Building blocks of X’s and O’s: The field of play

What are the different gaps in football? Field vs boundary? Why do these things matter tactically?

The other day I was trying to read some detailed X’s and O’s analysis of the NBA Finals matchup and realized I was missing some essential, basic knowledge to comprehend the language of tactics.

With one particular video I had to do some google searches on what “the nail” is on a basketball court. The nail was clearly an important part of the floor in basketball tactics but I had barely any idea of where it actually was or why it’s called “the nail.”

Football is a million times worse.

I recently had a comment on another post in our “Building blocks of X’s and O’s” series asking me if I could go over basics such as gaps. That struck me as a good idea but it stood out even more when I found myself in his shoes trying to Google basics of basketball tactics.

So today we’re going to do that. I’ll give an overview of particular areas of the football field (beyond the end zone) and why they are strategically important.