Listen and Run
Coachability
Legend
- player
- coach / parent
- movement path
How it works
Practice listening to and immediately applying a coach's single instruction on the very next play.
What you need
- football
- cones
Your focus
Young players are often too eager to move that they don't absorb coaching feedback before acting. This drill creates a deliberate pause to receive and process one instruction. Repetition builds the habit of treating coach feedback as a tool rather than a disruption.
Run a simple running play in small-sided activity flag football; after each play, coach gives one specific instruction to the ball carrier.
Before the next snap, the player must repeat the instruction back to the coach out loud.
Run the next play; coach watches specifically for whether the player applied the feedback.
Celebrate when the player successfully applies the coaching, regardless of whether the play gained yards.
Helpful cues
- Repeat it back before you run it
- One change at a time, get that one right
- Good coaching makes you better, embrace it
Adjust the challenge
Make it easier
Strip it back
Use the same instruction for 3 plays in a row before changing it.
UpLVL it
Add the next challenge
Coach gives a two-part instruction ('juke right, then cut upfield') and players must execute both.No account needed
Build a practice plan
Add drills, keep the plan in this browser, then share a link with your staff or parents.This library helps you find the right drill. Inside UpLVL the right drill finds the player.
This library helps you find the right drill. Inside UpLVL the right drill finds the player.After every practice, UpLVL automatically surfaces the drills each player needs to work on most. See it for yourself.