How to Use Practice Mode – Madden 24 Beginner’s Guide

It is hard to believe but Practice Mode acts as the Tutorial for Madden 24. Whilst it is not particularly friendly to newcomers, this Mode is a place where you can go over the gruelling process of learning each style of play, positioning and term that this American Football game has on offers. But if you are anything like me, you will have no idea what anything is aside from the basics in how Formation works. Practice Mode offers just that – a place to practice. If you are uncertain on how to score a field goal or what may be the best offensive and defensive plays to use, this Mode gives you the chance to iron out your playstyle and strategy. This is Vincent’s beginner’s guide on how to use Practice Mode in Madden 24.

Although each match works differently to one another due to the ever-changing pace of the game that results in different plays needing to be made, Practice Mode is at least an option in place to learn the fundamentals of the game. However, for beginners, Practice Mode can be incredibly complex to the point that you have no idea what is going on. For that reason, these is our guide in understanding everything that is available in Practice Mode for Madden 24.

Related: How to Do the 40 Yard Dash in Madden 24.

Practice Mode Guide: Understanding the Basics of Madden 24

Practice Type Guide – How to Play Each One

Immediately upon entering Practice Mode you are asked to select which type you wish to play – Normal, Offense Only or Kick Off. The purpose of these is to teach you how to either execute a successful play and get a feel of the primary gameplay through throw, catch and running with the ball. Normal is all about trying out offensive and defensive plays which are picked in between every play that you do or do not successfully execute by hitting a touchdown. Offense strips back the gameplay and focusses on coming up with the best strategy in your playstyle. Who do you want to pass the ball to? What Formation, Concept and Play Type works best for you and the team. Finally, Kick Off looks at how to score a field goal. Whilst field goals are unavailable here, you can practice how to kick the ball.

For those new to Madden, play is filtered by Formation, Concept, Play Type, and Personnel. Regardless of which Play you head into, your decision is final after selection from one of these filters and hitting confirm via one of the corresponding buttons for a specific play. After either being tackled or scoring a touchdown you can Choose New Play on the Menu Screen. If you want to practice your defence, select Flip Sides which will show you the same choices for filtering Play but this time you will be defending instead of going on the offence.

Learning the Fundamentals of Madden 24

For newcomers to Madden 24, you may find, like myself, that there is a lot of information in store for you to understand in the game. I will attempt to break it down for you on the most basic level on how each Play Type works in the game.

• Formation – is all about your players positioning on the pitch. Formation is divided into Plays that are specific to each Teams Playbook. If you are looking for a specific Formation, you can filter this further under one of the main Formation options such as Singleback, 3-4 or Hail Mary. These Plays focus on runs and passes, looking for specific players on the field that you should pass to and the specific Concept/Personnel being used. The Formation are part of the Team’s Playbook and therefore have set Plays in place that you can pick or specify further by adjusting the variation of the Formation you want to use.
• Concept – looks specifically at breaking the Play down into Runs, Options, and Passes (Quick, Medium, Deep, Play Action, or Screen). Rather than thinking about the larger picture on who you pass to which is determined by the long run your Receivers take to reach the touchdown line. It looks at the route Receiver(s) take before the QB throws the ball to initiate the Play.
• Play Type – divided into 5 categories of Pass, Run, Option, RPO, and Special. These offer more Plays that outline the Primary Receiver, Formation and Concept being used. They are more specific than Formation as there are really only one way that you can go when making the Play. This then makes it much more easier to read by your opposition. For this reason, Formation offers a much more versatile playstyle.
• Personnel – looks at how you match up your players on the field. Keep in mind that whilst it works similar to Formations, it can also highlight to opposition on which Receiver you are favoring. Each Personnel option can be filtered further by its Formation which also affects how many Plays it is used for so keep this in mind before you become too predictable on the field.

On a side note and part of your Formation Plays, Packages can be filtered by the right analog stick on console. This looks at which Position you can switch with another on the field. Each Formation has its own Package that is specific to the Play you are looking to make. Refer to the numbers on the Formation Chart to show which player will switch out with those involved in the Play. It is important to look at this when there are other and more viable options available for those better at catching, throwing or running as this can massively shift the pace of the game and go in your favor. Be mindful however of the in-game clock as Packages like these should be be regularly set.

How to See the Play on the Field

Things work a little differently in Practice Mode to an ordinary match. Every Play you choose will be used for the total number of times you have selected on the Play Menu. You can of course change this by hitting Choose New Play in the Menu Screen but you must remember that this is not usable in a standard PvE or PvP match. When you are ready to initiate the Play, hold the right bumper to see the route of each player, their name (for X-Factor Abilities) and where the flow of Play will go. You should look at this before you hike and throw the ball so that you have an idea in mind of who you want to pass to. This can also help remind you on which Play you have chosen. Holding right bumper and pointing up on the right analog stick will also tell you the specific X-Factors your superstar players have.

You can also see in these few crucial seconds before throwing the ball on who is injured on the field. You need to be aware of this at all times so that you do not lose crucial moments of Play due to passing the ball to an injured player.

You can adjust your Play but pressing the right analog stick. This will show you Audible, Hot Routes, Pass Protection, Play Art, and X-Factor Vision. The key info here is Audible and Hot Routes which allow you to make any adjustments to the Play. You can dictate where you want each Receiver to go via their Hot Route or adjust the main Play by altering the Formation under Audibles.

Basic Game Controls for Madden 24

Finally, a brief overview on how to actually play Madden 24 upon selecting your Play. If you are new to the game, the controls get rather confused very quickly. Just looking at the variety of Control Schemes available for each moment in a match is incredibly overwhelming. You have controls for: Ballcarrier, Passing, Preplay Offense, Preplay Defense, Ball in Air, Defensive Engaged, Defensive Pursuit, Defensive Coverage, Blocking and Player Locked Receiver. These are the basic controls of Madden 24:

• Left stick – Move
• Right stick – Spin, Juke, Dead Leg, and Truck
• X/A – Stiff Arm
• O/B – Spin
• Square/X – Slide, Give Up, and Dive (HOLD)
• Triangle/Y – Hurdle
• Left trigger – Pitch
• Right trigger – Protect Ball
• Left bumper – Celebration (X/A + Right bumper and Left bumper)
• Right bumper – Sprint

Other important controls to remember, although shown at all times is the choice of Receiver to throw to as you are passing the ball to initiate the Play. These are the X/Square/Triangle/O or A/B/X/Y choices on the controller. Other controls are made before you hike, these are when designating the Preplay strategy such as choosing Hot Routes and Audibles. When defending you will want to know that switching player is done by hitting O/B and movement such as Rup, Bull Rush and Club/Swim is done using the right analog stick. To strafe (Left bumper), block and tackle you will use the right analog stick to cover your man and make the tackle by using X/A.

That was our full beginner’s guide on using Practice Mode on Madden 24. We hope this was helpful. Thank you for reading this guide. For more on Madden 24 or any of the newest video game releases, we have a ton available at Gamer Journalist if you are interested in reading more from us. Feel free to see our GJ guide section here.