The "LULL" in Practice...

Moreso than ever, with today's athlete, I personally believe that the role of the coach requires they set the model/pace for enthusiasm and details/competition.

It used to be we just could show up and demand particulars and if the kids didn't meet them, then they run. Now, I hate to say 'coddle', because it isn't that, but it is important that the position coaches really hammer each rep (set the tone for excellence) and emphasize its importance ("work on just ____ this rep, effort, specific movement technique", etc).
Is this making a coach a 'hype-man'? Absolutely not - it is more about the coach directing the process for each player, cueing what you're looking for on the rep (what they need to be focused on), clearly going over the execution you want, loading praise on all the little things they're doing correctly, and if you can build up the player with these little things, you eventually lead it to a 1-on-1 competition (who is going to 'win' this rep?).

It is making it personal for each player (engaging them) and doing so that the player sees that what we're doing is FOR them and not TO them. Where else are kids going to get that much personal attention and encouragement on a daily basis?
It isn't just telling a kid(s) 'do this', it is explaining to the kids exactly what you want, watching them do exactly that, and correcting them on each rep until they get it (telling them exactly what they have to do to get it right)....this builds up a series of (small) 'wins' to increase their confidence (and entice them)


The point of that paragraph was to essentially advocate taking the control of tempo out of the hands of kids. There is nothing worse than being at the mercy of a group of slappys. If you have an install plan or only so many practices....going through a dead practice really sucks - its like everyone is just wasting time out there. It sounds like a lot of work, but (imo) it is an investment worth making because I don't trust/want kids dictating the course of practice. If one kid lacks effort on 1 play - he can start running. If more than one kid lacks effort on a drill, movement, or play - they all run....this quickly sets the tone of what speed we will operate on. Kids will learn how to properly play at football speed....not the kids dictating the speed football is played. These are clear expectations and attitudes that will (and won't) be accepted.

When practice goes 'flat' it is one of two things; effort or execution (fundamentals). Coaching is all about control and I sure as hell don't want the kids in defining/dictating those two critical elements - I'm going to be the leader there (the rest will take care of itself).

This is just like a teachers classroom, I'd imagine. Either you control the classroom (behavior) and clearly set the expectations of how to be a student, or the kids will (and the education milieu in that classroom will wane from student to student, subject to inconsistent standards).

Excellent post.

When practice is not working, we "hit the reset button."

We'll send them to pre-practice special teams stations and whistle them up for stretches and restart practice. We still end at the expected time, but a slightly shornened version.

One question I get asked when we do this is "what about the wasted time/missed opportunities/etc." My opinion is "that practice wasn't doing us any good, so why continue down that path."

We usually do this once a year, and so far it has been successful in getting more out of practice than we were before we hit the button.

I tell the kids I know we we're going to have some bad practices during the season, but it's not going to be today. And we're going to get two good hours in, even if it takes us six.

So it's up to them.

I have done the up/down/running thing as well...but I have always wondered "how is making them more fatigued going to help us focus". Still did it, because I don't have any better ideas.

We usually don't get to the point of running them for long as a "punishment" or anything like that, but we are lucky enough to have the numbers to replace people if it's only a couple individuals that aren't focused.

When we have that situation where things seem to snowball and we aren't getting good reps, we have told the kids to take a jog around the practice field and lets start over, but even then it's not really addressed like a punishment, more like the "reset button" analogy used earlier.

Edit: Unless we're on defense, whether it's right or wrong, and for whatever reason, when this sort of thing happens on defense it seems to stem more from a lack of effort than anything else, and we address it the way we address any lack of effort, which tends to be a little louder and a little bit less of the "let's take a deep breath and start over."

Not to say that we just scream and yell at the kids and think that "trying harder" will solve all our problems on D, we correct their mistakes and answer any questions they have, but there is a little bit shorter leash when it comes to the lack of focus on D.

Not designed to be a criticism of our offense, our offensive staff and defensive staff are largely the same, we just handle things a little bit differently on the two sides of the ball, which I think is the right way to do it.

Yep...what brophy said.

At my school, we are on the block schedule. We have kids for about 90 minutes. I know teachers who will lecture for the ENTIRE 90 minutes...kids HATE those classes because there is no engagement at all...no chance for the kids to feel that they are part of the process...they are simply functioning as a passive audience for the teacher.

Same thing in practice...if kids are not actively engaged...if the tempo of practice is not kept at a high level...if there is a lot of down time, graba$$, and long, boring, repetive segments that really do not build on the necessary skills needed to accomplish the gameplan, then kids are not going to feel that their time is being utilized optimally and they will eventually lose focus and practice will grind to a halt.

Are there specific drills Carroll did for Competition Tuesday, Winning Wednesday, No Do Over Thursdays?.....or is that just the emphasis he placed on practice for the day? if what I just asked makes sense.

We had problems with our "Team" sessions hitting that lull. Instead of having a 15-20 minute team period, we broke them into 3-4 competitions (1st and 10, 2nd and 8, 3 and 15). Since we're a small school, we tried to do things to give the scout team a better chance. One year we had a terrible problem with offsides, so we would start at 1st and 20. If the O wins, the D runs and vice versa. Since the first team should win, they would usually have to run more than if the scout team ran. It did wonders for us to up the competition level and intensity of our team session.

I had a little league coach that did this.

When we first started on the very first day. We did our cals, then jog a lap around the field. When the whole group got back, He asked, "Who needs a break?"

About 1/2 the hands went up. He said, "See that telephone pole at down there?" All the little helmets turned towards the other end of the field to the pole leading to the score board.

He said, "When you get tired and you will make a mistake. When you make mistakes, we are going to lose. We are going to be in shape so we don't make mistakes. When you need a break, I am going to send you running down around that telephone pole. Now everybody, TAKE A BREAK!"

After I got back I vowed to never need another break all season.

so, when things go bad, 'quit'? didn't y'all just waste a whole practice there?

We play "fast break" football. So we try to run everything at a very, very fast pace, as soon as we hit the field.

We have restarted practice, we do send the team (including coaches) on a goal paot to goal post run, to get refocused.

We take responsibility, as coaches, for the intensity and vibe at practice.

We have taken great strides to drastically limit any "spectator time". Nobobdy watches special teams. We have four back up special teams players. Everyone else in in some type of drill work.

We go 15 minutes, prepractice drill work. 2 hours practice. On the clock. Done.

If all he did was leave, yes. That's not what he did, though, and it seems to have worked. Trouble is that this stunt only works about once every ten years and backfires more often than not.