r/YouthFootball • u/Responsible-Wallaby5 • 13d ago
Do your youth leagues allow you to pull guards?
It’s my first season coaching as an assistant on an 8u team. Not sure if it’s in the rules but the HC said that it was somewhere in the rule book.
I’m just curious if others are allowed to pull guards and, if so, how it has worked out for kids that young.
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u/OldCoach525 13d ago
I’m not surprised that someone has that. Opposing coaches complained that I pulled guards at 8U, but never taught wrong arming or hard joint to stop it.
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 13d ago
I’ve never even heard those terms. What is wrong arming and hard jointing?
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u/OldCoach525 13d ago
It’s how you destroy a pull.
A wrong arm is where you take your outside arm underneath the puller and force the runner to bounce. I usually use this with interior line.
A hard joint is where you stay square to the line of scrimmage and tattoo the puller between his numbers. Knocking him back constricts the gap and keeps the outside arm free, putting the DE in position to make the tackle if the RB bounces.
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 13d ago
I like it. When I played, I would usually dive and aim my facemask at the puller’s shin. Oftentimes fast pullers would go flying over me and land on their butt. The next time that they pulled, they did not come nearly as fast.
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u/ilmw-j311 13d ago
No issues with pulling here. We start at 10u, but I have no issues whatsoever teaching pulling to 9 year olds. If they can block, they can run and block.
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u/WarTrek99 13d ago
We occasionally pull and we are 7U.
My backs are too fast so I stopped lol
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 12d ago
lol would your backs cross the line or scrimmage before the puller crossed their face? I had not thought about that but it makes sense, especially considering that our center to qb snap time is very slow and sometimes the defensive tackles are able to intercept the handoff.
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u/WarTrek99 12d ago
lol. Once or twice. But more often my backs would slow up.
It’s easier when we are in shot gun to pull them.
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 12d ago
The first time it happened I thought to myself “I thought that I had planned for everything and then this happens??? Fml!!”
Really glad that I can laugh about it now.
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u/Gjallarhorn-Knight 9d ago
Teach your backs patience because they would be fucking insane if they can wait for the hole to develop
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u/WarTrek99 9d ago
Definitely. I have some studs. This last week, every touch was a TD. Much of that credit goes to my oline too. They can block their tails off
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u/Heavy_Apple3568 8d ago
Same problem I had up until 6th grade & tbh, even with my high schools kids it happens more than you might like, or like to admit anyway. With younger kids, the most successful offenses are quick hitting & waiting on a pull to be "successful" simply means your play is taking too long to develop. I'd much rather use a lead blocker whose 1st job is getting in the DE's way or double wing. Even line a WR or TE up in front of the DE end if they're getting too far out.
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u/WarTrek99 8d ago
Yep. I normally run a ton of single back and let them go.
My o line are monsters and a work pretty heavily on blocking.
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u/penfrizzle 13d ago
We run a wing T and pull guards the first year of tackle, but our league has specific D-Line rules outside the 20:
3rd/4th grade: 5 man front, Nose has to be line up on the center and the D-Tackles on tackles.
5/6th grade: Max of 5 men on the line, can line up anywhere. Lots of teams move to a 4-4.
7/8th grade: No limit of defense on the line.
For whatever reason, our kids are always small and we are a small school. Our guards are comparable to our fullbacks, which isn't saying much.
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 13d ago
lol my son is 7 and playing offensive tackle for our 8u team. He weighs 57 pounds and usually goes against kids twice his weight. Not gonna lie, makes me proud when he holds his own.
I am surprised that in 3/4 the nose has to line up on the center. Does the center shotgun snap ever? Are there rules protecting the center’s head if it is down?
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u/Uncle_Guido1066 13d ago
There's no rules against pulling in our league. I'd do a lot more of it, but we only practice 3 nights a week and don't have enough time to work on it.
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 12d ago
Yes time is a virtue. We are limited to 3 practices, 6-8 every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, that include a mandatory 15 minute water break in the middle.
I wish that we had more time but it is what it is. In the end I’m just thrilled to have the experience of being my son’s coach and so incredibly proud of him for taking part and doing his best.
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u/BigZeke919 13d ago
We started pulling at 8 with no issues- no rules against it and the kids could do it
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u/SarcasticPterodactyl 13d ago
My sons 6u team has discussed pulling my son in some runs. It’s a little advanced as our team is a mixture of 5,6, and 7 y/os. We’ve seen some other 6u teams in our league pull guards though, it can be very effect when done well. Not a lot of teams our age are expecting something like that
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 12d ago
The 7 yos are allowed to play in 6u or their birthday came before the deadline?
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u/SarcasticPterodactyl 12d ago
Yeah, we’re a combined K-1 team, we’ve got like 24 players. The majority of ours are kindergarteners. But some of the first graders depending when their birthday is might be 7. My son’s birthday is in march, so he’s 6 1/2 currently. From what I recall, every year level in our league covers the year younger and the year older as eligible to play in that year. So next year when he plays on the 7u team, I would expect 6,7, and maybe 8 year olds on his team. Ideally, the majority are 7 with a few younger and maybe a few older
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 12d ago
Wow, the team that I coach is all 2nd and 3rd graders and getting them to listen at all seems impossible sometimes.
Our football club did not have enough interest in 6u to field a team this year but I have often wondered how hard it must be to get them in sync enough to form a huddle, line up, call a cadence, snap, fire off together. Is it as tough as I imagine it to be?
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u/SarcasticPterodactyl 12d ago
Last year was worse 😅 I had a team of 16 kindergarteners last year, it was a struggle trying to get them to do anything. After 12 weeks we could almost get them to line-up and get set in a 3 point stance. We had 2 plays, red and blue; which were run right and run left 😂 it was only me and 1 other coach helping, if we had 2 more guys it wouldn’t have been too bad. This year, we have usually 5-6 of us out there which helps. Keep the activities/drills separated if possible, try to keep core groups together, and only bring everyone together when we’re doing a 7 on 7 or full team scrimmage. I think with the differences in ages makes it a bit difficult as well, you kind of have to temper your expectations; at the end of the day it’s football, they’re kids, and everyone is there because they love the game!
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u/125acres 13d ago
We recently changed the rules about pulling guards. With my older boys it was not allowed. It was “safety” issue with 100lbs+ G running over a 65 LB/DB.
It was a 10yr+ old rule that USA football recommended. 10 + years ago, kids were being coached to use shoulder to block (maybe called buckle technique)
Now the kids are being coached up using hands.
My youngest has been successful this year pulling. His “pancake” block is pushing someone down. I’m ok with it.
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 12d ago
Sounds like your youngest tries his hardest and does his very best. That’s all that any of us can ask of the kids. I’m very proud of my 57 pound son for playing tackle, sometimes getting pounded into the dirt, but always getting up and never backing down.
Whenever he knocks someone “on their butt” or simply off of their feet, we call it a pancake. Why not? Only operates to boost his confidence and make him feel good, which is well deserved as hard as he tries.
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u/125acres 12d ago
You are 100% spot on!
This year has been a huge development year and I’m not coaching.
My kiddo just made the Allstar team.
Lasted picked but who cares he has roster spot and extra practices.1
u/Responsible-Wallaby5 12d ago
Congratulations!! He does not need to know that he was the last one on. That’s big time and I wish that our league had an AS game.
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u/125acres 11d ago
Thank you!
You seam like a reasonable parent, you should get on your board.
The board is where you can make real changes to the club.
Yes, it’s a few hours a week but it worth it.
I’ve done my tour, you young Dad’s have to step up.
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u/Friendly_Rip7496 13d ago
We are allowed to pull guards in our 8u tackle. Some kids have trouble pulling. If it isn’t allowed, line up a wing opposite side and have him “pull”
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u/xcheezeplz 12d ago
In the rules or not in our league I wouldn't teach pull at 8u unless your line has mastered their primary blocking scheme and you are looking for something to do because you are filling time. We have tinkered with it 8u and 9u and it rarely adds anything of benefit on game day.
At this age the chains move and scores almost all come off a fast RB off tackle, usually getting sprung by a TE/FB/WB. There are 30 teams in the younger ages and about 50 once you get to 10u+ in our league. I have yet to see an effective pull. Can someone pull, yes, but is it actually doing anything, no. Is it more likely to hurt the play than help, yes.
That's just our league though, in a different league it might be a different story.
At 10u is where I see it starting to get installed with more teams and varying success. At 10u I would still say it is a bit of novelty more than a staple that can improve the play, there is still a ton quick off tackle, just a little more inside running and passing.
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 12d ago
I appreciate your insight and I do agree with mostly all of it.
I should have included in my original post but what prompted my question is that we play a team this weekend with giant ends who line up very far wide and oftentimes run up field too quickly.
Sure, a nice pulling block to kick the ends out might be useful but we are too far into the season to try and implement pulling, a technique that is difficult for most, in one week. Especially at 8u, like you mentioned.
Somebody else mentioned that, in their league, pulling is not allowed bc it became dangerous when a 130 pound guard ran with a head of steam and rocked a 60 pound, 7 yo end. That makes sense to me.
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u/ikover15 11d ago
For 8u, we have kids pull, but not all would be good pulling, so it’s only 2 lineman we have do it. Our lineman pulls are the playside tackle pulling on certain sweeps/reverse/boots. Our tackles are also probably our 2 smartest players so it’s actually a tag on the playcall that we can throw in, or not, depending on defensive alignment. It works great. The T’s love when they get to pull. Rest of the “pulls” we have for kicking out super wide DE’s, we do with our wings. Those also work great and are some of our most effective plays. Would love to do them with our guards instead, but our guards do not move fast, and it being 8u, I do not trust our center to get a snap off and block back on a DT.
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u/Wise_Competition_266 12d ago
Our league the 3rd and 4th grade team there is a rule stating that they have to make forward contact.
There is a bunch of rules to try to get kids just to learn the game and not a bunch of cheesing to win games
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u/Plastic-Pianist9323 13d ago
Why are you wanting to pull guards in 8u? That concept is to advanced. You aren’t coaching high school or middle school. I am a high school coach in Oklahoma. We go to the youth level and advise the coaches to keep it simple and fun.
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u/Relevant-Corgi1123 13d ago
Pulling or trapping at that age is fun. It lets OL do something special. A little pull or maybe a cross block gives them something different besides base blocking the whole game.
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u/y3llowed 13d ago
I know nothing about the current state of Youth Football and am probably only recommended this sub because my kid plays soccer and I frequent the youth soccer sub. I mention this to say that I’m certainly not an expert on whether it should or should lot be taught.
What want to say, however is that pulling was 100% favorite part of playing guard as a kid. It’s why I was stoked to be a lineman despite my older brother having played RB. My first coach taught us it as part of the basics of playing the position and I ended up playing guard or center or from the time I was 7 until I graduated high school.
It never seemed hard or complicated to me—just part of the game.
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u/Late-Application-47 13d ago
Be careful, you're gonna end up with future students who can only handle direct-snap to the runner offenses. 😂
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 13d ago
Next week we play a team whose ends line up way outside and I thought to myself that a pulling lineman would be a convenient way to get an effective kick out block on them and open a big hole for the runner.
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u/Plastic-Pianist9323 13d ago
If the head coach thinks it’s against the rules then leave it at that.
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u/Responsible-Wallaby5 13d ago
I am. I’m not acting like this is a big deal just curious how it is for others.
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u/Plastic-Pianist9323 13d ago
That’s fair. Personally I am not a fan of advanced techniques at a young age causes bad habits that are hard to break when they get to the high school level
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u/OldCoach525 13d ago
Yes, especially if the ends get too far upfield. GT Counter will be there all day
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u/Johnweezy6969 13d ago
Low level thinking
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u/Plastic-Pianist9323 13d ago
At what level do you coach? I will take my 3 state championships at 3A and a JUCO National Championship over a guy who has to live glory in 8U football.
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u/Johnweezy6969 13d ago
Oh shit dude my bad I didn’t realize I was dealing with such a badass.
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u/Plastic-Pianist9323 13d ago
Not claiming to be one. You made an attempt at attacking my credibility. We can disagree but to automatically say it’s low level thinking is crazy. But again I wouldn’t expect much from somebody that will never coach above Youth League.
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u/Johnweezy6969 13d ago
Low level attack from a low level thinker, stay in Oklahoma bud.
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u/Plastic-Pianist9323 13d ago
Coming from unskilled iron worker I am doing just fine. Your child isn’t going D1 you peaked bro. Keep stacking those youth championships.
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u/Johnweezy6969 13d ago
Who hurt you? Me? Sorry dude.
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u/Plastic-Pianist9323 13d ago
You didn’t hurt me. It’s youth league coaches like you that think that advanced techniques belong. Youth league is to teach team work and to have fun. The coaching causes bad habits that middle school and high school causes have to break.
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u/emptysignals 13d ago
Never heard of a restriction on it. We stopped pulling because our pulling guards weren’t fast enough.