How to Play Tag Football
Football, American style, is a challenging and exciting game that involves strategy and physical ability. Played at the professional, collegiate, high school and community levels, football requires a large playing surface and protective equipment. However, football can also be enjoyed at the recreational and semi-competitive level by adapting the game to "touch" or "tag," instead of tackle. Many of the same rules and concepts apply, with the additional ability to adjust the size of the playing surface and rules to match those participating in play.
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Things You'll Need
- Flat grass covered playing surface
- Football
- Two opposing teams with identifying shirts
- Field marking equipment (paint, survey tape, lime)
Instructions
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Determine the size of the playing surface. Take into consideration the age, size and ability of the players participating in the tag football game. Use plastic survey tape, field marking paint or powdered lime to outline the field for reference. Mark end zones, the mid-field line and other yardage marks along the length of the field as points of reference.
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Prepare to play the game. Choose two teams of equal number and similar abilities. The players should match up fairly well in order to have a competitive game. Teams should choose colors or other means of identifying one from the other. Determine whether the game will be one-hand or two-hand tag and have both sides agree on a time limit. Alternatively, instead of a specified amount of time, consider using a point total to determine the winner. The team to reach a specified number of points first would win.
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3
Choose a format for the game. There are numerous variations of tag or touch football used by different groups and organizations. You may decide that teams have a certain number of plays to reach a point on the field and make a first down. A first down would provide more opportunities to either score or make another first down. Another variation is a total number of attempts to reach the end zone. Both sides should completely agree on rules, penalties and other points of the game.
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Toss a coin to see who kicks off. Toss the coin by having a representative from both teams meet. A referee or third party will ask one person to call heads or tails in the air. The team winning the toss can either accept to have the ball first or defer and kick off, allowing the other team to have the ball first. The team kicking off will get the ball at the beginning of the second half of timed play.
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Begin the game by one team kicking off to the other team as determined by the coin toss. The ball should be kicked or thrown to the opposing team, who then runs it back until tagged.
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The team with the ball runs plays to advance the ball down the field. Depending on the rules being applied to the game, the ball may be either passed or run down the field in order to make first downs. Once again, depending on the rules, teams may have a number of tries to reach a point on the field for a first down and more tries, or have a certain number of total tries to score before turning the ball over to the other team.
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Score touchdowns by advancing the ball across the goal line and into the end zone. Following a touchdown, the scoring team will typically line up inside the 5-yard line and attempt to advance the ball once again into the end zone for an extra point. A touchdown will most commonly count as six points and an extra point as one for a total of seven possible points.
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Kick off (or throw the ball) to continue play. Following a touchdown, the teams will return to their ends of the field and the scoring team will kick or throw the ball off to the other team to continue play of the game.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Football image by Brian Garvey from Fotolia.com
