Blocking punts isn't really that difficult as long as you understand three things about doing it:

1) Overload the blocking.

2) Defend against the fake.

3) Get it done!

This sounds kind of strange, but it's the most basic aspect of special teams at the youth level. It's an axiom: youth punt blocking is considerably better than youth punting.

In the Gap-8, we overload the blocking by our alignment in the gaps. Despite the foot to foot splits that most punt teams utilize, a player in the gap has the potential to not only penetrate between the blockers, but they also have the ability to confuse the blocking, and at worst, tie up two blockers for every one of our defenders.

The corners are the punt blockers in this formation. This is a slightly different alignment for the Gap-8 than is normal. They have no pass coverage responsibilities, and must be the fastest players on your team.

Notice the paths to the offensive backfield taken by the Strong and Weak linebackers. The linebackers are generally the best athletes you have in the Gap-8, and their responsibility is to cover the tight ends in bump and run coverage. In the case of a punt, the object is for the linebackers to strike the tight end and drive him to the outside, in fact, while the tight end is trying to block him, the linebacker should be blocking the tight end.

Since the linebackers are generally your best athletes and the opposing tight ends are generally weaker players, you should have a talent advantage that is significant enough to allow the linebackers to wedge open a hole for the corners to streak through.

This is a chain reaction for the offensive line's blocking. Punt team players are taught to block the inside gap and let everything outside them go past. If the tackle forgets this conditioning and tries to pick up the corner, the defensive tackle will penetrate. If the guard tries to block him, then the defensive guards (named "Power Tackle" and "Strong Tackle" in my version of the Gap-8) will be free.

Generally, one of your corners should be free to charge the punter. In the case of the 1999 Lions, both corners were usually free.

This is an advantage for you. There is still one blocker to worry about once you cross the offensive line: the personal protector. This player is usually of fullback caliber, which means he's one of the top athletes on the opposing roster. Your corners, being picked solely for speed in this case, will probably not be the physical match of the personal protector.

The beauty is that they don't need to be. As you line up against the opposing punt team, the personal protector will be on one side or the other of the center. If he's properly coached, he will step to the inside, dead center of the formation, after the snap passes him, and scan rapidly back and forth looking for leakage.

The rule for blocking punts with this formation is: first man in blocks the blocker. What this means is that the first corner to cross the line of scrimmage heads for the personal protector's back pocket. This puts him on an angle that appears to threaten the punt, and the personal protector should react by stepping up to block him. This is what we want, because it clears the path for the other corner to get to the punt blocking location: about two yards in front of the punter.

The corner should aim for that point at an angle that will take him across the punter's kick, without running into him. Carefully coach your players that the object is to block the punt, and not to tackle the punter. He must lay out if necessary to make the block.

Some punt formations use spread ends. Contrary to normal Gap-8 alignment rules, the linebackers will cover the spread ends, bumping them at the line of scrimmage. The corners will align directly behind the defensive ends, in a "stacked" position, and the ends, also contrary to Gap-8 responsibilities, will crash, rather than box.

We are gambling at this point. If the punter tries to throw a pass, eight of eleven players will be rushing him at flank speed. I recommend assigning one defensive guard to shadow the personal protector on every punt, in case the ball is snapped to him on a running fake.

If the punt actually gets off, your free safety is going to be on an island all by himself. Train him to catch the ball in the air, and to properly signal for a fair catch if the punting team is too close to him. I require two distinct hand waves, and discuss it periodically throughout the season.