Flag-pull angles

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American football drill · Under-7 and up

In flag football the tackle is a flag pull, and most missed ones are missed by the feet rather than the hands. The defender takes an angle that keeps the runner off the inside, breaks down a few yards away, and arrives at the near hip under control. This is the drill that teaches it, before anybody is chasing in a game.

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Time
10 minutes
Players
2 at a time from two lines: a ball carrier and a defender
Equipment
  • 6 cones for a channel 10 yards wide and 15 long
  • 1 ball per pair
  • A flag belt for every player

Setup

  1. Mark a channel 10 yards wide and 15 yards long with cones.
  2. Ball carriers line up at one end, slightly to one side of the middle, with a ball and their flags on.
  3. Defenders line up at the other end, 15 yards away, offset to the opposite side.
  4. On the whistle the carrier jogs forward, then cuts for the sideline. The defender takes the angle and pulls a flag.
  5. The defender holds the flag up for the coach to see, hands it back, and both join the other line.

Coaching points

  • Take the angle inside-out, so the runner can only go to the sideline. A defender who comes straight at the ball gets cut back on.
  • Break down three yards away: short choppy steps, knees bent, weight on the balls of the feet.
  • Eyes on the belt, not the ball or the head. The hips go where the runner goes; the shoulders lie.
  • Pull at the near hip with the hand nearest the flag, rip it away, and hold it up so everybody knows the play is dead.

On the run sheet: Inside-out angle, break down three yards away, eyes on the belt, rip the flag at the near hip and hold it up

Progressions

  1. Start at walking pace, then jogging, then live.
  2. Let the carrier choose which way to cut, so the defender has to read the hips.
  3. Narrow the defender's head start, or widen the channel to 15 yards so the angle matters more.

How it runs

The ball carrier starts jogging up the channel and then cuts for the sideline. The defender does not chase the ball. They come forward on an angle from the inside, so the only space left for the runner is the sideline, and a few yards short of the runner they sit down into short, choppy steps. That is the moment most young defenders skip, and it is why they overrun the play. The animation ends with the defender arriving at the runner's near hip, inside and slightly in front, which is exactly where the flag comes off.

This drill assumes standard flag rules: no tackling, no pushing, no holding, only the ball carrier's flags may be pulled, and the carrier may not guard their flags with a hand or an arm. Say that out loud the first time you run it, because the habits start here.

Why it works

A flag pull is a tackle with the contact taken out, and everything else about tackling is still true: angle, body control and eyes. The narrow channel makes the angle the whole point, because a defender who takes a bad one is beaten in two strides and can see it. And holding the flag up at the end is not decoration. It is the habit that stops a play being argued about on Saturday.

The mistakes to watch for

Running flat out all the way to the runner, which ends in a lunge and a miss. Watching the ball, which a runner uses to sell a fake. And grabbing at the runner's shirt or arm, which is a penalty in every flag rule set and the reason this drill starts at walking pace.

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