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Post by eaglemountie on Aug 4, 2008 15:14:40 GMT -6
We have a sophomore that started the first varsity game last year as a freshman and was pulled from the varsity about half way through the season because he just was not the player he started the season out as.
So far this season he has shown no improvement and has actually gotten smaller in size.
Have any of you gone through this with a player? What could be some alternatives for this kid?
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Post by towtheline on Aug 4, 2008 16:16:28 GMT -6
Is it possible that he doesn't care about football?
It could also be a mental block or something. Maybe he didn't do very well and it shook his confidence and now he doesn't believe he can do it.
just some thoughts
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Post by ajreaper on Aug 4, 2008 16:17:57 GMT -6
Whats going on with him personally? Possible drug/alcohol use? Girlfriend? Home life? Was he ready for the rigors of varsity ball- physically as well as mentally? I've seen kids absolutely go into a shell athletically because to much was expected to soon and they crumbled with the preasure or having to compete day in and day out against older kids wears them out and finally they just go through the motions physically.
Talk to him and those closest to him to try to get more info to work with as to why this may be happening.
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Post by touchdowng on Aug 4, 2008 17:03:39 GMT -6
Ditto
You have to get more information so you can help him out.
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Post by senatorblutarsky on Aug 4, 2008 17:08:26 GMT -6
We had a similar situation a few years ago. One of our freshmen was great at camp, but he managed to lose his job by the second week of practice. He did start week 5 after an injury to the starter- didn't do great but didn't hurt us much either.
Last year (soph.) we had high hopes, and nothing materialized. He did start on one side of the ball (on D; we are a tiny school so our best guys go both ways). He didn't get stronger, he was confused a lot...
Now I hope I am not feeling too good, but he is now a junior. He has matured (emotionally, mentally) a ton... he lifts hard and had made great progress in the weight room. He did a great job at camp (on offense... still has some problems on D, but seems to fix them faster).
In our guys case, he had the athletic ability as a 9th grader, but had the brain of a puppy... it took him a while to grow up. I do not feel worried about him now. Hopefully, I am right on this. His older brother (nothing for two years- stud as JR and SR) was eerily similar (which is why I'm not as worried as I probably shuld be).
Sometimes, kids like that (starters young) let it go to their head. I saw that with a lot of teammates... in HS and college.
What we did was nothing special- we just talked to him about maturity, decision making, playing on intellect as well as emotion,etc. Our DC did a great job with him. He ignored him for a while when he began to slip... and rather than going in the tank, this kid came in early, wanted extra reps, more explanations, etc.
I can not say that method will work with your guy. I can say, however, that almost every kid out there has something that makes him tick... whether he needs more, less or redirected attention is what you need to figure out. Both previous posts (towtheline and aj) have some good questions to consider before assessing what changes you should make.
Good luck.
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Post by wingtol on Aug 4, 2008 18:41:53 GMT -6
Maybe he's just a sophomore. Maybe he's just being a kid ya know, some times they don't "get it" right away and maybe he is still maturing and being a goofy kid. Maybe he was overwhlemed last year and is still a bit gun shy from it? I wouldn't go getting all worried about it, if he can't play Varsity as a soph. then let him play JV no harm in that.
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Post by deaux68 on Aug 5, 2008 11:57:38 GMT -6
We have 80 kids on the team and there are two of these kids every year.
This year's addition is a freshman that could play varsity ball. He was struggling yesterday but wasn't putting forth and effort. I felt he was struggling because he did little to push himself this summer.
I'm not his position coach, but I feel like somebody needs to get in his ear before he turds out.
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Post by wingtol on Aug 5, 2008 12:14:29 GMT -6
Remember these kids may physically ready but just a few months ago they were in 8th grade and prob aren't as mature mentally as they are physically. Frosh are still babies really. We were at camp last year and had a few meltdowns over being homesick and I mean hysterically crying meltdowns, if that melts them down I highly doubt they are ready to strap it on and go against 17-18 year olds in a high stress environment. I was getting t-shirt and short sizes the other day from our kids, half the frosh had no idea what size clothes they wore! One kid pulled out the label in his shorts and they were like a boys size 14! Just be patient and remember what you are dealing with. As discussed in other topics it is very rare to have a stud frosh step in and play right away. It happens but it takes a real special kid to do.
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Post by deaux68 on Aug 6, 2008 21:11:53 GMT -6
No doubt, sometimes the players are better coaches than we are.
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