How to Play Better Football
Football players at every level of the sport should always strive to improve. Playing better football at the professional and collegiate levels equates to becoming more valuable as a player and thus earning more money. The players that are at the beginning levels of football do not have at their disposal all of the technology and training benefits that those at the collegiate and professional level have, but there are specific steps they can take to play better football.
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Instructions
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Get into football shape. Football is a rigorous contact sport, and players at the lower levels must work hard to be as fit as they can to perform well and to avoid injuries. The various positions on a football team require different skills and being able to perform up to the demands of a position requires dedication. For example, offensive and defensive linemen need to possess a combination of strength and stamina. Receivers and running backs need speed and coordination. Linebackers need to be able to shed blockers and make tackles, which requires strength and agility as well as stamina. Lifting weights, running, sprinting and agility drills can all be helpful in getting into the sort of physical form that it takes to play better football.
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Know what your responsibilities on the football field are as a player. There is a great mental aspect to the sport that cannot be overlooked when trying to play better football. Offensive players, no matter what position, need to learn the playbook and grasp where they are supposed to be on each play. Defensive players must know what their assignment is in every situation so that they can react quickly to what the offense is doing. At the lower levels of football, this particular skill--knowing where to be during a play--is as important as in the upper echelons of the game. To accomplish this, the playbook must be studied so that it becomes second nature.
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Listen to the coaches. To play better football, it is imperative to improve on weaknesses and to build on strengths. Players need to pay close attention to what their coaches are telling them so that they can realize what they are doing wrong and what they are doing right during the course of practices and games. Players should seek out help from their coaches and ask what they should be doing in specific situations if they are not sure or if they are having problems with particular plays.
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Watch videos of your plays, if available. Football is the one sport where coaches make use of game films more than any other. This is because there are so many things going on during the course of even one play that it is impossible to see what everyone is doing. Game films allow coaches and players to see what is being done right and what is being done incorrectly in specific situations so that players can learn from their mistakes and try to avoid repeating them. Film is available at the high school level for the vast majority of football programs.
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Practice specific skills. Each position on the team comes with a different skill set. Receivers need to have sure hands and be able to stay inbounds. Quarterbacks need to be accurate and develop chemistry with their receivers. Defensive secondary players need to be able to cover receivers without interfering with them. Receivers need to work on running precise pass patterns and catching the ball from their quarterback, with emphasis on technique. Linemen need to work as a unit so that everyone is on the same page.
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