How to Get Yardage in Football

Defenders attempt to tackle ball-carriers before they gain any yardage.

Gaining yardage is the key to football success. Traditionally, football fields stretch 100 yards. Players do their best to avoid being tackled as they progress up the field. During each offensive series, the team with the ball has four chances to either gain 10 yards or score a touchdown. Every set of yardage gained is important not only to get closer to scoring points, but also to keep opponents from scoring against you. In football, various methods can be used to get yardage.

Instructions

1. Prepare a series of offensive plays before the game. This is often referred to as a playbook. Professional playbooks feature hundreds of plays for every type of situation. For youth leagues, a playbook will likely consist of about a dozen run plays and a dozen pass plays. Memorize the plays so that there is no confusion during the game regarding offensive assignments.

2. Select a play that is appropriate for the yardage you need to gain. If you are looking to make a large gain of more than 6 yards, a passing play will be most likely to accomplish this goal. If you just need to gain a few yards to reach a first down or the endzone, a running play can effectively gain the necessary yards. On first and second down, any play can be chosen because you have at least one more down to get the necessary yardage to prolong a drive.

3. Relay the play to all players on the field, making sure everybody is on the same page and knows what to do. Offensive linemen, who block for ball-carriers, are a huge factor in how much yardage is gained on a play. They must be aware of where to go and whom to block to spring a runner for a long gain.

4. Snap the ball and begin your play. Get the ball to the appropriate offensive player for the particular play.

5. Run the ball or have a teammate run the ball past the line of scrimmage. The line of scrimmage is the yard line at which the ball is snapped. Any yard gained past this line is considered positive yardage.

Tips & Warnings

• Yardage is also gained on kickoff and punt returns and by defensive players after a turnover.

• Defenders will not make it easy for you to gain yardage. The key to offensive success is not just overpowering defenders to gain yardage, but also outsmarting them with creative play-calling.

References

• Football Babble: Football Offense