7-on-7 football emphasizes the development of hand-eye coordination, defending, and catching.
7-on-7 football has become a popular sport. Many middle and high school football coaches encourage players to sign up for summer leagues.
We’ve all heard about flag football and 7-on-7 is a little like that, but the rules differ quite a bit, too. How so?
Courtesy: TexasHSFootball
First of all, athletes are not in pads; they’re in shorts and jerseys, just like flag football–except in 7-on-7 play athletes don’t wear flags. Stoppage of play comes by way of a one-hand touch.
And in 7-on-7 football, everyone on offense goes out for a pass. That means if a running back is set behind the quarterback, the back will also need to go out for a pass. With that in mind, coaches work a lot on pass routes, pass-catching, and quarterback execution.
As for the field of play, its shortened to 50 yards with a cone placed in the middle of the field. When a team gets the ball, it starts on the 5-yard line. The offense has four downs to make it across the cone. If successful, that’s registered as a first down. The offense then has another set of four downs to score a TD. If the offense doesn’t make it either time, the ball switches to the other team.
The quarterback is never rushed in 7-on 7 football and has only 4 seconds to release the ball. A penalty is called if it takes more than four seconds to release the ball.
Read other rules of the game here: RulesandScoring Rules specific to Texas (from the Texas 7-0n-7 Association) can be found here.
7-on-7 football is good practice for a quarterback, receivers, and corners. The game emphasizes the development of hand-and-eye coordination, defending, and catching. A quarterback’s accuracy will improve and his or her arm will get stronger.
There are a few drawbacks to the game, too. Quarterbacks never experience what it’s like to be rushed, and they don’t learn how to scramble when the pocket collapses. Quarterback and receivers will never experience getting hit and–very importantly–getting used to being hit.
All in all, though, I think there are more positives than negatives to 7-on-7 football. It offers kids some skills that can be transferred to tackle ball.
