Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 4 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Getting Started with Flag Football 5 Chapter 1: Introducing Flag Football 7 Discovering What Flag Football Is -- and Isn''t 8 Understanding What Makes Flag Football Great 9 Seeing who''s playing flag football: A sport for everyone 10 Starting young and growing with the game 11 Tracking flag football''s history 12 World Cups 13 Perusing Various Levels of Play 13 Flag football in the NFL 14 International competitions 15 The road to the Olympics (LA 2028) 16 Chapter 2: The Wear and Where of Flag Football 17 Where: The Field 17 Playing surface 18 Field dimensions 18 The marks on the field 19 Yard Lines 21 Out of bounds 22 Other marks 22 Down indicator 22 7-yard chain 23 Team areas 23 Wear: Uniforms 23 The jersey 23 Pants 24 Cleats 24 Flags 25 Mouthpiece 25 What is not permitted 26 The Ball 26 Chapter 3: The Who and How of the Game 29 Looking at Who''s Involved in Flag Football 29 Coaches: The beating heart of a team 30 Managers: The team''s backbone 35 Athletic trainers: Keeping players in top shape 35 Referees and officials: The guardians of fair play 35 The players: The stars of the game 37 The Big Picture: How the Game Is Played 40 Chapter 4: Regarding the Rules 41 Remembering the Golden Rule of Flag Football 41 Noting the Ins and Outs of the Game Clock 42 Checking Out the Coin Toss 43 Getting the Gist of Downs and Yards 44 Scoring Points 45 Touchdowns 45 Extra points: One or two points 46 Safeties 46 Recognizing the Roles of the Officials 46 The referee 47 The field judge 48 The down and side judges 48 Other official responsibilities 48 Familiarizing yourself with the referees'' signals 49 Penalties and other violations 52 Part 2: Offense 55 Chapter 5: The Quarterback 57 Understanding the Role of the Offense 57 The Quarterback: More Than Just a Strong Throwing Arm 59 Qualities of a Successful Quarterback: From Mentality to Precision 60 Arm strength and release 61 Accuracy (and timing) 61 Positive leadership 61 Competitiveness 61 Intelligence 62 Strategy 62 Emotional intelligence 62 Agility 62 Vision 63 Mastering the Fundamentals 63 Stance: Balance starts here 63 Quick feet 64 Dropping back 64 Getting a good grip 64 Power comes from the hips 65 Three keys to a great throw: Timing, accuracy, ball positioning 65 Reading the Defense 66 The pre-snap read 66 7-second rule 67 Coverages 68 Reading in the red zone 75 Chapter 6: The Passing Game 77 The Anatomy of a Playmaker: Wide Receiver Essentials 78 Speed and endurance 78 Hands 78 Field awareness 78 Competitiveness 79 Consistency 79 Timing 79 Wide Receivers 79 Lining up 79 Stance 80 Release 80 Motions 80 Center 80 Stance and snap 80 Quick release 81 Field vision and awareness 81 Route Tree 81 Compound Routes 83 Catching the Ball 84 Eyes on the ball 84 Hands ready 85 Body positioning 85 Finishing the play 85 Beating man-to-man coverage 86 Gaining yards after catch 86 Quick feet 87 Hips and dips 87 Field awareness 87 No contact or blocking 87 Thinking Smart: Mastering Game Situations 88 Chapter 7: The Running Game 89 When Is a Running Play Used? 90 Who Can Run the Ball? 91 Lining Up: Hand-offs and Reverses 92 Variations on Running Formations 93 The Basic Skills for Running the Ball 95 Receiving the hand-off 96 Running at top speed 97 Seeing the field 97 Being agile 97 Evading the clean flag pull 97 Part 3: Defense 99 Chapter 8: The Linebacker 101 Looking at What the Linebacker Does 102 Filling a hybrid role 102 Playing downfield and backfield 103 Seeing Where the Linebacker Is Positioned 105 Considering the Core Traits of a Dominant Linebacker 106 Quickness 106 Vision 107 Instinct 107 Communication 107 Stance 108 Reading the offense 108 Chapter 9: The Blitzer 111 Reviewing a Blitzer''s Role and Responsibilities 111 Understanding the Core Traits of a Dominant Blitzer 114 Speed 114 Reaction 114 Body control 115 Lining up 115 Stance 116 Studying Blitzer Maneuvers 118 Reading hand-offs 118 Defending a crowded backfield 120 When the blitzer has to cover 121 Chapter 10: The Secondary 123 Reviewing Core Traits of the Secondary Players 124 Speed and quickness 124 Vision 124 Hands 124 Body control (noncontact) and reaction 125 Flag pulling 125 Understanding the Game Situation 126 Knowing the down and distance 126 Forcing them to stay in bounds 127 Adjusting according to the situation 127 Cornerbacks 127 What the cornerback does 128 Positioning and alignment 129 Free Safety 130 What the free safety does 131 Positioning and alignment 131 Avoiding Common Mistakes 133 Part 4: Building Skills: Key Drills and Plays 135 Chapter 11: Practicing Drills by Position 137 Quarterbacks 138 Accuracy drills 139 Throwing on the go 140 Evading the blitzer 140 Wide Receivers and Centers 142 Catching the ball 142 Running routes 142 Agility and footwork 143 Running Backs 143 Acceleration and explosiveness 144 Footwork and agility 144 Hip agility and fluidity 145 Cornerbacks and Free Safeties 146 Defensive footwork 147 Attacking the ball 147 Pulling flags 148 Linebackers 149 Reacting 149 Pulling flags 150 Blitzers 150 Drill 1: Sprint and redirect flag pull 151 Drill 2: Forward blitz, backward drop 151 Chapter 12: Getting into Flag Football Shape 153 Understanding the X Factor of Flag Football 154 Conditioning by Position 154 Wide receivers, cornerbacks, linebackers, and safeties 155 Quarterbacks 158 Blitzers 163 Crossing Over: Multi-Sport Advantage 165 Chapter 13: Offensive Plays and Strategies 167 Using Strategy to Play to a Team''s Strengths 168 Defining the Goals of an Effective Offense 168 1 Consistency 169 2 Efficiency 169 3 Adaptability 169 4 Game control 169 5 Drive 169 Mastering Offensive Formations 170 Spread 170 Trips 171 Bunch 172 Beating a Defense 173 Beating man-to-man coverage: Cover 1 173 Beating zone coverage 177 Double QB 189 Nailing One- and Two-Point Conversions 191 Chapter 14: Defensive Plays and Strategies 193 Defining the Goals for Effective Defense Formations 193 Mastering Defensive Formations 195 Game situation 195 Field position 196 Time management 196 Providing Defensive Coverage 196 Man versus zone coverages 197 Man-to-man coverage 197 Cover 2 198 Cover 3 199 Cover 4 201 Cover 31 202 Building the Wall: Core Elements of an Unstoppable Defense 203 Playing Mind Games: Outsmarting the Offense 204 Part 5: From Youth Leagues to the International Stage. 205 Chapter 15: One Sport, Many Styles 207 Exploring Varieties of the Game 207 5-on-5 208 7-on-7 208 Beach 209 Coed (or mixed) 209 Introducing NFL FLAG Football 210 Finding where it''s played 211 Understanding the rules 211 Looking at its international intention 212 Chapter 16: Homing in on High School and College Flag Football 213 Becoming a Sanctioned High School Sport in the United States 214 Exploring Flag Football in College 214 Mexico 215 United States 216 Reviewing the Rules 220 Chapter 17: Investigating IFAF International Competitions 223 Citing Continental Championships 224 The Americas 224 Europe 225 Asia 225 Africa 225 Whirling through World Cups 226 Reviewing World Rankings 228 Chapter 18: Diving into The World Games. 229 Exploring The World Games History 229 Comparing The World Games to the IFAF World Championships 231 Chapter 19: Becoming an Olympic Sport: LA 2028 233 Dreaming the Dream: From Grassroots to Olympic Bid 233 Identifying the Power Players: IFAF and NFL''s Global Push 235 Getting on the Road to LA: How Teams Will Qualify 235 Exploring What This Means for the Sport 236 Part 6: the Part of Tens 237 Chapter 20: Ten Essential Skills to Get Started 239 Listening and Learning 239 Being a Good Teammate 240 Having the Courage to Try (and Try Again) 240 Being Agile 240 Being Fast (If Not the Fastest) 241 Maintaining Coordination and Balance 241 Building Endurance 241 Staying Positive, Even When.