Draw flag football plays with your AI assistant

Copy out, bring your play back

1. Open Describe your play, choose design, defend or improve and your format, then describe the situation. You can paste a coaching question from an online discussion. Include any league rules that affect the answer.
2. Choose Copy & open ChatGPT or Copy & open Claude. Paste the prepared prompt into the chat. You can also copy it for another AI.
3. Your assistant explains the problem and suggests adjustments with player responsibilities and tradeoffs. Answer any follow-up questions, then copy the complete ReadyRef play code it returns for the diagrams.
4. Return to Bring your play back and paste the code. Preview the drawing and rule checks, then add it to your playbook. The import is undoable.

Keep the full coaching explanation in your AI chat; diagrams store short notes and player cues. Defensive instructions such as waiting for a runner to commit are coaching cues, and the simulation may only approximate them. Nothing is generated by a paid AI service on ReadyRef's side. Drawing and checking the pasted code happen in your browser. If the code needs fixing, Copy correction for your AI gives your assistant the details to repair it.

Optional: connect for direct draft links

If you prefer your assistant to call ReadyRef directly and return a draft link, use our free MCP connector instead.

The connector is optional. No ReadyRef key or account needed.

Things to ask

Say the format, the formation, what each player runs and the defense. The more you say, the less the assistant has to guess. It tells you anything it had to change.

• How can we defend a 5v5 direct snap to a WR, then a backward pitch to an RB who can run or throw? We contain the RB near a sideline. Explain two adjustments, what each gives up, and which league rules you need before drawing the defense.Copy
• Improve our 5v5 play against man coverage: two wide receivers run deep and the center runs a short out, but the center is always covered. Suggest simple adjustments and draw the options.Copy
• 5v5, trips right. Z runs a corner, Y a flat, X a dig. Against a rush 3-1 zone, third and 8. Make me a ReadyRef draft.Copy
• Show me how a 7v7 smash concept beats cover 2, then the same play against cover 1 man, as two plays in one draft.Copy
• Draw a 5v5 rush 2-2 zone defense against a bunch left formation, with the rusher starting 7 yards off the ball.Copy
• Give me three easy 5v5 plays for 8-year-olds: one quick pass, one screen, one deep shot. Keep every route simple.Copy
• We're on the 5 yard line, inside the no-run zone. Draw a 5v5 pass play that gets a receiver open in the back of the end zone.Copy

What you get back

With copy and paste, your assistant returns a short explanation and a ReadyRef play code block. Bring the code back to preview the drawing, adjustments and rule checks. Add it to your playbook to watch it run, edit it, print it or save it to ReadyRef.

With the optional connector, the assistant returns a link like readyref.app/draft/…. The draft page shows each play as a sheet your players can read, and runs it against the defense when you tap Watch it run. From there:

• Save to ReadyRef puts the play in your own playbook in the ReadyRef app (sign in, or make a free account). The saved copy is yours and stays after the draft link expires.
• Edit in Play Maker opens the plays in the free play maker, after your own plays, so you can move players, print wristband cards or run Analyze play. It never replaces your playbook.
• How this was checked lists every rules check and what the simulation found.

Draft links last seven days and are unlisted: they aren't shown anywhere on ReadyRef or in search engines, so only people you send the link to will see the play.

How the play is checked

ReadyRef doesn't use AI on its side. Your assistant writes the play; ReadyRef's own code draws it, checks it and runs it, the same code as the play maker. It reports three separate things:

• Does it fit? Code errors block the import and can be copied back to your AI for repair. Adjustments, such as fitting a route onto the field or shortening a callout, appear in the preview for you to accept. With the connector, the assistant must fix them or explicitly accept them.
• The rules. 5v5 and 7v7 plays are checked against the IFAF 2023 rules: lining up behind the line, one player in motion and not toward the goal, the quarterback not running past the line, rushers starting 7 yards back, and the no-run zones. Each check comes back pass, fail or "check this", with the rule number. A play that fails is still made, with the fail shown up front, because house rules differ. For 6v6, every check says to look at your league's rulebook.
• The simulation. The play runs against its defense (or ReadyRef's library defenses) at youth, rec and competitive levels, from both sides of the field, both as drawn and with the quarterback free to throw to the open receiver.

Not checked: contact, screening and shielding, flag guarding, timing (including the 7-second pass clock), the snap, handoff rules, what the defense does after the snap, and pass interference. The simulation is a rough guide to spacing and timing. It doesn't know your players, and doing well in it doesn't make a play legal or good.

Frequently asked questions

Does it cost anything?

ReadyRef's transfer and connector options are free and need no ReadyRef account. Your assistant does the writing on your own plan, subject to its limits. Pasted play code is drawn and checked in your browser; the connector creates a stored draft link.

Which assistants does it work with?

The copy-and-paste option works with ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant that can follow the supplied play instructions and return JSON text. No connector is needed. The optional direct-link flow needs an MCP-capable assistant; tools using HTTP actions can use the OpenAPI description.

How long does the link last?

Connector draft links last seven days. Tap Save to ReadyRef on the draft page to keep a copy. Copy-and-paste play code has no expiry, and plays you add use the play maker's normal browser autosave.

Does opening a draft change my playbook?

No. Opening the link only shows the play. Edit in Play Maker adds the draft's plays after your own (and you can undo it); it never replaces your playbook.

Is the play legal?

ReadyRef checks the parts of the IFAF 2023 rules a drawing can show, such as where players line up, motion, rushers and the no-run zones, and lists anything that fails. It can't see contact, flag guarding, timing or pass interference. For 6v6, every check says to look at your league's rulebook.

What does ReadyRef keep?

For copy and paste, your request type, question, league rules and code stay in this browser tab's session storage, and plays you add use the play maker's normal browser autosave. Only what you paste into your assistant is sent to that assistant. For the optional connector, ReadyRef stores the play, the assistant's name and a scrambled session key used for rate limits, deleted after seven days. No name, email or account is stored with a draft. See the privacy policy.

Can I share a draft with my team?

Yes, anyone with the link can watch the play and save their own copy. To share a whole playbook that lasts, save the plays first and use a team playbook in the ReadyRef app.

Something looks wrong on a draft.

Use the Report form on the draft page, or contact us.