How to Understand Football Playbooks
To understand a football playbook, you must be familiar with the positions for the offense and defense and the alignments of basic formations. A football playbook for the offense uses O's to designate the players on the field, where they should start and where they should end up on each play. The playbook often writes the player's position inside the O, such as QB for quarterback. A defensive playbook uses X's or geometric shapes that differ from those of the offense to show where the defenders should be.
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Instructions
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Identify whether the playbook you are trying to understand is for the offense or defense. A playbook for the offense will have passing and running plays. A defensive playbook will have formations such as blitz or attack packages in it.
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Look at the formations of the players in the play diagrams. The key to understanding the playbook is to first identify basic formations based on how the players line up. For example, if you see that the quarterback is directly behind the center and two running backs are behind him in a straight line, then you know that the offense is in an I-formation and probably will run the ball on the play. If you see space between the center and the quarterback and five receivers in the diagram, then you know the offense is in a spread formation and probably will throw the ball. On the defensive side of the ball, the playbook will tell each player what gap he is to attack. The gaps are the spaces between offensive players and will be numbered in the playbook. If you see a play where multiple players are attacking gaps near the line of scrimmage, you know the play is an attack or blitz play.
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Follow the progression of plays through different diagrams. Each offensive and defensive play may have several diagrams that build up in a progression. The number of progressions and diagrams depends on how basic or complex the play is. Memorize what the symbols in the playbook mean. Most playbooks have symbol charts in the front or back. Symbols can include run, pass or even block. A typical pass in a playbook will be a dotted line from the quarterback to the receiver he is trying to hit. In most instances a run is a straight or a squiggly line from the running back to where he is supposed to go. The line will often be drawn in a contrasting color such as red so that it is easy to see.
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Tips & Warnings
Sometimes the diagrams will have text accompanying them to describe the action.
Each coach has different vernacular, which can make each playbook unique and difficult to understand.
References
Resources
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