7 on 7 is the rage in this area! Everybody is playing it for various reasons. A coaching friend of mine and I started the first Passing League around here in 1997… mostly to offer football players a chance to compete during the summer. We had to combat the other sports that were offering our players a chance to play— as opposed to just lifting and doing drills leading up to pre-season practice. Look what’s happened to 7 on 7 competitions in the last 20 years!
What I’m suggesting today, though, is 7 on “none!” This is for the installation and… review of your passing game. I got this idea from Bill Bilichick when Tom Brady was just getting established as the Patriots starter. It worked so well for us that we continued to do it till I retired in 2015.
This means that your receivers are running against “air.” There is nobody on the defensive side of the ball. The advantage is 2-fold:
1- you and your QB can realllllllllly see the routes unfold in front of you. At the same time, the receivers’ route discipline can easily be dissected. There is no one in front of them (on defense) who can hinder them running the route.
2- The number of reps you can get off in a 20 minute passing period is extremely high! We tried it this morning at the school where I’m consulting for the HC. He had enough people (including JV players) to run 4 full groups. He called a pass play for the 1st Varsity unit and the next 3 groups simply mirrored the pattern. The HC counted up the plays at the end of practice and he got off 52 pass plays in 20 minutes!!! Pretty impressive.
