Sooner or later you'll be faced with the challenge of re-building your program. Usually, this follows a couple of seasons where you had a solid team and were a legitimate contender. Or perhaps, you're the new coach taking on a new program. Either or, you got a lot of work ahead!
The challenges in the early parts of the rebuild can be immense as you get to know a whole new group of players and parents. The first thing that will stand out is how young and inexperienced they look compared to the team of the previous season.
Get over it quick! There's work to be done!
It's important that you get a handle on the static factors which basically would be the size, height, weight, and age of your players. Then test them! Have a practice with just shorts and running shoes in the gym. Test their speed and agility, their strength, vertical leap, and time them, in a shuttle run type activity while recording your results. At the end of the day, have a game of 4 on 4 basketball. Include all of your players including your big guys. Basketball is a great game to watch and see who can move their feet and who the athletes are. After this type of practice you should have a basic understanding of players and what group they should be placed in. The next practices assign them to their groups.
In the coming practices emphasize fundamentals and more fundamentals keeping in mind that a young team will need more of these than ever. As they gain confidence in their positions, introduce a simplified version of your system. Remember, that your finely tuned system from last season graduated or moved on with the departing players! Start slow, be patient, as this is all new to them. Praise them steady.
Finally, in your first game expect them to make mistakes and to look tentative. Re-enforce your systems between plays or quarters. Coach them up and most important encourage them to go out there and compete!
Usually, a young team will not be confident and will be a little intimidated in the early part of the season. They will look at you hard for guidance and it's important that you give it to them and talk to them steady. They will probably take their lumps early but as the season goes on you'll see the team emerge and the confidence grow. Sometimes they will look solid while other times they will be just awful!
The main thing is to get them to buy into the idea that they are young and will learn a lot in their first season .Despite their youth and inexperience they are expected to compete and to know their assignments win or lose. The main thing is that the experience they gain will be invaluable for the following season.
A solid rebuild will take 2-3 seasons.
Cheers!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
No Fear Mongering Please
Sports are great for our kids. They give them a great sense of being part of a team, working together towards one goal, building everlasting relationships, social groups, and friends. They learn what's it's about to make a commitment, to be dedicated, responsible and to give their best effort.
All stuff that will help them go on and be good community members.
They learn how to work within a system. They learn about respect and how to receive constructive criticism from their coach. Again, all things associated with life. Certainly sports have been a great tool that shaped a lot of our lives.
But what are the pitfalls of sports?
Well, we know that it can be expensive for sure. But, probably the worst thing about sports is that a player can become injured or worse suffer a serious life long injury or even in some cases death.
Does that mean we should keep our kids sport free, lock them in the house and only let them out during very close supervised activities with no running, jumping, or contact of any kind.
Of course not!
We cannot as responsible parents protect our kids from everything life throws at them. Sure they can get hurt seriously playing sports. But they can get hurt crossing the sidewalk or hurt pretty well anywhere or anytime, on their bike, or even in school. Does that mean we have to shut them down to protect them? No!
I kind of got a pet-peeve going about fear mongering in sports. Basically, anybody that writes about the serious consequences of being involved in sports. Sure, people have the right to know, but to take it to the extreme is nothing more than fear mongering. If we wrote articles on "the what if" and "what can" happen whenever you leave the house, nobody would leave!
Yea, sports like everything else we do has downfalls, but really there are certainly a lot more upside to sports, more positive than negative. We take a chance every time we leave our homes but we don't read about it, or are reminded daily of it. Hell, we'd be so stressed out we'd never go out!
All we can do is manage the controllable! Like, look both ways before you cross the street or as parents make sure that helmet and gear fits properly or as coaches make sure they have good technique before they begin contact drills or as parents meet with the coach and indicate what your concerns are. Perhaps you don't feel your kid is ready to play or needs more work or doesn't have the confidence yet. A good coach will respond to your concerns and never put your kid's health and safety on the line.
Cheers!
All stuff that will help them go on and be good community members.
They learn how to work within a system. They learn about respect and how to receive constructive criticism from their coach. Again, all things associated with life. Certainly sports have been a great tool that shaped a lot of our lives.
But what are the pitfalls of sports?
Well, we know that it can be expensive for sure. But, probably the worst thing about sports is that a player can become injured or worse suffer a serious life long injury or even in some cases death.
Does that mean we should keep our kids sport free, lock them in the house and only let them out during very close supervised activities with no running, jumping, or contact of any kind.
Of course not!
We cannot as responsible parents protect our kids from everything life throws at them. Sure they can get hurt seriously playing sports. But they can get hurt crossing the sidewalk or hurt pretty well anywhere or anytime, on their bike, or even in school. Does that mean we have to shut them down to protect them? No!
I kind of got a pet-peeve going about fear mongering in sports. Basically, anybody that writes about the serious consequences of being involved in sports. Sure, people have the right to know, but to take it to the extreme is nothing more than fear mongering. If we wrote articles on "the what if" and "what can" happen whenever you leave the house, nobody would leave!
Yea, sports like everything else we do has downfalls, but really there are certainly a lot more upside to sports, more positive than negative. We take a chance every time we leave our homes but we don't read about it, or are reminded daily of it. Hell, we'd be so stressed out we'd never go out!
All we can do is manage the controllable! Like, look both ways before you cross the street or as parents make sure that helmet and gear fits properly or as coaches make sure they have good technique before they begin contact drills or as parents meet with the coach and indicate what your concerns are. Perhaps you don't feel your kid is ready to play or needs more work or doesn't have the confidence yet. A good coach will respond to your concerns and never put your kid's health and safety on the line.
Cheers!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The 3-4 Defence
A lot of coaches in the NFL are currently switching to the 3-4 defence. The trickle down effect is that a lot of coaches in Middle School and High School are switching to the 3-4 schemes as well.
Why the change?
A lot of coaches like the way the defence has the ability to pressure the offence by showing many different looks, blitz's, and stunts. With only 3 down lineman, you can mask different coverage's and bring blitz's from all over the field confusing the O- line and quarterback, pressuring them into making mistakes, creating fumbles and turn-over 's.
Life in football land seems good!
There are drawbacks to this scheme.
First of all you need to have a solid Nose-Tackle who is a football player and is strong enough can take on the double team. If you haven't got one of those guys, you're in trouble especially against teams that like to zone-block. By zone-blocking they will double team one of the D-lineman at the point of attack and then one of them will chip off and get one of your linebackers. Or they will down block in the same direction get all the defence flowing in one direction and try to "wash down" the defence while the running back looks for a cutback. This is usually what knocks you out of your 3-4 defence.
I like the 3-4 defence. When things are going good you can pile up the sacks and fumbles. But beware of the downfalls. Probably is a good idea to have a 4 man front somewhere in your defensive scheme to counter against a good zone blocking offence.
Cheers
Why the change?
A lot of coaches like the way the defence has the ability to pressure the offence by showing many different looks, blitz's, and stunts. With only 3 down lineman, you can mask different coverage's and bring blitz's from all over the field confusing the O- line and quarterback, pressuring them into making mistakes, creating fumbles and turn-over 's.
Life in football land seems good!
There are drawbacks to this scheme.
First of all you need to have a solid Nose-Tackle who is a football player and is strong enough can take on the double team. If you haven't got one of those guys, you're in trouble especially against teams that like to zone-block. By zone-blocking they will double team one of the D-lineman at the point of attack and then one of them will chip off and get one of your linebackers. Or they will down block in the same direction get all the defence flowing in one direction and try to "wash down" the defence while the running back looks for a cutback. This is usually what knocks you out of your 3-4 defence.
I like the 3-4 defence. When things are going good you can pile up the sacks and fumbles. But beware of the downfalls. Probably is a good idea to have a 4 man front somewhere in your defensive scheme to counter against a good zone blocking offence.
Cheers
When Players Clash
Whether you like it or not at some point you will have some of your players clash.
Consider the fact that over the course of the season, the ups and the downs, the bumps and bruises, and the challenges along the way, it's bound to happen. When you have your players being accountable to you in their assignments, the next best thing is that they become accountable to each other.
This is a good thing!
It will begin at a practice or during a game. You'll hear the chirping between players as they challenge each other not to miss their assignments, to play hard, to make a play. They'll start to expect the very best from each other. Then, when assignments are missed, or bad plays are made, they'll chirp at each other. Probably, somebody at this point will get mad, pride is on the line, and they'll get in each others face.
Time to step in and manage this situation.
Remind them that they are team mates and neither one of them shows up every practice and game determined to make bad plays or veer out of assignments. Tell them they need to communicate better if they are not clicking and reinforce that they are both good players that play hard, with passion, and emotion, and that they as a tandem, bring the best out of each other.
Forgiveness can come easy between these two. Probably you'll see it when they do score or make an amazing play by their big grins on their face. Best friends again!
Don't ever try to figure it out. Just manage it as it comes. It goes away just as fast!
Cheers
Consider the fact that over the course of the season, the ups and the downs, the bumps and bruises, and the challenges along the way, it's bound to happen. When you have your players being accountable to you in their assignments, the next best thing is that they become accountable to each other.
This is a good thing!
It will begin at a practice or during a game. You'll hear the chirping between players as they challenge each other not to miss their assignments, to play hard, to make a play. They'll start to expect the very best from each other. Then, when assignments are missed, or bad plays are made, they'll chirp at each other. Probably, somebody at this point will get mad, pride is on the line, and they'll get in each others face.
Time to step in and manage this situation.
Remind them that they are team mates and neither one of them shows up every practice and game determined to make bad plays or veer out of assignments. Tell them they need to communicate better if they are not clicking and reinforce that they are both good players that play hard, with passion, and emotion, and that they as a tandem, bring the best out of each other.
Forgiveness can come easy between these two. Probably you'll see it when they do score or make an amazing play by their big grins on their face. Best friends again!
Don't ever try to figure it out. Just manage it as it comes. It goes away just as fast!
Cheers
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