above the waist, players stay on their feet and a quick whistle ends the drill.
• Live Action. Drill is run in gamelike conditions and is the only time that players are taken to the ground.

***

Click here to read more stories about USA Football’s National Practice Guidelines for Youth Tackle Football.