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Post by psbrowning on Apr 6, 2009 22:25:15 GMT -6
Coaches,
I really wanted to make my guys more accountable this season for there actions. I am going to be coaching receivers next year, and have thought about implementing a system of: If you drop a ball, miss a block, not going full speed, etc, You will do up downs after practice. With the lack of depth I am going to have at receiver, I think it will also help with getting them to practice harder.
Here is the dilemma I am in. I want to stay consistent with my rules from spring to the end of fall, but I am worried if I keep these rules and enforce them even on game night, it will affect my receivers in a negative way. I don't know if it is a good idea or not to have them knowing in the back of their heads they will have to do up downs Monday if they mess up. On the flip side I can see where it might make them perform better in games.
I would really just like your opinions on this. Thanks in advance.
Coach Browning
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Post by tiger46 on Apr 7, 2009 2:51:31 GMT -6
".... I am going to be coaching receivers next year, and have thought about implementing a system of: If you drop a ball, miss a block, not going full speed, etc, You will do up downs after practice. With the lack of depth I am going to have at receiver, I think it will also help with getting them to practice harder...."
Coach,
Doing up/downs, bearcrawls or, any other punitive activity will not make your receivers any better at what they need to be good at....catching footballs. If anything, you would rather have them doing some type of receiver drills after practice to reinforce and emphasize what techniques that you are coaching.
Some bearcrawls and up/downs may help with laziness. But, sometimes, just having a stopwatch around your neck, looking at it and then giving your player a look of disappointment will do the trick just as well. And, you didn't have to lose practice time doing some non-WR related activity.
As you're well aware, practice time is as precious as gold. Be mindful of how it is spent.
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Post by coach4life on Apr 7, 2009 3:49:50 GMT -6
".... I am going to be coaching receivers next year, and have thought about implementing a system of: If you drop a ball, miss a block, not going full speed, etc, You will do up downs after practice. With the lack of depth I am going to have at receiver, I think it will also help with getting them to practice harder...." Coach, Doing up/downs, bearcrawls or, any other punitive activity will not make your receivers any better at what they need to be good at....catching footballs. If anything, you would rather have them doing some type of receiver drills after practice to reinforce and emphasize what techniques that you are coaching. Some bearcrawls and up/downs may help with laziness. But, sometimes, just having a stopwatch around your neck, looking at it and then giving your player a look of disappointment will do the trick just as well. And, you didn't have to lose practice time doing some non-WR related activity. As you're well aware, practice time is as precious as gold. Be mindful of how it is spent. Agreed. If it's lack of effort physical discipline may be appropriate. Dropping balls is another issue. The question really ought to be why is the kid dropping balls. I'd wager that harsh punishment for a kid who has dropped a ball is going to be counter-productive. Sure, a few will respond to that but you run the chance of messing up an uptight kid who might get it in a more positive approach. Here's how I would approach it. From the physical side give them plenty of reps with various drills on catching the ball. During the Spring, focus on helping them correct errors and make mental notes of who has the hands and who is all thumbs. Give them a set of things to do over the summer to get better at it, and set your expectations at a higher level for the start of fall practice. Bear in mind that just like there are some kids who can naturally catch everything, there are some who just won't ever be very good at it. If you do apply discipline for drops make it something not as intense as up-downs and gradually ratchet it up. Day 1-4 of the Spring, it's all about encouragement. By day 5, maybe 10 pushups for a drop. Day 10, maybe 10 +5 more for each drop (1st drop 10, 2nd drop 15, etc.). I've found that group pressure can be a teaching tool also - "For every drop in 7v7 everybody is going to do 20 pushups". That will get the attention of the kid who is just checked out for the day real quick. From the mental side I always preach "If you want to play receiver you've got to have a burning desire to make every block and catch every ball you touch. It's really that simple. Ultimately it's a matter of will. If you don't have that desire there are plenty of other positions you can compete for." Start with it as a simple statement, then ramp it up as the Spring goes along. By the time you get to the fall, put a more no-nonsense, no more Mr. Nice Guy, that's how it's going to be, my way of the highway tone to it. They'll get it and the ones that have that desire are your guys, whether they are a 4.9 or a 4.4. When it comes to games I'd probably not discipline a kid for a drop. A game is a bunch of plays, and in any game of evenly matched teams there will be 3-5 plays that make the difference. You make more of those than they do and you win. If a kid doesn't make one of those and you don't win he's going to feel like he lost the game and that's a counter-productive burden for a kid to bear. Not only that but it's just not fair to single out that one play, there had to be others where if the team made the play the outcome would have been different. If it's a win, okay, different story, maybe some discipline there is okay but he'll be doing it with the satisfaction of a win. I never want to reinforce a loss in any way other than to say we have to get better every day, work harder, learn from our mistakes and find a way to make sure they don't happen again. |
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CoachBehr
Sophomore Member
QB/Specialists Coach @ Lackawanna College
Posts: 105
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Post by CoachBehr on Apr 7, 2009 4:52:43 GMT -6
well said coach4life... You must work their *ss off and they will be productive
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Post by jpdaley25 on Apr 7, 2009 6:40:57 GMT -6
Do you want them concentrating on making the catch or on doing up downs if they miss it? Punish lack of effort. Punish poor routes. Punish missed blocks. Punish poor catching technique if they are not doing it the way you are telling them. Use encouragement and build confidence to help them perform under pressure.
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Post by touchdownmaker on Apr 7, 2009 7:26:33 GMT -6
Coaches, I really wanted to make my guys more accountable this season for there actions. I am going to be coaching receivers next year, and have thought about implementing a system of: If you drop a ball, miss a block, not going full speed, etc, You will do up downs after practice. With the lack of depth I am going to have at receiver, I think it will also help with getting them to practice harder. Here is the dilemma I am in. I want to stay consistent with my rules from spring to the end of fall, but I am worried if I keep these rules and enforce them even on game night, it will affect my receivers in a negative way. I don't know if it is a good idea or not to have them knowing in the back of their heads they will have to do up downs Monday if they mess up. On the flip side I can see where it might make them perform better in games. I would really just like your opinions on this. Thanks in advance. Coach Browning Heres a suggestion based on something we once used at a middle school. Grade practices: 5 points= outstanding practice, leadership, effort, performance, demonstration of proper skills etc. 4 points= very good, job well done 3 points= average performance, needs work in one or more areas. 2 points= below average, needs work in several areas 1 point= poor, discipline or other issues. base conditioning like so: 5 points= no conditioning 4 points= usual conditioning 3 points= usual plus 2 points= usual plus more 1 point= youre staying late brother. |
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Post by psbrowning on Apr 7, 2009 9:30:37 GMT -6
Thanks for the responses so far, please keep them coming.
That really makes since what you guys have said about not punishing them for not catching a ball, but punish them if they are not using correct technique.
Would you guys still do some sort of catching drill and not physical punishment if they are droping balls using incorrect technique?
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Post by saintrad on Apr 7, 2009 9:50:41 GMT -6
personally, I would take the Bobby Hurley Sr. approach he uses at St. Anthony's Prep HS in Jersey City and use some tough love on them.
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Post by touchdownmaker on Apr 7, 2009 9:54:00 GMT -6
Just be sure that your admin will support you before you adopt a policy, or at least be ready to have to defend it. some people are waaaaaaaaaay too soft and touchy feely to allow a coach to hold kids accountable for anything. I have seen it in some places and wow, its undermining to say the least.
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Post by jpdaley25 on Apr 7, 2009 10:23:19 GMT -6
Well, the ultimate accountability is playing time. The ones that catch the best get to play the most.
Absolutely on catching drills. Keep them after practice or whatever. But it's not punishment - it's improvement.
Catching, IMO, is 90% concentration. Now, if I'm working on concentration or some other skill within the framework of a drill, i don't have a problem with quick and immediate punishment for drops because this helps focus their attention on what's important. But I'm not going to punish for drops in a scrimmage or game as long as the effort is there. If that player doesn't perform, he's going to lose his job - that's enough pressure.
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Post by psbrowning on Apr 7, 2009 11:21:34 GMT -6
personally, I would take the Bobby Hurley Sr. approach he uses at St. Anthony's Prep HS in Jersey City and use some tough love on them. Could you please elaborate on this coach? |
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Post by coach4life on Apr 7, 2009 11:40:53 GMT -6
See if you can isolate the problem - is he having a hard time with low balls, high balls, over the shoulder catches, putting his hands in the right position for where he the throw is, etc., then come up with a drill to help with that specific deficiency.
Here's a very subtle problem that can be easily fixed. The first thing I look for if a kid is having problems with catching on the run (especially over the shoulder) is to see if he is running with a hard heel strike or more on his toes. If you heel strike your eyes will bounce, making it tough to track the ball. Get him on his toes and that will keep his eyes on the same level. I've found a lot of times that will fix that problem.
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Post by saintrad on Apr 7, 2009 12:51:36 GMT -6
personally, I would take the Bobby Hurley Sr. approach he uses at St. Anthony's Prep HS in Jersey City and use some tough love on them. Could you please elaborate on this coach? CBS SUnday Morning just did a great piece on him. I would go look it up from there since I cant do stremaing video at the school. |
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Post by ramsfootball on Apr 7, 2009 13:52:37 GMT -6
Well, the ultimate accountability is playing time. The ones that catch the best get to play the most. Absolutely on catching drills. Keep them after practice or whatever. But it's not punishment - it's improvement. Catching, IMO, is 90% concentration. Now, if I'm working on concentration or some other skill within the framework of a drill, i don't have a problem with quick and immediate punishment for drops because this helps focus their attention on what's important. But I'm not going to punish for drops in a scrimmage or game as long as the effort is there. If that player doesn't perform, he's going to lose his job - that's enough pressure. I agree totally here. I played wide out in college. My 1st yr in college we had mandatory film sessions of practices. Coach would find something on film we did that wasn't so hot or just was very poor (drop balls or poor route) and would rewind it rewind it rewind it and say" You have no chance of getting on the field" " no chance" no chance" I still get the chills today thinking about it. Ususally during our ball drills we had to do push ups etc. but wasn't for punishment, it as more that we owed them to the Offense and the team. So it wouldn't be uncommon to see a WR drop and do 10 on his own will because he thought he could do better. Thats how we took responsibility. |
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