Practice Guidelines
Tools for Coaches & Youth Football Organizations
Before game day, there’s practice, and USA Football’s Practice Guidelines help coaches and youth football organizations run safer, more structured practices—For You. For The Game.
Introduce athletes to practice gradually, building intensity and equipment over time to reduce heat-related risk. Prioritize hydration, rest, and safe conditions to protect athletes early in the season.
Coaches and youth football organizations must clearly understand what “full contact” means so it can be properly managed in practice. Limiting unnecessary exposure helps reduce injury risk while still teaching the game the right way.
Control how often and how long full contact occurs during the preseason and season. Structured limits help athletes develop fundamentals while reducing repeated exposure to contact.
Use Levels of Contact® when assigning drills to control intensity and teaching outcomes. This approach builds confidence, improves technique, and keeps players safer throughout practice.
Remove drills that create unnecessary collisions without improving skill development. Focus on drills that teach technique, decision-making, and game-like execution.
Encourage players to initiate movement from a two-point stance to promote safer positioning and better skill development. This approach supports proper mechanics across multiple levels of play.
From practice to game day, USA Football’s Youth Play Recommendations help coaches and youth football organizations create safer, more structured athlete development to support Football For All®.
1
Age-Based Training
Match practice frequency and duration to athlete development, gradually increasing the workload over time.
2
Prohibit High-Risk Drills
Remove drills that create unnecessary collisions and focus on technique, timing, and decision-making.
3
Offense & Defense Stance
Start players in a two-point stance on both sides of the ball to reduce head impact and teach proper movement.
4
Control Positioning
Use proper stance at the line of scrimmage to control player positioning and limit head contact without sacrificing performance.
5
No Back-to-Back Contact
Avoid full-contact practices on consecutive days, whether in the offseason or during the season, to allow for proper recovery.
6
Limit Games Per Week
Schedule no more than one full-contact game or scrimmage per week to manage athlete workload.
7
Preseason Contact Limits
Limit preseason full-contact time to controlled periods to build fundamentals and reduce early exposure.
8
In-Season Contact Limits
Reduce weekly full-contact time during the season to protect athletes as game exposure increases.
What thought leaders say about USA Football's Youth Football Practice Guidelines and Play Recommendations.
Enroll your organization to unlock more tools and resources or complete a USA Football Coach Course.