Is there a good, accessible book on advanced football strategy?
October 11, 2014 2:36 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for a book that will explain all the offensive and defensive positions, as well as the relative merit of the various formations, routes, etc. Not necessarily looking for something directed at coaches.
Ideally, this would be a well-designed, pretty book with diagrams. Something I wouldn't mind leaving on my coffee table. I'd like to be able to better understand what I'm watching when I watch football.
Recently I was watching a college football game with a friend, and he mentioned when one team changed defensive schemes from 3-3-5 to 3-4, something I would never be able to catch in real time.
I watch a lot of football, so while I'm sure some of it is experience, some of it is he certainly knows where to look and what to look for.
Does what I'm looking for exist as a book, YouTube series, etc?
Ideally, this would be a well-designed, pretty book with diagrams. Something I wouldn't mind leaving on my coffee table. I'd like to be able to better understand what I'm watching when I watch football.
Recently I was watching a college football game with a friend, and he mentioned when one team changed defensive schemes from 3-3-5 to 3-4, something I would never be able to catch in real time.
I watch a lot of football, so while I'm sure some of it is experience, some of it is he certainly knows where to look and what to look for.
Does what I'm looking for exist as a book, YouTube series, etc?
Don't know if there's a good book on this stuff, but you could do much, much worse than Football Outsiders' Intelligent Analysis section for getting an in-depth look at some of the stuff going on on the field. They do pro ball, but it's all the same stuff.
posted by bfranklin at 2:48 PM on October 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by bfranklin at 2:48 PM on October 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Chris Brown writes for Grantland, and has a book of greatest hits.
Gus Malzahn, now at Auburn, wrote the book on the hurry-up no-huddle.
John Madden wrote some books a few decades ago, but I don't know if they've been updated since. (See "One Knee is Two Feet")
posted by Huffy Puffy at 3:11 PM on October 11, 2014
Gus Malzahn, now at Auburn, wrote the book on the hurry-up no-huddle.
John Madden wrote some books a few decades ago, but I don't know if they've been updated since. (See "One Knee is Two Feet")
posted by Huffy Puffy at 3:11 PM on October 11, 2014
the relative merit of the various formations, routes, etc., has not yet been empirically determined and is still open for vigorous discussion.
from the nfl coaches' side, one of the most influential books in the last few years was "football clock management". considering how frequently football coaches mismanage the clock, it may be more important than books about blocking and tackling.
posted by bruce at 3:51 PM on October 11, 2014
from the nfl coaches' side, one of the most influential books in the last few years was "football clock management". considering how frequently football coaches mismanage the clock, it may be more important than books about blocking and tackling.
posted by bruce at 3:51 PM on October 11, 2014
You can also get a lot of this from the Madden/NCAA video games. If you play as a team that runs the 3-3-5, you get used to what that looks like.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:03 PM on October 11, 2014
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:03 PM on October 11, 2014
Response by poster: I've played plenty of Madden--for some reason this hasn't happened to me. I can pick out offensive formations pretty well, but defensive formations still seem pretty opaque to me.
posted by Precision at 4:05 PM on October 11, 2014
posted by Precision at 4:05 PM on October 11, 2014
I don't notice these things in real time either, but the difference between 4 down linemen and 3 standing linebackers (the 4-3) verus 3 down linemen and 4 standing linebackers (the 3-4) is pretty obvious when you look. So, you aren't looking.
With 11 men on a side, the 3-4-something must be 3-4-4, no?
If you Google "books that explain football", you get suggestions like this:http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Understanding-Football/dp/0028617436
Go on down to tour local bookshop and glance through a few.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:54 PM on October 11, 2014
With 11 men on a side, the 3-4-something must be 3-4-4, no?
If you Google "books that explain football", you get suggestions like this:http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Understanding-Football/dp/0028617436
Go on down to tour local bookshop and glance through a few.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:54 PM on October 11, 2014
Response by poster: How about picking out the difference between a 3-4 and a 3-3-5? Also, the way that linebackers/linemen shift, I really don't think it's as obvious as you make it out to be when a game is happening at speed.
This is only about my sixth year or so watching football, so maybe some of it will come with time, but I still think there's some places I'm just "not looking".
I googled and found "Take Your Eye Off The Ball", which seems like the book I'm looking for in theory--not sure if it's well-known or not but I'll check it out.
posted by Precision at 5:06 PM on October 11, 2014
This is only about my sixth year or so watching football, so maybe some of it will come with time, but I still think there's some places I'm just "not looking".
I googled and found "Take Your Eye Off The Ball", which seems like the book I'm looking for in theory--not sure if it's well-known or not but I'll check it out.
posted by Precision at 5:06 PM on October 11, 2014
It's usually easier to see the defensive formation in college ball. In the NFL, the linebackers move around enough that you can't often see 3 guys lined up a couple of steps behind the defensive line. Also, a lot of teams have hybrid DE/LB types and change fronts with most of the same personnel.
The rise of spread offenses has also cut way down on the use of base (4 DB) defenses. Teams spend most of their time in at least nickel coverage anyway.
In a 3-3-5, usually the linebackers are stacked right behind the linemen. There are also 2 hybrid safety/linebackers on the outside, but that's harder to see because they might be covering somebody. If the linebackers are staggered, and there are 2 deep safeties, it's more likely to be either a 3-4 or some type of nickel coverage.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:17 PM on October 11, 2014
The rise of spread offenses has also cut way down on the use of base (4 DB) defenses. Teams spend most of their time in at least nickel coverage anyway.
In a 3-3-5, usually the linebackers are stacked right behind the linemen. There are also 2 hybrid safety/linebackers on the outside, but that's harder to see because they might be covering somebody. If the linebackers are staggered, and there are 2 deep safeties, it's more likely to be either a 3-4 or some type of nickel coverage.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:17 PM on October 11, 2014
How about picking out the difference between a 3-4 and a 3-3-5?
Count the down linemen -- the guys that literally put their hands on the ground before the snap. Most everything else can be inferred starting with that.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:32 PM on October 11, 2014
Count the down linemen -- the guys that literally put their hands on the ground before the snap. Most everything else can be inferred starting with that.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:32 PM on October 11, 2014
Response by poster: Both of those formations have 3 down linemen...
posted by Precision at 7:50 PM on October 11, 2014
posted by Precision at 7:50 PM on October 11, 2014
Chris Brown's book "The Essential Smart Football" (amazon) sounds like it might be exactly what you're looking for. For example, there's an entire chapter on the 3-3-5, why it was created, and how it's different from a 3-4.
posted by eisenkr at 9:41 PM on October 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by eisenkr at 9:41 PM on October 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Yeah, sounds like I need to pick that one up. Thanks!
posted by Precision at 10:01 PM on October 11, 2014
posted by Precision at 10:01 PM on October 11, 2014
Both of those formations have 3 down linemen...
One of them will have a fourth guy standing at the end that won't. :-)
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:09 PM on October 11, 2014
One of them will have a fourth guy standing at the end that won't. :-)
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:09 PM on October 11, 2014
Response by poster: Right, I mean I know the difference between the two, I'm just saying in practice when teams shift and the offense is in motion before the snap it can be hard to pick out the difference sometimes.
posted by Precision at 10:10 PM on October 11, 2014
posted by Precision at 10:10 PM on October 11, 2014
you might be interested in the new thinking man's guide to football by dr. z.
here is what sports illustrated had to say about the book recently :
posted by nadawi at 7:25 AM on October 12, 2014
here is what sports illustrated had to say about the book recently :
Zimmerman's classic tome, "The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football," was first published in 1970 when there was no internet, no coach's tape available to the general public, and very little in the way of national football analysis as you see it today. He based his expertise on his time as an offensive lineman for Stanford and Columbia University, and started his journalistic endeavors for various East Coast newspapers before landing at the Post in 1966. He put out a new version of the book in 1984, and nobody had come close to the book's comprehensiveness in the ensuing decade-and-a-half.(as a side note, as a fan of the game, you might also be interested in the dr z post i made recently)
posted by nadawi at 7:25 AM on October 12, 2014
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posted by Precision at 2:37 PM on October 11, 2014