Team punishment for one person's mistake?

Agreed..Practice time be wasted is the key issue in my eyes. You get so much time to implement a decent game plan. I don't want a minute of practice time used to discipline players. Chart the mistakes and at the end look at the chart and now we have conditioning...No mistakes no conditioning...I think this is a great way to motivate and keep mental focus in practice.

Football is the ultimate team game, but I have never had success with disciplining the entire team for one person's mistake. It appears that you're building unity, but, in some ways, you're driving the team apart. At the very least, they learn to hate the player that's screwing up, at the worst, they hate you because you're punishing them after they've done their job all day. Kids just don't think the way we do; we believe we're being proactive, but their response is going to be reactive.

Plus, it wastes practice time, there's no way around it. Stopping a practice to make the entire team run takes time and that is something that we do not have in abundance.

I honestly don't even punish a kid for a mistake, I coach him up on it and go from there. If he's lazy or uncoachable, then he doesn't get reps at practice and he doesn't play. For me, that's punishment enough. I'll stay after practice with a kid in an effort to fix mistakes, but if he makes the CHOICE not pay attention or get better, then he'll just sit on the sidelines during practice and in games. I don't see how running them can force them to make the right decisions; it comes down to the basics. Does he want to play or doesn't he?

For me, that's punishment enough and it works. Kids hate running when they make mistakes, but they hate riding the bench a whole lot more.

We separated what was a team offense (fumble, penalty, etc.) and individual offenses (loaf, late, etc.) If the TEAM had an infraction in practice, we dealt with it then and there. In a game, we dealt with it Monday or Tuesday. Individually, we had what was called O.T.I.S. (Opportunity To Improve Squad). 1st major infraction = 400 yards of whoever was in charge wanted. Next was 800 yards and so on. Minor infractions were any ones that were excused beforehand.

For all those using the "all for one and one for all" mantra, just remember this guy


In the current climate of HS sports, where parent is king, admin is spinless, and logic only exists in lollipop land...I don't know how well your arguments would stand up to pissy parents with agendas. And you better be darn sure there will be no retaliations.

I agree with your philosophy. I thought you said that you didn't make the whole team run for one's mistakes though. Sorry I was confused in my reading.

it's like the old days of the p.e. teacher lining everybody up to take a paddling because half of the class was eating in the gym or whatever.....if you didn't do anything then the coach would just say "well, you probably got away with something that i didn't catch..."

there was a time when it wouldn't be questioned......now, they'll try to throw you under the jail for it.....

it's just hard to justify group punishments (in any setting) anymore.......

It's amazing how much better all of the players pay attention when they know if they screw up everyone is going to run a sprint. The pace of practice goes faster. They ask more questions when they are unsure.

No one wants to be the guy who costs the team a sprint. Not because they are afraid of retribution but because they genuinely care about their teammates and their performance. They are accountable to each other just like they are in a game.

This has been the only way I've truly been able to replicate the intensity of a game. Guys really go hard when they are on edge and they know their buddies are counting on them. What I've noticed is guys point fingers less and take more responsibility for themselves.

As far as practice time goes. We don't run all day for a mistake, just a quick sprint across the field and back to work. But it reminds everyone what we are out there for. Also even though you may burn a minute or two per practice doing springs, the QUALITY of your practice is usually greatly increased.

For me, discipline does not equal punishment, although punishment is a part of discipline, does that make sense? By instilling a disciplined environment at the outset with clearly explained expectations and consequences coupled with fair and equitable follow through establishes the structure which I believe all kids, though they may never say this, crave. They want to know at the outset what consequences, good, bad or otherwise, will accompany their behaviors.

For the most part, kids are therefore dealt with on an individual basis regarding their behaviors.

Often, when we run sprints or conditioning drills, we'll go on snap counts or moving the ball (defense) and if a kid jumps, we'll have the respective group step five yard backs and go again. In this way, we're conditioning anyway and adding a half second to the overall practice; kids rarely jump twice.

When we get to team, a kid jumps, he's replaced. Not yelled at, not demeaned, not told to run sprints. Depending on the frequency of his actions, he may go back in the next play or sit for an extended time. Not getting reps is a pretty effective motivator...plus, our practice clicks along on schedule.