Practice.

How do you get the stupid onside kick?  >:(

As in recover it ? We have 2 kids drill the kid the ball is going too and the others go for the ball....we have seperated the ball from the player several times. Not a perfect science but after the first time kid gets drilled he remembers and is looking at the ball and the guys running at him. Of course the kick is never consistent as to where it goes....

As in recover it ? We have 2 kids drill the kid the ball is going too and the others go for the ball....we have seperated the ball from the player several times. Not a perfect science but after the first time kid gets drilled he remembers and is looking at the ball and the guys running at him. Of course the kick is never consistent as to where it goes....

isn't this illegal now?

Something frequently overlooked is your kickers practicing their onside kick.  It is an art.  Whether it's just a crazy wild kick or a typical bouncy onside.  Either way the kicking angle is weird and must be repped.

My kickers work on this before every practice while we are throwing to other kids.

We don't rep it at all and get a ton of them!

I think the #1 thing is to have the right kids attacking the football on an onsides kick.

No necessarily your best athletes but the ones that will all out sacrifice body and limb to get the ball.  It helps to be fast, but our fastest and best athletes are usually not the ones willing to do whatever it takes to get the ball.

We just do the regular kick the top stripe of the ball hard and let it bounce around.  We have had some beauties this year where the ball makes its second bounce right before it reaches the line of the opposing team and gets high in the air.

The trick to not getting flagged is go after the ball itself, not the kids fielding the ball.

As in recover it ? We have 2 kids drill the kid the ball is going too and the others go for the ball....we have seperated the ball from the player several times. Not a perfect science but after the first time kid gets drilled he remembers and is looking at the ball and the guys running at him. Of course the kick is never consistent as to where it goes....

isn't this illegal now?

Not in any code I've heard of, and I've heard of a lot!  (I've heard of one that just doesn't allow the kicking team to come away with the ball, but obviously that's not in consider'n here.)  What would make you think it was?  No different from causing a fumble on any down, is it?

It helps if the other team is as dumb as those in our club and has their front row players toeing their restraining line.  (Sadly, so do the players on mine.  HC Miguel won't let me move them back!  I tell him it's like playing with your infield in in baseball.  It's not like they need to charge a bunt!)

isn't this illegal now?

No. They did change the rules so you have to have 4 players on each side of the kicker and can't be more than 5 yards back of the kicker. So no more loading 8 guys to a side and getting a 15 yard running start.

I think the rule being referred to is that you can't go hit the receiving team until the ball is "live".  Meaning, you can't send your players ahead of the ball to hit the guy before it goes 10 yards.

The original post was a bit unclear so it could have been interpreted that he was trying to knock the guy away from the ball before it got there.

No. They did change the rules so you have to have 4 players on each side of the kicker and can't be more than 5 yards back of the kicker. So no more loading 8 guys to a side and getting a 15 yard running start.

Actually you can have 6 to one side and 4 on the other. This is how we attack the onside kick. We have one player attack the opposing players at the 50 yard line and two each going for the ball. We get lots of onside kicks this way.

Actually you can have 6 to one side and 4 on the other. This is how we attack the onside kick. We have one player attack the opposing players at the 50 yard line and two each going for the ball. We get lots of onside kicks this way.

I think you misunderstood his point.  He meant you have to have at least 4 on each side of the kicker, so 6 to one side and 4 to the other is as far as you can go - it used to be that you could put all 10 other players to one side of the kicker.  Also, the new rule is that it is illegal to hit any players on the receiving team until the ball has gone at least 10 yards or the receiving team has touched the ball, so your strategy to "attack the opposing players at the 50 yard line" while other players go after the ball is probably no longer legal.

I think the rule being referred to is that you can't go hit the receiving team until the ball is "live".  Meaning, you can't send your players ahead of the ball to hit the guy before it goes 10 yards.

The original post was a bit unclear so it could have been interpreted that he was trying to knock the guy away from the ball before it got there.

^^^                ^^^
This is correct. The receiving team has to have a fair chance to field the ball. I had a referee tell me that the exception to the rule is if a kid from the front line crosses the line he can be considered fair game because he's making a play for the ball.

The receiving team has to have a fair chance to field the ball. I had a referee tell me that the exception to the rule is if a kid from the front line crosses the line he can be considered fair game because he's making a play for the ball.

I don't think that's an official exception in the major codes.  However, I would instruct my players if that happens when they're on the kicking team to let the opponent touch the ball 1st, because that's your best hope of recovery when that's where the ball is.  If you succeed in blocking him out from playing the ball, there might be a chance for the ball to make it across team R's restraining line, but usually if you can get to the opponent that soon, the ball's not going to make it across the line anyway, and you'll have lost your chance to benefit from an opponent's mistake.

I don't think that's an official exception in the major codes.  However, I would instruct my players if that happens when they're on the kicking team to let the opponent touch the ball 1st, because that's your best hope of recovery when that's where the ball is.  If you succeed in blocking him out from playing the ball, there might be a chance for the ball to make it across team R's restraining line, but usually if you can get to the opponent that soon, the ball's not going to make it across the line anyway, and you'll have lost your chance to benefit from an opponent's mistake.

I know. I am pretty sure that was just that referee's view on how he'd call it. I instructed my kids to do what you mentioned because of it not being a live ball until it crossed the line or if they touched it first. I simply instructed them to "engage" the player to destroy the block.

How do you get the stupid onside kick?  >:(

There are a lot of great clips on instruction on you tube.