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Post by Coach Bennett on Nov 30, 2009 12:35:32 GMT -6
Looking for pros and cons of each.
I like two-a-days b/c if a kid misses a morning practice for whatever reason, they can still stay on track with the appropriate number of practices for games by making the evening one. Also, it allows our installs and work to be broken into more manageable chunks.
For those of you that do either, why do you do so and what do you find to be advantageous about the way you do things?
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Post by superpower on Nov 30, 2009 12:53:51 GMT -6
I am in a rural community with some players traveling 20-30 miles one way to get to practice. Therefore, we do one long practice because it is a real obstacle for those kids who have to travel 20-30 miles one way if they have to make that trip twice a day.
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Post by coachjd on Nov 30, 2009 13:44:50 GMT -6
We do 2 - 1 hour and 45 min practices the first 2 weeks of the season with a 45 min break in between. We give the kids 20 min to rest, eat a snack, fluids etc... and then we have a 20-25 min chalk talk before we take the field for round 2.
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Post by senatorblutarsky on Nov 30, 2009 13:49:12 GMT -6
I am in a rural community with some players traveling 20-30 miles one way to get to practice. Therefore, we do one long practice because it is a real obstacle for those kids who have to travel 20-30 miles one way if they have to make that trip twice a day.
Same here.
Also, like JD's, we have a break (20 min) between "practices".
We actually did this when I was in a city school too (based on my previous experience in a rural area).
I find that we get more done- in less time this way.
Also, on the rare occasions we need to come in again (bad weather, need to do extra work, etc.) we have the time to do it.
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Post by Wingtman on Nov 30, 2009 14:35:42 GMT -6
I think as a player and as I coach, I prefered the "marathon". Doing one 1:45 minute practice, then coming back after a 30-45 minute break for round 2 was MUCH better then practicing 8-10, then coming back from 6-8.
You just dread that second practice as a player. I know you feel as a coach you get more out of them after they've been off for 8 hours, but I think you get just as much doing the marathon so to speak.
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Post by wingtol on Nov 30, 2009 14:41:32 GMT -6
We are lucky that our first week of pads we go away to camp and have the players 24/7 for 3-4 days to start the season. We do a morning session, special teams (half hour max), then an evening session. Both sessions about 2-2 1/2 hours. Not a big marathon practice guy, I think you lose them after 2 1/2 hours and I know I lose it myself if I am on the field too long!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2009 14:54:30 GMT -6
We do "two-a-days" but it's actually one long practice in the morning due to the same reasons senatorblutarsky and superpower stated. This last year, we practiced from 7-9, took a break, and then practiced from 9:45-11:45. Kids were allowed to go the gas station less than a block from the practice field for Gatorade, but that was it.
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Post by blb on Nov 30, 2009 15:08:27 GMT -6
One highly-successful guy I know was at a small (470 or so kids) rural school - corn detasseling country. During Two-a-Days they would practice 8 am-Noon - 50 minutes on the field, 10 minutes off until done.
Another, who also won at a ridiculous rate, coached a school of 170-190 kids in a town on Lake Michigan. They practiced at 7-9 am, let 'em go and brought 'em back at 6-8 pm so the kids could keep their summer jobs in the resort industry.
Last school I was at was suburban with 1700+ enrollment so travel, numbers, etc. not issues. We went 9-11:30 am, 3-5:30 pm. That's the way I prefer it but there are lots of different situations - you have to adapt sometimes.
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Post by airman on Nov 30, 2009 16:18:52 GMT -6
we do 3 a-days and it is one long practice. 8 hour day with practices, breaks and meetings. we have a team lunch as well.
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Post by redandwhite on Nov 30, 2009 16:22:13 GMT -6
We meet from 8:00 - 8:30, On-field from 8:45-11:00, then kids are off until 11:45. Meet from 11:45-12:00, on-field from 12:10 to 1:45. O/D alternate days lifting at 2:00.
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Post by touchdownmaker on Nov 30, 2009 16:27:38 GMT -6
Our state mandates limits on practice.
you can practice for 3 hours in one block if you go once a day or you can go twice a day at 2.5 hours...do the math, we go for the two a days, and as another poster said, sometimes kids miss one of the two do to work or whatever else they have going on but they get their "6 days in pads" in still so they can play.
I think Id prefer to look into one three hour practice in the future when I have a senior /junior dominated lineup - but with so many new faces still having so much football to learn, we need every second.
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Post by phantom on Nov 30, 2009 18:24:53 GMT -6
We do old fashioned 2-a-days. We have defense at 8 AM and offense at 4 PM.
We don't have transportation issues but I understand that that could be a problem at some places. All of our guys initially play an offensive and defensive position (although we do narrow it down by this point in the season) so we have to have an O and D practice. If you platoon you probably don't need to do either.
I prefer having the time off between practices. I'm old. I sleep.
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Post by schulzy on Nov 30, 2009 18:34:06 GMT -6
I'm more of a fan of the morning practice, long break with lunch & meetings, then an afternoon practice.
May sound cliche, but the long day builds team morale.
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Post by doublewing on Nov 30, 2009 20:00:15 GMT -6
our doubles are as follow
12:30-1:30 SPT/CONDITIONING
2:00-2:45 FUNDAMENTALS
3:15-4:00 INDY PERIOD
4:45-5:45 TEAM/UNIT PERIODS
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ramsoc
Junior Member
Posts: 431
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Post by ramsoc on Nov 30, 2009 22:38:58 GMT -6
We do two a days, 3 hour practices separated by a hour and half lunch.
We need two a days cause its the only preseason padded practice time we get. The whole summer is non padded.
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Post by Coach Bennett on Dec 1, 2009 8:54:03 GMT -6
Anyone hold their long practice in the afternoon/evening so kids can sleep until noon the next day?
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Post by superpower on Dec 1, 2009 9:25:44 GMT -6
We always start school the same week we start practice, so we start at 4:00 and run one long practice.
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Post by fbcoach74 on Dec 1, 2009 10:24:30 GMT -6
we do two-a-days for the first week then the second week we do two every other day. But in Indiana we have full access to our players in the summer, so we install lots then, so I feel we can ease off a bit the second week of two-s-days.
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Post by spartancoach on Dec 1, 2009 10:30:53 GMT -6
NJ limits amount of pre-season practice time. We alternate days - one double session (2.5 hours each), one single session (3 hours), etc. I personally think our practices are way too long. Kids "go thru the motions" after about 2 hours, and once the long practices get ingrained, they start going thru the motions for the whole practice. I like to get 5-10 great reps, and move on.
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Post by coachbdud on Dec 2, 2009 1:33:14 GMT -6
its hard getting our kids to show up, and most of them live in the next city over and very few drive so they would have to take bus or BART to get home, just to have to come back a few hours later (and pay almost 2 bucks again)
What we did this last year was go a 2 hour session, then take about an hour off, then go another 2 hour session. We still got 2 practices in, but we grouped the whole thing in a smaller window of time overall . Just enough time for all the kids to rest, relax a bit, hang out, and maybe eat a little.
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donk3y
Freshmen Member
Posts: 75
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Post by donk3y on Dec 4, 2009 14:31:48 GMT -6
We have also gone to the longer format. The majority of our staff is off campus and so running one practice from 5-8:30 at night works much better for them.
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Post by buckeye7525 on Dec 4, 2009 16:55:35 GMT -6
We did the old school two - a -days this year, and it was the first time since college I have done anything like that. I really liked the format, because (as a coach, anyway) it nice to have that extended break and be able to go home and get off your feet and sit in the AC. I felt much more energized from a coaching standpoint. Many of our kids also expressed the fact that they liked this much better than how we have conducted them in the past.
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Post by brophy on Dec 4, 2009 18:19:35 GMT -6
count me as one who abhors 2-a-days.
For the past 6 years (whew) every program I've been with has done 1-a-days for camp. I would've happily burned through 8 days of vacations to accommodate 2-a-days, but thankfully I did not need to.
We've done later afternoon 4-hour sessions (film-field-indoor cool down-film-field) as well as early morning 3-hour grinders. Both worked extremely well. At all those programs a majority of the kids (and coaches) work, and if you're going 2-a-days you have just blown the entire day.
IMO 2-a-days are like pre-practice stretching routines....an archaic ritual tradition. We do because we do, because thats what we've always done.
If you're in college, cool - I get it.....you have the players on campus, keep them occupied.
For HS, I feel it is a little out-dated. Just like maaaaany years ago, from HS to NFL, you did 2-a-days to get guys "in shape". Nowadays, if you need to get your guys "in shape" in August, then you off-season program completely failed you.
I don't believe 2-a-days are 'wrong', just in my opinion, unnecessary.
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Post by phantom on Dec 4, 2009 19:28:44 GMT -6
count me as one who abhors 2-a-days. For the past 6 years (whew) every program I've been with has done 1-a-days for camp. I would've happily burned through 8 days of vacations to accommodate 2-a-days, but thankfully I did not need to. We've done later afternoon 4-hour sessions (film-field-indoor cool down-film-field) as well as early morning 3-hour grinders. Both worked extremely well. At all those programs a majority of the kids (and coaches) work, and if you're going 2-a-days you have just blown the entire day. IMO 2-a-days are like pre-practice stretching routines....an archaic ritual tradition. We do because we do, because thats what we've always done. If you're in college, cool - I get it.....you have the players on campus, keep them occupied. For HS, I feel it is a little out-dated. Just like maaaaany years ago, from HS to NFL, you did 2-a-days to get guys "in shape". Nowadays, if you need to get your guys "in shape" in August, then you off-season program completely failed you. I don't believe 2-a-days are 'wrong', just in my opinion, unnecessary. I think that whether or not you platoon plays a role in whether you need 2-a-days. Our guys all learn an offensive and defensive position. In addition we have no spring ball and can only do limited work wiyh players before official practice starts. |
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Post by buckeye7525 on Dec 4, 2009 22:58:42 GMT -6
Brophy, I would agree that if you are a two platoon team two-a-days are really not that neccessary. For HS teams that have to play kids both ways I think that they may still have some merit. You need alot of time to get kids ready to play both sides of the ball.
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