American football · Takeaways & ball skills
Fumble recovery: scoop or cover
Players learn when to scoop a loose ball on the run and when to fall on it and cover it up.
Start / 5
- Time
- 10 min
- Players
- 2–14
- Age
- U9+
- Area
- 40 × 30 yd, soft grass
- Equipment
- 4 footballs6 cones
Setup
- Use soft, even grass. Two lines of players 20 yards from the coach.
- Put two cones near one landing area to stand for traffic (other players).
- Check your league's rules: in some junior and flag leagues a dropped ball is dead and cannot be advanced.
How it runs
- The coach rolls a ball along the ground and calls a player's name. Only that player goes.
- Open space (no cones near the ball): scoop it on the run and finish past the end cone.
- Traffic (ball near the cones): drop to the side and cover it up.
- Jog the ball back to the coach. Alternate lines; three scoops and three covers each.
Coaching points
- Scoop: get low early, bend the knees, not just the back.
- Scoop: run alongside the ball and take it with two hands, pinkies together, scooping through it.
- Scoop: tuck it high and tight straight away, then run.
- Cover: go down on the side, not head-first, and pull the ball into the belly.
- Cover: curl around it, knees up, both arms wrapped over the ball.
- Shout 'Ball!' so team-mates know it is loose.
Common mistakes
- Trying to pick up a bouncing ball in traffic and knocking it further away.
- Diving head-first at the ball.
- Bending from the waist and overrunning the ball.
- Landing on top of the ball with the chest instead of wrapping it in.
Say it: “Open space, scoop it. Traffic, cover it.”
Make it harder
- The coach rolls the ball late or bounces it, so the player must adjust.
- Coach shows one or two fingers as the player arrives: one is scoop, two is cover.
- Start from a backpedal before reacting to the ball.
Make it easier
- Ball placed still on the ground.
- Walk the cover on a mat or soft grass first.
- Scoop only, at a jog.
Pairs well with
Reviewed by the Sportdify coaching team.