|
Post by carookie on Jun 19, 2010 15:17:58 GMT -6
Okay, so we've established that there is a point that is too much for the kids, nobody would say 40+ hrs a wk in the summer, so where is it?
Obviously its different per kid, and different based on the activities, but in general where should we stop?
Like I wrote earlier, I remember putting in about 8-10 Hrs a week (not counting passing leagues) and still had enough time to cause trouble and end up wasting a lot of time bored on the Sega/Playstation. So I don't think that is too much to ask, but maybe I am mistaken
|
|
|
Post by CoachMikeJudy on Jun 19, 2010 15:22:30 GMT -6
Another consideration is I don't want to be ticked off at some kids before practice even starts because they miss a football activity due to any of the myriad possible reasons. I think that that's a huge consideration. Agreed here. I was always a "more is better" type of guy, wanting to workout/run/meet 4-5 days a week in the offseason. What I found was that I kept getting pissed at them for missing- even my best kids couldn't keep up. I took a deep breath, put aside all I "knew was right," and made the decision to go to 3 days/week and Friday's off. I'll never look back. My kids come into camp in shape like always, strong & faster than they were, and more kids make 85% of the workouts. And, as BLB & phantom stated, I am much happier...more time to spend at home than grinding it out at school.
|
|
|
Post by blb on Jun 19, 2010 15:25:41 GMT -6
Okay, so we've established that there is a point that is too much for the kids, nobody would say 40+ hrs a wk in the summer, so where is it? Obviously its different per kid, and different based on the activities, but in general where should we stop? Like I wrote earlier, I remember putting in about 8-10 Hrs a week (not counting passing leagues) and still had enough time to cause trouble and end up wasting a lot of time bored on the Sega/Playstation. So I don't think that is too much to ask, but maybe I am mistaken Reads like a "You" problem. To your credit, appears as if you might have overcome it. Just curious - how much family time-stuff did you do in the summer?
|
|
|
Post by leighty on Jun 19, 2010 16:05:18 GMT -6
I'm kind of surprised to see you disagreeing with blb, who is agreeing with what you posted earlier. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with his philosophy. I'm disagreeing with the way he chooses to treat a guy who, in his opinion, "has a lot to learn." The guy expressed his desire to outwork his competition and stated his disagreement with governing bodies possibly regulating to the least-common-denominator coach. But because the first words in his post aren't, "I do it for the kids," he's in it for the wrong reasons.
|
|
|
Post by leighty on Jun 19, 2010 16:37:21 GMT -6
Wish I knew in 1979, when I got my first head coaching job, what I know now - and I'm not just talking Xs and Os. If you don't want to read-listen to voices of experience on here, that's your choice. Sorry if my "Internet" soap box tone offended you, coach. But - at my age and with my experience - it's my prerogative. Ignore it for what it's worth at your own peril. You're just a regular martyr, aren't you? Here to save to the souls of us "young'uns" who don't know what we're doing...
|
|
|
Post by phantom on Jun 19, 2010 16:38:52 GMT -6
If you two don't quit or take it to private this thread is going to get locked or deleted.
|
|
|
Post by struceri on Jun 19, 2010 20:37:22 GMT -6
our kids lift 4 days a week and takes them about an hour. We do skelly twice a week which takes about 45 minutes and go to 2 team camps (3 days each) and our own camp(3 days). Our two a days start the 1st week of school so we are grateful for what we can get accomplished during the summer. Our kids our done by 10am for lifting and skelly so it gives them plenty of time for work/playstation/pool etc.
|
|
|
Post by ajreaper on Jun 19, 2010 21:07:19 GMT -6
Phantom great topic- I've been asking myself this for a while. I don't know about what it's like where you are at but we have kids going from football workouts, to basketball practice then maybe playing in a summer baseball game that night. Not certain that pace is good for anyone. Last summer I decided we were going to take time off and scheduled 3 one week breaks from the time school ended until we started fall practice and it's worked great for both players and coaches. Time off for rest is just as important as the work and doing anything because if they are not doing something football related they'll do something else and you might "lose" them because of it is silly. Give them some time off, let them recharge physically and mentally and you'll get more done when they are with you.
|
|
|
Post by jlenwood on Jun 19, 2010 21:26:45 GMT -6
This year we have gone to a 4 day a week workout (Monday-Thursday) 8am to about 9:30 to 10am. It is actually pretty hard core, weight room, speed and plyo, steps, running etc. all kind of mixed together for the best results. NONE OF THIS IS MANDATORY! But the thing is, we have almost full participation because it was the kids who asked for it. The off season was non existent here in the past, so we put it together and they are on board. Now for the kids who aren't showing up, they will be at a disadvantage come time for camp and practice and I am sure they know it. We also put together a list of suggested camps that the kids can go to on their own, and some of them do, but again nothing is forced. As a side note, one of the best things about this off season is seeing how the kids have finally started coming together as a team, and not just a bunch of individuals that show up at the first practice.
|
|
|
Post by carookie on Jun 20, 2010 0:31:06 GMT -6
Okay, so we've established that there is a point that is too much for the kids, nobody would say 40+ hrs a wk in the summer, so where is it? Obviously its different per kid, and different based on the activities, but in general where should we stop? Like I wrote earlier, I remember putting in about 8-10 Hrs a week (not counting passing leagues) and still had enough time to cause trouble and end up wasting a lot of time bored on the Sega/Playstation. So I don't think that is too much to ask, but maybe I am mistaken Reads like a "You" problem. To your credit, appears as if you might have overcome it. Just curious - how much family time-stuff did you do in the summer? HAHA, when I said problem I don't mean real problem, I just meant typical HS kid stuff. And I spent tons of time with my family. Thats what I'm trying to say. I know I had plenty of time when I was in HS, and I'm sure my players do now. But more to what I think is the original question; where is the point of diminishing marginal return for a typical summer week? I think one thing may not be hours but days, I think limiting it to 4 days a week is important. I also think outside of your end of summer camp (two-a-days, hell week, etc) there should be no single day or week that is imperative to attend, giving kids time for family vacations. After that I think focus has gotta be on lifting and speed training more than team install. But I think most people here agree with that, I'm just wondering if I'm missing something here.
|
|
|
Post by blb on Jun 20, 2010 5:45:35 GMT -6
Great points by reaper and lenwood.
In our state you cannot use off-season participation as a criteria for in-season team membership, nor would most ADs back you if you tried to.
We cannot use full pads until practice begins (August 9), and there are limitations on days of 7-on-7s, camps, and number of players you can work with outside of those.
We also have a mandated "Dead Week" that most schools schedule around July 4.
|
|
|
Post by fballcoachg on Jun 20, 2010 8:43:07 GMT -6
we have two weeks of dead period as well where there can be NO instruction (coaching, weightlifting, supervision) from the coaches at all. I am a big fan of 3 days a week in the morning and keeping it short, I believe this gives ample time for kids to do what they want to do. Also, someone brought up morning practices ruining their nights and I will go back to the old adage that nothing good happens after xx o'clock. I especially know that alot of our kids are from unstable backgrounds and situations so that excuse that I have to be up early for football may just be an advantage.
I am not a proponent of no football over the summer as it would only open the floodgates for AAU type activities and I don't think that those are beneficial for anyone.
|
|
|
Post by blb on Jun 20, 2010 8:49:36 GMT -6
One of the things we have done to try to alieviate this issue is we do not do anything football other than weights in the month of June. We lift in the morning 3 days a week in the summer but we have no 7 on 7's, camps (other than senior 1 day college camps) in the month of June. So our kids can play AAU, summer baseball, etc. and do not have conflicts with football. This year is an exception to the rule as we are going to the Notre Dame 7 on 7 on June 26, it's doubling as our team trip this year (although we are only taking a small group). After that we don't have anything until July 11th. I think that's a good idea. Years ago before state association relaxed restrictions on summer football activities we didn't do anything (including conditioning) until after July 4. Basketball coach always finished by July 1. School I'm at this year does not have weight training classes in PE curriculum. Seven of our nine opponents do. So I feel like we've got to start as soon as school's out now (we do after school lifting December-June). But there are conflicts with other sports. The "Arms Race" or "Keeping up with the Joneses" arguments.
|
|
|
Post by dcsworstnightmare on Jun 20, 2010 9:50:41 GMT -6
Hahahaha funny posts...I Love this website! lol All I'm trying to say is don't punish the players and coaches who want to put in as much time and effort as possible...As a player that's how "I" felt and by "Me" working "My" tail off harder than anyone else it forced "My" teammates to work harder and by "Us" competing more and more everyday and never letting up "We" won a championship...It also transferred over to the next level where "We" yet again won another championship...If "I" can bring out that same desire in the kids "I" will have set them up for success...One way "I" go about this is by conditioning with the kids...What player doesn't want to beat his Coach...In Anything?! And if "I" the Coach can do it without quitting then my players don't have an excuse for why they can't do it without quitting
|
|
|
Post by davishfc on Jun 20, 2010 9:55:57 GMT -6
We maintain a 3-day week of summer opportunities for improvement. I think this has gotten lost in all of this. Regardless of the schedule, these are not summer obligations as much as they are opportunities to improve as a football player and athlete. If you get enough kids showing up then you are also improving collectively as a team which is the ultimate goal. Don't we have a responsibility as coaches to offer several opportunities over the summer for our players to get better? We obviously want everyone there but when some kids are not...what can you do? Get pi$$ed off at the kids that are not there or help the ones that are there get better.
Our schedule is as follows:
Monday-Wednesday-Friday (4:00-8:30)
4:00-6:00 Scheme and Technique Installation (Skills for an hour, Line for an hour...limit of 7 players due to state regulations in Michigan) 6:00-6:30 Speed and Agility Training 6:30-8:00 Strength Training 8:00-8:30 Conditioning
TOTAL TIME / WEEK = 13.5 hours (sell it as just over half a day per week for FOOTBALL over the summer)
I've found that the majority of kids are excited about learning football and repping techniques. This is not shocking. The kids are there because they want to play football. The difficult part is selling the rest of the training as part of football as well. I've found coupling the football-specific drill work with the general athletic training (speed and agility, strength, and conditioning) into 3 days a week has been most ideal for offering opportunities to improve but not reaching that "point of diminishing returns". I've also found that this schedule with football-specific drill work and general athletic training has increased our numbers in attendance because the kids enthused about football are there, the kids enthused about lifting are there, and the ones that like both are there. We are catering to every motivation a kid could have to be out for football and consequently we have more kids out. Obviously having more players in attendance helps teammates and coaches stay motivated and enthused about the upcoming season.
We have a state-mandated "Dead Period" which for us runs from the week leading up to July 4th. The purpose of this on the part of the MHSAA, the governing body for Michigan High School Athletics, is to keep student-athletes from being overwhelmed with summer sports obligations. I don't feel like this is even necessary for the schedule we maintain. What I do like about this dead period is it gives a week for every family to plan vacations and there kids will not miss any opportunities to improve. This is not always the case but when there is a set week off and everyone works around it for vacations then we have as many kids present as possible on the days we do have activities. We do not offer any opportunities to improve on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Also up until 4 in the afternoon our players could be enjoying their summer, working, etc. We don't have activities in the morning because I've found that it eliminates excuses like I overslept or my alarm clock didn't go off. Nobody is sleeping at 3 in the afternoon which gives them plenty of time to get to our summer activities because they know they start at 4.
We are a small school of about 430 students so the athletes are the same kids across several seasons. I'm concerned about other sports demanding too much of the kids with camps over the summer. Our wrestlers had a camp for 3 days just last week and they are also attending the High Intensity Wrestling Camp at CMU for 5 days during what is our dead period. So while some of our kids are getting some time off to recharge and probably doing SOME lifting on their own, our wrestklers are waking up early to run 6 miles before a long day of wrestling drills and more conditioning. I actually talked to my QB about the camp because he is going. I asked him if he would want to take Monday off when he gets back from camp and our dead period is over. He said "I want to lift" and I already know he loves doing the drill work. He's a football player! I told him to just come out when he gets back and he could take some mental reps and let the JV QB take the majority of the reps, get some lifting in, and stride out the conditioning. He said that sounds good. But we'll see if his mind changes when he gets back from camp is absolutely beat. There are about another 7 guys going who also play football. So I'll have to find the happy medium with all of these kids because...bottom line...they are exhausted by sports that come after football. They need to be recharged before August because that is when football starts. Wrestling doesn't start until November. I'm sure there are other coaches of small schools like ours that can sympathize with the many camps, etc. that other sports are doing. Summer precedes football. But I also understand the summer is the only opportunity any coach has to offer those opportunities to improve to their players.
I honestly believe this is a much bigger challenge for coaches as small schools than at large schools where many kids will, dare I say that dreaded word, "specialize" in one sport and make the year round commitment to it. I think more often today, it's the opportunities to improve offered by several sports over the summer that combine to create any thought of burn out of our kids. It's not just football. I rank the value of consistent workouts throughout the summer months higher than a few day camp because those skills may or may not be utilized. Conversely, when players come to workouts and do it consistently, they will see improvements in their football knowledge and technique, speed, agility, strength, and conditioning. Minus the football skills, the athletic skills will benefit any sport that kid will play. More than a football coach who wants his kids to lift I feel like the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the athletic program because we are the only staff that encourages strength and conditioning and also offers opportunities to our kids to improve in those areas. Other coaches benefit because of the work we are demanding of the same groups of kids.
We have a two day camp from 9-4 both days the last week of July to get everyone together and install the offense primarily and defense the second half of the second day. The kids look forward to this because it is the only football camp we run. We do not do 7 on 7s because we are a spread to run team and the majority of our passes are off of playaction. During our season, we will going without seeing a 2 high safety look and only 2 or 3 teams at most will opt to play man coverage against us. However, at 7 on 7 tournaments we would see a teams equivalent of a prevent defense Cover 2 Man Under. What crap! So we gave up on those after my first year as Head Coach. We were not getting anything out of those except my QB's confidence level was gone because of the interceptions and the other players had a difficult time buying in to something that clearly wasn't working. Obviously, in an actual game, if we were getting a 2 high safety look we would run the ball down the throat of that defense until they got out of it. You can't do that at a 7 on 7. So we really freed up some time over the summer when we eliminate 7 on 7 camps/tournaments and practices. We practice our run game fundamentals which will ultimately determine whether or not we are successful.
Last summer, I cancelled the last Friday of strength and conditioning before football started. We currently have it scheduled but we will most likely do the same thing this year. Our kids were not burned out but I could tell some of them that had been working 40 hour weeks, coming to our stuff, and still trying to enjoy their summer were fatigued. Everything had taken it's toll over the June and July months so I gave them that Friday off. This meant that, the first week of August, they had Monday and Wednesday workouts then Thursday, Friday, Saturday OFF before they checked in on Sunday for the official start of practice (our 5-day camp...Camp Victory) on Monday. Our kids came in as prepared as they could possibly be and well rested for the start of football. There was not lack of excitement. Actually there was a high level of excitement because what they had been preparing for was finally here...football season.
This schedule has worked for us and I'm pleased with it. Kids have not revolted over it...parents have not complained about it...we as coaches like the level of preparation our schedule has allowed for...our kids have benefited tremendously from it. Nowhere near the ever scary "point of diminishing returns." Just what we do...certainly not the only way to break things up. Sorry about the length but I wanted to make sure I elaborated on every claim I made in this post. Thanks Coaches.
|
|
|
Post by blb on Jun 20, 2010 9:58:03 GMT -6
All I'm trying to say is don't punish the players and coaches who want to put in as much time and effort as possible...As a player that's how "I" felt and by "Me" working "My" tail off harder than anyone else it forced "My" teammates to work harder and by "Us" competing more and more everyday and never letting up "We" won a championship Even if your coach-HS did not have a highly-organized summer program - what's to keep kids from lifting (with own weights, at YMCA, or clubs) and running, getting together to pass and catch, work on kicking etc. on their own? Back in the days of suspension helmets and severe off-season restrictions on coaches - that's how we did it. And no, the dinosaurs were not still roaming the Earth. But Lincoln was a very good president.
|
|
|
Post by blb on Jun 20, 2010 10:05:06 GMT -6
Well-said, davis, especially point about "opportunities to improve."
Even though we call them "Conditioning Workouts", in reality it is "Player Development."
Am curious though - what's the difference between "Speed and Agility Training" and "Conditioning"?
|
|
|
Post by groundchuck on Jun 20, 2010 10:07:52 GMT -6
We have a highly organized 3x/wk program for S&C.
We do 3 nights of 7on7 with two other teams.
In July we run a 3 day camp.
We will find time to practice for 7on7 after the wt room for 30-45 minutes a couple times before we go to the first one. Then once a week during July.
So outside of our S&C program we don't ask much. I know other coaches closer to and in the metro area who do much much more. They can. My kids are highly involved in summer baseball. I told them and thier parents football will not burn them out.
|
|
|
Post by davishfc on Jun 20, 2010 10:22:23 GMT -6
Well-said, davis, especially point about "opportunities to improve." Even though we call them "Conditioning Workouts", in reality it is "Player Development." Am curious though - what's the difference between "Speed and Agility Training" and "Conditioning"? blb, Speed and Agility Training is done in 4 stations with 3 minutes at each station. The players do various cone agility drills, shuttle runs, ladder drills, etc. to help "develop", as you stated, their feet. Our players need to be able to change direction and have quick feet for any sport and especially football. Conditioning, on the other hand, is pure running to get their wind up. We run 4 gasers that the kids have a specified time they must make on each of the 4. We run in 3 groups (Skills, Tweeners, and Bigs) with specified time. I am a relatively young coach and I know most coaches today would use some other type of conditioning on the track perhaps. But we like old-fashioned gasers because they're challengin, they get the job done, and they're something we can do during the season without a track. We also hold the players accountable to those times the day before camps starts for each of the 4 gasers. Hope this explains the difference Coach.
|
|
|
Post by blb on Jun 20, 2010 10:29:12 GMT -6
We do our running on track so agility is somewhat limited. We make up for that during Individual Defense when practice starts, especially three no-pad days.
Used to do Cardio ("Conditioning") too but beginning this year I'm leaving that up to kids on their own. They have to run Mile as part of Physical Fitness Test before they can get helmets.
How well team does on Mile partially determines how much conditioning we do during Two-a-days.
|
|
|
Post by davishfc on Jun 20, 2010 10:37:13 GMT -6
We do our running on track so agility is somewhat limited. We make up for that during Individual Defense when practice starts, especially three no-pad days. Used to do Cardio ("Conditioning") too but beginning this year I'm leaving that up to kids on their own. They have to run Mile as part of Physical Fitness Test before they can get helmets. How well team does on Mile partially determines how much conditioning we do during Two-a-days. Are you ok with not allowing players the opportunity to run that mile consistently throughout the summer together to motivate each other to achieve their respective times? I understand you are running on the track...I don't know if that's a mile or not. I'm not trying to be difficult or abrasive. I just wouldn't feel real comfortable about requiring a mile be run in a certain time at camp if I wasn't helping them run that mile more easily throughout the summer. Just a thought. Just like we wouldn't expect them to perform a technique we haven't taken many opportunities to try to teach them...I wouldn't expect them to perform anything physically without helping prepare them to do so. JMHO.
|
|
|
Post by jgordon1 on Jun 20, 2010 12:18:03 GMT -6
agree w/ the arms race thing..Iwould like to get Big M's thought on this...we are a new program..here is what happened to us..we had a mini camp OTA to get ready for a 7/7 didn't do relatively bad offensively...we had a week of weightroom and then a week where we couldn't see the kids (finals)..anyway..we go to a 7/7 this weekend and we couln't barely throw a hitch...why..the kids didn't do one thing during the week....to get our program started we are doing two mini camps..jmu camp and 2 7 on 7's..just feel like we need it..hopefully as we mature and build tradition we can cut down that...as far as fundraising..the school could only buy us so much (well we do have two turf fields)the weight room was set up for PE so we need to buy all new squat racks etc
|
|
|
Post by phantom on Jun 20, 2010 23:03:15 GMT -6
agree w/ the arms race thing..Iwould like to get Big M's thought on this...we are a new program..here is what happened to us..we had a mini camp OTA to get ready for a 7/7 didn't do relatively bad offensively...we had a week of weightroom and then a week where we couldn't see the kids (finals)..anyway..we go to a 7/7 this weekend and we couln't barely throw a hitch...why..the kids didn't do one thing during the week....to get our program started we are doing two mini camps..jmu camp and 2 7 on 7's..just feel like we need it..hopefully as we mature and build tradition we can cut down that...as far as fundraising..the school could only buy us so much (well we do have two turf fields)the weight room was set up for PE so we need to buy all new squat racks etc I'd also like to hear from Big M. My personal feeling is that most of the offseason stuff is overrated. Not the conditioning stuff. The offseason is for building football players and that means S&C. I think that stuff like 7 on 7s have a use but can easily be overdone and overemphasized. jgordon is taking over a new team and I can understand his need for minicamps (keeping in mind that we don't have spring ball here). In most other cases, though, I think that a lot of stuff like that is more to give the coach a football fix than to actually improve the team.
|
|
|
Post by 44dlcoach on Jun 21, 2010 0:13:50 GMT -6
We get 10 practices in the spring, no pads, no contact. We use that time to go over basic fundamentals and install our basic scheme, but then go to a full-contact college camp every summer, so the 10 non-padded practices are more valuable in preparing to compete at that camp than to our actual season I think.
If we didn't have the camp coming up right after that I would think we could easily do without the spring ball.
|
|
|
Post by phantom on Jun 21, 2010 0:16:26 GMT -6
We get 10 practices in the spring, no pads, no contact. We use that time to go over basic fundamentals and install our basic scheme, but then go to a full-contact college camp every summer, so the 10 non-padded practices are more valuable in preparing to compete at that camp than to our actual season I think. If we didn't have the camp coming up right after that I would think we could easily do without the spring ball. Why is it so important to do well at that camp?
|
|
|
Post by blb on Jun 21, 2010 5:04:44 GMT -6
We do our running on track so agility is somewhat limited. We make up for that during Individual Defense when practice starts, especially three no-pad days. Used to do Cardio ("Conditioning") too but beginning this year I'm leaving that up to kids on their own. They have to run Mile as part of Physical Fitness Test before they can get helmets. How well team does on Mile partially determines how much conditioning we do during Two-a-days. Are you ok with not allowing players the opportunity to run that mile consistently throughout the summer together to motivate each other to achieve their respective times? I understand you are running on the track...I don't know if that's a mile or not. I'm not trying to be difficult or abrasive. I just wouldn't feel real comfortable about requiring a mile be run in a certain time at camp if I wasn't helping them run that mile more easily throughout the summer. Just a thought. Just like we wouldn't expect them to perform a technique we haven't taken many opportunities to try to teach them...I wouldn't expect them to perform anything physically without helping prepare them to do so. JMHO. Your point is well-taken. We do not run distance on track (except for jogging 1-2 laps as part of warm-up). We do Form Run, Agility, Plyos, Sprints. We used to do timed Cardio (starting with half mile and working up) but as I said we have dropped that this year. The reason we eliminated the endurance run is I just feel it's too much (remember we lift after running). So we encourage the kids to lace 'em up once or twice a week on the four days we're not working out and going for a run. Besides stamina, one of the reasons we still do a timed Mile is because we feel it is a test of commitment, self-discipline, mental toughness (plus being a PE teacher I just think 14-18 year old kids, especially athletes, should be able to run a Mile). Having them do it on their own before testing fits that paradigm and reduces volume of running and thus time spent in workouts.
|
|
|
Post by blb on Jun 21, 2010 5:35:32 GMT -6
My personal feeling is that most of the offseason stuff is overrated. Not the conditioning stuff. The offseason is for building football players and that means S&C. I think that stuff like 7 on 7s have a use but can easily be overdone and overemphasized. jgordon is taking over a new team and I can understand his need for minicamps (keeping in mind that we don't have spring ball here). In most other cases, though, I think that a lot of stuff like that is more to give the coach a football fix than to actually improve the team. Last sentence is instructive I feel. First started running our own camp in 1982. At that time we went Monday-Thursday, 9 am-Noon and 1-2:30 pm (Thursday afternoon was just timed 40s though). Eventually we cut down to Monday-Wednesday, 9-Noon and 1-3 pm. This year we are going 8:30 am-Noon - no afternoons. We do camp last week in July, closest to start of practice allowed. We are doing five 7-on-7 sessions this year and can't help feeling that's too many-more than we need. But like jgordon, it's first year of program, and will only have two after July 4. Less can be more.
|
|
|
Post by 44dlcoach on Jun 21, 2010 20:08:45 GMT -6
It's not that I feel it's especially important to "do well" at the camp from a "did we win that scrimmage" perspective, but I do think it is important that our kids go into the camp with some comfort level of our basic scheme so they can show the kind of football player they can be.
I'm sure we've all seen how timid and bad a kid can look when he is unsure of what he's supposed to do. By spending a few weeks in the spring installing our most basic stuff, we can spend the camp evaluating things like how physical a kid is, can he tackle, will he catch the ball when there is a chance of getting hit, etc. rather "how well does he know his playbook" which is what I think it would become if we didn't have those 10 spring practices to reinforce our base stuff on the field beforehand.
Like I said, if we didn't have a full contact component of our offseason immediately after the spring practices I think they would be more or less expendable, and basically just an extension of our summer weights program. But I do think there is some merit to putting our kids in a situation where they can be confident in their assignments at that camp and go out and play.
|
|