A step-by-step guide from a coach's film room
Telestrating film means drawing on the video to show what happened and why. Done well, one clip with two drawings teaches more than ten minutes of talking. Here's the process, step by step — the same one we built ProPlayVision around.
The most common mistake in film breakdown isn't a bad drawing. It's too many drawings. Every route, every defender and every block marked on one frame looks thorough and teaches nothing.
Pick one coaching point per clip. "The Mike has to fit the A-gap here." "Read the flat defender — if he sinks, throw the flat." Everything you draw should serve that one sentence.These steps work for game film, practice film or football video game footage.
Pick the rep that shows the coaching point clearly. A clean example of the right way often teaches better than the mistake.
Stop at the moment that matters — usually the snap, the mesh point, or the instant the read is made. That's where your first drawing goes.
Drawings should sit on the turf, not float on the glass. In ProPlayVision the 3D perspective engine tilts each tool to match the camera, and there's a pre-calibrated preset for Madden footage.
Show the offensive concept or defensive shell first: routes, blocking scheme, or coverage zones like hooks, curl-flats and deep thirds. Want to diagram it on a blank field first? Use a play diagram.
Spotlight or ring the one player the lesson is about. Lock it to him with player tracking so it follows him when you play the rep.
Add the read: a QB vision cone, a 1-2-3 progression, a leverage marker or a gap fit. This is the "why" of the clip.
Record a short voiceover. With Script Mode, each drawing appears right when you mention it, so the clip plays like a finished breakdown.
Present it live, trim it in the Cut Room editor, crop it to 9:16 for phones, or send it live to OBS for a stream.
| Draw this | ProPlayVision tools | |
|---|---|---|
| Run game fits | The gap each defender owns | A/B/C/D gap stamps, gap indicators, pressure |
| Pass protection | Who blocks whom, which way the line slides | OL block, slide protect, D count / O count |
| Route concepts | Each route and the stretch it creates | Routes (standard, alt, primary), motion, link chain |
| Coverage | Zone landmarks and man matchups | Zones (hooks, flats, curl-flats, deep), man, D vision |
| QB reads | Where the eyes go, in order | QB vision, 1-2-3 read chains, pass read stamps |
| Down & distance | The sticks and line of scrimmage | FD Zone (LOS & 1st down), down & distance stamp |
To telestrate is to draw over video — lines, arrows, circles and markers — to explain what's happening. The term comes from the telestrator used on TV sports broadcasts.
Any telestrator will let you draw basic shapes. For football, look for gap, route, coverage and read tools, plus perspective matching so drawings sit on the field. ProPlayVision runs in your browser with 84 football tools.
Yes — any football video you can load works, including phone footage from the sideline or press box.
Short. One coaching point per clip, usually 10 to 30 seconds, is easier for players to absorb than a long cut-up.
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