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Post by headpastry on Mar 29, 2009 10:13:19 GMT -6
Hey all,
2 questions!
1. How do you coach young players mentally from the ground up??
Extra training, break down & build-up,..
2. How do you deal with hard heads and team spirits spoilers?
ejection of the player, group punishment,...
thx,
Jeffrey
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Post by khalfie on Mar 29, 2009 12:59:48 GMT -6
1. How do you coach young players mentally from the ground up??
Extra training, break down & build-up,..
You show them the joy in the game. Make sure there is fun, in your fundamentals. With any team I coach lower than the HS level, I make sure we end practice with a game.
Your major responsibility with youth, its to help them find the joy of the sport... not make them all-stars, or even disciplined soldiers. The more they love the sport, that stuff will come later.
2. How do you deal with hard heads and team spirits spoilers?
ejection of the player, group punishment,...
Here's the deal about young players... they still want to impress... they want to prove to themselves that they are football players, and really want to hear an adult / authority figure tell them that they are football players.
With that being said, positive reinforcement, continually praise, as opposed to negative stimulus is key... talk your kids up, ignore those that aren't getting it done...
Don't try to force those that aren't doing right to do right... remove your attention, tell them to have a seat, send them off on a long run, they don't run, keep them running til you are satisfied. don't give attention to that you don't want repeated.
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Post by los on Mar 29, 2009 13:16:30 GMT -6
How young are you talking about? question #1 = patience, basic fundamentals training(don't get too complicated), try to keep them focused on learning.....easier said than done at times, but some things to avoid in your practice plan, imo, would be "long periods of inactivity".....or drills "that aren't very kid friendly".........question #2 = far as punishment for kids who constantly disrupt practice = They had 2 choices on our team.....run laps, till they decided to come back, shut up....quit fighting, or whatever the case may be, and pay attention.......or.....I could give them their registration fee back and they could go home. Their choice! Why disrupt practice for the entire team, when you just have a couple knuckleheads cutting up? Its not the "Dirty Dozen", lol
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Post by coachdoug on Mar 29, 2009 13:20:52 GMT -6
I think jhalfie's advice is excellent. The younger they are the less you need to ever "break them down." Just focus on positive reinforcement and get them to love the game. Once they love the game and really want to play, then the only punishment you'll need to motivate them is the threat of reduced playing time.
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Post by ramsfootball on Mar 29, 2009 16:04:34 GMT -6
How young are you talking about? question #1 = patience, basic fundamentals training(don't get too complicated), try to keep them focused on learning.....easier said than done at times, but some things to avoid in your practice plan, imo, would be "long periods of inactivity".....or drills "that aren't very kid friendly".........question #2 = far as punishment for kids who constantly disrupt practice = They had 2 choices on our team.....run laps, till they decided to come back, shut up....quit fighting, or whatever the case may be, and pay attention.......or.....I could give them their registration fee back and they could go home. Their choice! Why disrupt practice for the entire team, when you just have a couple knuckleheads cutting up? Its not the "Dirty Dozen", lol All excellent methods. I would add that I found that having young kids run laps, or "grab a leaf" can be counter productive. I try to not send my players on long runs for disruptions in practice or poor behavior. For the most part we do sprints at the end of practice, so they will get ran regardless. Having player(s) away for 2-5mins away from instructions can add up to a waste of valuable practice time when you only have 60-90mins sessions. I had to send two players around the field for fighting, just to let them cool off basically. My discipline tool of choice are "Up Downs" Kids on every level hate'em. But are great for conditioning and never require large areas of running room. So when I have a few players cutting up in practice, I don't yell, just say chop'em and blow my whistle. Works everytime. We knock out 5-10 in about 10-15 sec and get back to our drill. If they slack on them I won't stop blowing the whistle. They get the point real fast. I use this method with anything that requires discipline. Fumbles, not knowing snap counts etc. Should one player jump the whole team does up downs as it will cost the whole team in a game. I have my RB's doing them when any RB drops a ball in practice. Ball security is a must! I see a lot of coachs not stressing this at a young age. I've seen running kids not have or have very little impact on behavior with a buddy's team. He'd make his players "hit the pole" but his kids figured out that running to the pole or lap was better than practing in most case. They could waste time and practice would be over soon, so they tried to stay in trouble to avoid the drill or workout. You just have to find whats works and helps keep them focused. |
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Post by los on Mar 29, 2009 20:33:54 GMT -6
You're probably right rams....I'm sure just sending them off running is not very productive to the "kid doing the running", as far as learning football skills, but thats their choice = be a constant troublemaker and "individual"cross country star, lol...... or learn to get along in a group and be a "team" football player......the thing I liked about it was, it didn't require me administering the punishment personally (like grass drills or something would) and waste my time.....what it did do was....isolate them from the group(which they really didn't want), and more or less, punish themselves while they run however many 1/4 miles, thinking about the transgressions, that got them into this predicament in the first place.......point is, I don't think too many football players "love" long distance running and this seemed like a cheap deterrent to "constant disrupters"....not talking about kids being kids....just the serious hard core disrupters....these guys either get tired of running several times a week and learn to get along in the group setting......or they'll quit and go home. Meanwhile, we get to practice in relative peace and plan on them "not" playing, till they "get right in the head". I think, many of the kids I've seen like this, actually craved and needed to be accepted or find their niche in a team/group setting, "they just didn't know how" and the behavior problems were just a symptom....letting them run and think about this, was the best option I could come up with.  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2009 20:59:29 GMT -6
First you MUST win them over, there's a million different coaching styles, from teddy bear to Bear Bryant. Whatever style you adhere to naturally is usually the best. Be yourself, and don't fprget to enjoy it yourself..
We always make them feel like they were part of something special, we constantly remind them that that they are doing something not everyone can, or has the guts to do. We tell them football isn't for everyone, and they should be proud of themselves for choosing to play such a sport.
We reinforce that playing football warrants repect. You can see it when you talk to people who have never played football, or those that chose to play other sports, you get that look. I don't feel you always need to necessarily "break down" players, some are fine just the way they are.
Tough players- I punish the individual, it has been my experience that it hurts the team to punish kids who are giving it their all, for the sake of one kid.
Just my 2
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Post by scotdaking on Mar 30, 2009 9:49:13 GMT -6
I like the idea of using the universally despised Up Downs!!!
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Post by khalfie on Mar 30, 2009 21:34:19 GMT -6
Up downs? Really? 8 year old starts jacking off and coach gets the whole team chopping and dropping? Yeah... I guess that'll generate that love for the sport!  There's a time and a place for up downs... and that time and place is for the real disobedience... You get one kid jaw jacking... lolly gagging... unwilling to focus on the task at hand... Take the long lap! See ya... wouldn't want to be ya! |
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Post by davecisar on Mar 31, 2009 5:41:01 GMT -6
Before you even attempt to bother with Xs and Os, you have to be able to get the kids to listen and effort. If you dont have that squared away, you are wasting time.
#1) Set the parameters with the team as to what is expected, what will be tolerated and what won't. As well as the consequences. I do a 30 minute deal with the kids and parents before the very first practice. Everyone signs player and spectator contracts. You can't live with how we do things? Play elsewhere, the deal is the deal, it isnt negotiable.
#2) Ready/Focus- When any player hears a coach yell out "ready" , everyone shuts up, quits moving and yells "focus", if you arent totally quiet and the coach looks into your eyes and you arent looking into his eyes, you run. After 1 week, no one is running. It works, no "be quiet, settle down, listen up etc etc"
#3) Each player is different, we try and find something they dont like, one kid may hate being out of the action, he gets a timeout away from the team- Jimmy go sit over on the dummy pile until I call for you ( said in private if at all possible) Another kid may hate his backup, so we put his backup in say in rapid offensive reps on air, then we effusively praise said backup every play while the troublemaker is sitting on the dummys feet away.
#4) 5 atta boys for every negative and when I give a negative I try and do it in private if at all possible. Atta boys are in public, negatives are in private when possible. Always try and get a big public atta boy in before the end of day if youve given the kid a public negative. All negatives are sandwiched around 2 positives:
In private: "Jimmy you did a great job in warm ups, your stance was perfect, but after angle form tackling you came in late from water to the team discussion. we need you and everyone to be there for that, if we have another problem Im going to have you run to the pole and back. YOu are usually a great listener I know you can do it, we need you."
#5) Im not a beleiver in team punishment and rarely see only the most poorly disciplined squads employing it. Ive coached 17 seasons including 1 in the Inner City accross from the projects with me as the only coach for 36 kids. We ended up with 32 with perfect attendance for the season and lost maybe 1-2 for the season ( way too big a team). I may have done a team discipline maybe 4-5 times total in 17 seasons. Works for me anyhow, you mileage may vary.
Heres how:
Fast pace
No standing around
Dont waste the kids time, they wont waste yours
FUN practices the kids look forward to
Competent fundamental coaching
Show you care for each individual player
Set standard
Hold all accountable to standard without waivering, without malice
Get everyone in games ( they will effort better in practice)
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Post by davecisar on Mar 31, 2009 5:48:09 GMT -6
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Post by scotdaking on Mar 31, 2009 8:39:10 GMT -6
Wow. As usual, Mr Cisar is on point. Very level-headed. I hope you don't mind me "borrowing" your player-spectator contract and Ready/Focus ideas.
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Post by coachdoug on Mar 31, 2009 11:00:49 GMT -6
We do things largely the same way. Everyone in our entire league - coaches, players, parents, board members, etc. - signs a code of conduct form. Similar to Dave's "Ready/Focus" we use "Eyes, Ears & Mind." We explain to the kids on the first day that when a coach is talking we need their complete attention - their eyes should be on the speaker, their ears should be listening and their minds should be fully engaged with what is being said to them. Then any time a coach says, "Eyes," everyone is to immediately stop whatever he is doing, even if he is in the middle of a sentence, and respond "Ears & Mind," and give the coach his complete attention. As Dave mentioned, you enforce running a couple times the first week for anyone that doesn't follow along perfectly and you will have no problems the rest of the year. We started doing this 2-3 years ago and it's one of the best things I've ever done. Wish I had known about it earlier.
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Post by eickst on Mar 31, 2009 12:49:32 GMT -6
Well being a former military man I use the "Eyeballs" command word and I expect to hear a "CLICK" as all of the eyeballs snap in my direction. So I have the kids yell "CLICK" when they look at me.
I also use "School Circle" which tells the kids to get their water and take a knee/stand around me in a semi circle so that we can go over whatever it is we need to discuss.
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Post by ramsfootball on Apr 1, 2009 8:10:34 GMT -6
Up downs? Really? 8 year old starts jacking off and coach gets the whole team chopping and dropping? Yeah... I guess that'll generate that love for the sport! There's a time and a place for up downs... and that time and place is for the real disobedience... You get one kid jaw jacking... lolly gagging... unwilling to focus on the task at hand... Take the long lap! See ya... wouldn't want to be ya! Like coach Cisar said you have to set expectation early with players and parents. There is one thing I notice with parents is they hate to see their childed singled out for any reason, even if there child was in the wrong or the only child with an issue. As I mention earlier my buddy made his players run laps, He had a couple of players that seemed to have to take several laps during practice for multiple reasons, Coaches were catching flack from parents asking "why is my son the only player having to run as the other players do not? It's not easy telling a parent of a 8-9yr that their child is more of a problem for the team than a asset etc etc. Parents don't want to hear it or see it. (some I should say) Some parents think little johnny can do no wrong and he shouldn't be punished for being himself, (I know I live with one) but should johnny get injured because he didn't pay attention, it's the coaches fault BS. Do I just make one player do " Up Downs"? No way, First it's a team sport and second I don't want to hear it from parents. No need to hear that drama from a parent on why their son was the only one doing up downs. Not sure what 8-9's you guys get but it's never just one kid disrupting practice at this age, at least two if not more. I coach soccer also and the behavior for 8-9's is the same. I set my expectation early so behavior issues are rare in practice, once a group has to do 10 up downs because I have 3-4 players in the back talking over me, they learn not to do that anymore. The great thing to see is the leaders stepping up, getting his teammates to focus or to stop clowning around. Don't get it twisted. I've seen players have to take 2-4 laps each practice over the course of a season, but I may have to say "chop'em" 2-4 times all season total for behavioral issues. So it's not all day everyday we do this. Unless you have an endurance issue I just not seeing the benefit of making 6-9yr olds run laps for behavioral issues. For the 3-4min lap it's easy for a kid to feel like his not part of the team and if he has to repeat it over and over soon he'll say screw it or Mom and Dad will say screw it. I think it's important for coaches to provide a team environment early. Ex. We do tackling drills were the player who misses a tackle or lacks the quality has to do 5 up downs,(most 8-9 suck at push ups) do I let him just do these on his own? Naw, the whole team claps it up and counts them out for him and cheers him on letting him know he'll get the next one. My players will even help him up on the last one and get him pump for his next rep. It works out to were all will get their share of up downs at the start of the season, by mid season to end the drill is clean and no up downs. But my biggest fear is having any player at any time not feeling like part of the team and also I don't like for players to miss intrsuctions if they show up to practice they should all get equal time. I don't even like seeing a kid on the far side of the field by himself running alone, (Parents may see that as I hate your kid and want him away from the group) Then again you have to find what works best for your group. Don't think you can go wrong with coah Cisars tips. |
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