Managing Your Playbook

Learn how to organize, edit, and maintain your playbook as it grows.

Overview

As your playbook grows, organization becomes essential. Youth Coach Hub provides multiple ways to categorize, filter, edit, and manage plays for easy access during game week preparation and in-game situations.

Editing Plays

Making Changes

To modify an existing play:

  1. Find the play in your playbook
  2. Click to open it
  3. Click Edit
  4. Make your changes
  5. Click Save

Note: Editing a play updates it everywhere, including film tags that reference it.

Duplicating Plays

Creating Variations

To create variations of existing plays:

  1. Open the play you want to copy
  2. Click Duplicate
  3. Rename the play - The name will have "(Copy)" appended; update it to describe the variation (e.g., "22 Power Left" to "22 Power Right")
  4. Modify the diagram or attributes as needed
  5. Click Save Play

When to Duplicate

This is useful for:

  • Creating mirrored versions (left/right)
  • Adding motion variations
  • Building play-action off run plays
  • Creating situational variations (red zone, goal line)

Note: The duplicate gets a new play code automatically. All film tags stay with the original play.

Deleting Plays

Removing a Play

To remove a play:

  1. Open the play
  2. Click Delete or Archive
  3. Confirm the action

Warning: Deleted plays are permanently removed. Consider archiving instead if you might need it later.

Playbook Views

List View

The default view shows all plays in a list format:

  • Play code and name
  • Formation
  • Play type (run/pass)
  • Personnel grouping
  • Quick preview thumbnail

Grid View

A visual grid showing play diagram thumbnails:

  • Easier to scan visually
  • Good for play selection during games
  • Shows key details at a glance

Formation View

Groups plays by their base formation:

  • See all Shotgun plays together
  • View I-Formation packages
  • Quickly find formation-specific options

Filtering Plays

Use filters to narrow down your playbook:

By Play Type

  • Offense - All offensive plays
  • Defense - All defensive plays
  • Special Teams - Kicks, punts, returns

By Category

  • Run - Running plays
  • Pass - Passing plays
  • RPO - Run-pass options
  • Play Action - Play-action passes

By Formation

Filter to specific formations:

  • Shotgun
  • I-Formation
  • Singleback
  • Pistol
  • And others...

By Personnel

Filter by personnel grouping:

PersonnelMeaning
111 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR
121 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR
212 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR
222 RB, 2 TE, 1 WR
101 RB, 0 TE, 4 WR

By Tags

Filter by custom tags you've created:

  • Red Zone
  • 3rd & Short
  • 2-Minute
  • Goal Line
  • And your own tags...

Tagging System

Adding Tags to Plays

Tags help categorize plays by situation:

  1. Open a play
  2. Click Edit
  3. Add tags in the tags field
  4. Save the play

Suggested Tags

Consider tagging plays with:

Situational Tags:

  • Red Zone
  • Goal Line
  • 3rd & Short
  • 3rd & Long
  • 2-Minute
  • 4th Down

Game Plan Tags:

  • Week 1 Install
  • Opponent-Specific
  • Must-Run
  • Constraint Play

Personnel Tags:

  • Empty
  • Heavy
  • Spread
  • Jumbo

Using Tags for Game Planning

During game week:

  1. Create tags for the upcoming game
  2. Filter by those tags during the game
  3. Quickly access your game plan plays

Search Functionality

Quick Search

Use the search bar to find plays by:

  • Play name
  • Play code
  • Formation name
  • Concept name

Search Tips

  • Search "power" to find all Power plays
  • Search "trips" to find all Trips formations
  • Search "P-042" to find a specific play code

Organizing by Formation Family

Formation Groups

Group related formations together:

Shotgun Family:

  • Shotgun Spread
  • Shotgun Trips
  • Shotgun Empty
  • Shotgun Bunch

Under Center Family:

  • I-Formation
  • Split Backs
  • Pro Formation
  • Ace

Benefits

  • Faster play calling
  • Clearer installation plan
  • Easier scouting breakdown

Creating Play Packages

Concept-Based Packages

Group plays by concept:

Inside Zone Package:

  • IZ from Shotgun
  • IZ from Pistol
  • IZ with Motion
  • IZ RPO

Mesh Concept Package:

  • Mesh from Trips
  • Mesh from Empty
  • Mesh with Wheel
  • Mesh with Shot

Game Plan Packages

Create temporary packages for each game:

  1. Tag relevant plays with opponent name
  2. Filter by that tag during the game
  3. Remove tags after the game or archive

Archiving Plays

When to Archive

Archive plays that are:

  • No longer in your active scheme
  • Seasonal or opponent-specific
  • Experimental plays you're not using

How to Archive

  1. Open the play
  2. Click Archive
  3. The play moves to the archived section

Viewing Archived Plays

  1. Go to Playbook settings
  2. Toggle Show Archived
  3. Archived plays appear grayed out

Restoring Archived Plays

  1. Find the archived play
  2. Click Restore
  3. The play returns to active status

Playbook Size Recommendations

By Level

Youth/Little League:

  • Keep it simple: 10-15 core plays
  • Focus on execution over variety
  • Clear naming (Color + Number)

Middle School:

  • 20-30 plays
  • Introduce personnel groupings
  • Add situational categories

High School:

  • 40-60+ plays
  • Full personnel/formation variety
  • Detailed situational packages

Organization Strategy

  1. Core Plays - Your base 10-15 plays
  2. Complements - Plays that work off your core
  3. Situational - Red zone, short yardage, etc.
  4. Specials - Trick plays, rarely used

Sharing Plays with Staff

Coach Access

All coaches on your team can:

  • View all plays
  • Use plays for film tagging
  • Filter and search the playbook

Coaches with edit access can:

  • Create new plays
  • Modify existing plays
  • Archive plays

Playbook Consistency

Benefits of a shared playbook:

  • Everyone uses the same terminology
  • Film tagging is consistent
  • Analytics are meaningful

Printing and Exporting

Print Play Cards

Generate printable play cards:

  1. Select plays to print
  2. Click Print
  3. Choose format (cards, sheets)
  4. Print for wristbands or sideline use

Export Options

Export your playbook for:

  • Backup purposes
  • Sharing with other programs
  • Printing physical copies

Best Practices

Keep It Clean

  • Remove plays you don't use
  • Update outdated diagrams
  • Archive seasonal plays after the year

Review Regularly

  • Weekly: Add new installs
  • Monthly: Review organization
  • Yearly: Major cleanup and restructure

Use Analytics

Let performance guide organization:

  • Tag high-success plays as favorites
  • Archive low-performers
  • Build packages around what works

Next Steps

View Full User Guide