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Post by lochness on Feb 11, 2011 7:04:19 GMT -6
Coaches,
I'd like to start a running inventory of the best ideas you have implemented (or seen) for running a more efficient, effective practice. We've picked up some pretty good stuff visiting different colleges locally, and I'm curious to hear what you guys have seen or done.
Last year, we saw a small college doing something that was SO basic and simple with their Special Teams practice, that it was definitly a "DUUHHHH" moment for us.
On KO / KOR and Punt / PR, they would kick and then flip sides. So, if they were kicking off right-to-left, they'd kick, run their coverage drill, and at the whistle, they'd re-set going left-to-right. I know, that seems so basic...but we always had our kids run back into position, get set up, and go again. It was such a waste of time once we saw how things could run when we jsut had the kids turn around and not have to re-set in their original spot.
I know, I know.....DUUUHHHHHHHH!
;D
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Post by coachdubyah on Feb 11, 2011 7:10:21 GMT -6
Just stole that idea.
I coach Oline and the 1 drill I hate is 1 on 1 pass pro. Not because of the hassle of doing it, but it is the one time that the Dline can pin their ears back and try and get the QB. Then they start beating their chest thinking they're all world. To me it's not really that beneficial to the DL. How are they going to know it's a run or pass? So what we started to do was just giving the Oline a signal for 1 of our run plays, typically IZ or OZ. It is a 1 on 1 block, but you would be surprised at how many times we pancake or drive a DL off the ball with this. Keeps the DLine honest.
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Post by jackedup on Feb 11, 2011 7:47:24 GMT -6
One that I stumbled upon last season that helped tremendously with time was combining formation adjustment period with Pursuit.
I would use my trash cans for the OL and I would play QB. Then I would use the 2nd team as skilled players. I would huddle up; direct an outside run or pass play. The defense had to recognize the formation and adjust (change any defense needed) and execute a rabbit pursuit. It was awesome. No formation adjustment problems all year and it was only because I didn't have time to do both.
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raiderx
Sophomore Member
Posts: 222
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Post by raiderx on Feb 11, 2011 8:34:42 GMT -6
Tempo...always moving...try and reduce or eliminate down time for anybody as much as possible. I also like running inside hull and team in situations...takes more planning but it is worth it. 3rd and 10...on the 20 yd line and 3 downs to score etc.
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Post by Chris Clement on Feb 11, 2011 8:37:25 GMT -6
I just invented on by accident that's a big hit: we do a few sprints all together, then we continue doing sprints, but the winner of each sprint is done, and we go until everyone is out (one guy ends up running against noone, but with the team cheering on). Then the players get points by finish, so if you come first of 11, you get 11 points, and you sum all the points over the season. Larger teams may need to split up into groups. It's helped with some attendance issues because if you miss a day, you drop back a couple spots and it's hard to catch up.
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Post by shsqbcoach1 on Feb 11, 2011 8:51:44 GMT -6
One thing we've done for a couple of years after picking it up from another school was what we call "Racehorse". It sort of combines pass skel and sprints.
We would line up the Varsity 1s, varsity 2s, JV 1s (O-line and skills) and JV 2s (just skills due to numbers) in the end zone. The varsity 1s would go first, run a pass play and that group would sprint to the 20 to start the next play. They would do this until the reached the far endzone, jog back and repeat. The other groups would follow 20 yards behind and any defense-only players would be on the sidelines sprinting the 20 yards with the groups. We usually do it between 2-4 times down the field depending on effort and execution.
One coach will follow behind each group, or coaches can stand at 20 yard intervals, to focus on whatever details the team decides (Spacing pre-snap and good routes for us). Its been a very good conditioning drill for us and the kids are huffing and puffing afterwards but instead of just running sprints we get some extra play reps in.
We personally only use passing plays but you could also include runs if you were more of a run based team.
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Post by coachcb on Feb 11, 2011 8:56:37 GMT -6
I've been tinkering with a lot of different stuff but my BEST practice policy is simple; if the first 20 minutes of practice are crap, then we start over. We go right back to period 1 on the schedule. We'll keep starting over until they get it together. We only had to do this three times last year and only restarted twice on one occasion.
It's not the most efficient or effective use of time at THAT practice. But, the rest of practice (and every practice afterward) is nice and crisp.
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kwallis
Sophomore Member
[F4:CoachWallis] [F4:CoachWallis]
Posts: 198
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Post by kwallis on Feb 11, 2011 9:07:29 GMT -6
this past season we started off with our standard dynamic warmup, but after that we went right into a 10-12min "speciality skill" period. all kickers, punters, snappers and anyone that might possibly ever catch a kick (basically all skill kids) all worked on their skill. we had rotations for kickers, punters and snappers. they would work on all types of kicks and the snappers would do both punt and fg/xp. during this time the lineman would have an indy tech period. we do O and D emphasis days, so whatever was the emphasis for the day, the lineman worked on that. we are a 3a school so dont have a lot of number. now this wasnt our whole special teams practice for the day, but really felt like it helped our special teams out and got our lineman some more indy tech time.
kw
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Post by seagull73 on Feb 11, 2011 9:29:39 GMT -6
No warm up at all as a team. We go right to indy and each coach warms up his position with position specific movements before starting indy. No more B.S. to start practice.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2011 10:05:27 GMT -6
We moved our pre-practice routine to the end of practice and called it post practice. We were not able to have all our coaches available right after school got out due to other work situations. So the coaches that were readily available after school started warm-ups and we got right into practice after all the coaches arrived.
At the end of practice we had a more relaxed post practice period that allowed individual coaches to cover things with their group that a normal school would in a pre-practice session. We found that we started practice better by getting right into it and kids were more focused in the post-practice session than they used to be in pre-practice.
We got this idea from a small college that had to deal with kids rushing to practice after an afternoon class or lab. The post practice setting allowed them to have a time with all the kids in their position available to go over stuff.
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Post by airman on Feb 11, 2011 11:06:12 GMT -6
this is special teams nugget that I got at a big high school in texas.
punt vs punt return on one field
kickoff vs kick return on another field
both are going on at the same time then the coach called flip, and the team that was punting became the return team and the team covering became the punting team. they did the same for kickoff.
meaning while the offensive and defensive lineman were working one on one pass pro/pass rush
qbs where working on mechanics
now this guy used platooned and used all sorts of players on the special teams. they practiced special teams for 30 to 40 minutes daily.
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Post by coachbdud on Feb 11, 2011 11:15:54 GMT -6
we do not warm up...
i feel like my teams have gotten so much better as i have evolved as a coach just from this alone
my first few years we static stretched, then some dynamic movements, took us 20 minutes before we did anything
then 2 years ago i finally got HC to switch to dynamic, only took about 10 minutes, so we got an extra 10 of practice time
now we dont even dynamic... we just start practice. We start with relatively easy indys to get them going and gradually build. havent had any pull problems, any "tight" kids who think they need to stretch know they gotta get it done before we start. it is great
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Post by shotgunfivewide5 on Feb 11, 2011 11:39:09 GMT -6
got this drill from a person in oregon second hand not that it mattered...fun drill and very addictive, taught how to score and finish...biggest problem and it is a good one to have is that players, coaches and manager love it so much you have to put a time limit or number of attempts on it....the biggest residual we got was that it helped our kids and coaches know what play to score by down and distance.
the drill starts on the 5 yard line going in....we have our first string offense versus the best of the rest defense...our defensive coordinator is in charge of the defense and may run any blitz or coverage, front in our system to stop the offense...we put one coach on the goalline along with a manage on the other side...they serve as the official and indicate whether the offense scored or not..their word is final here is how the scoring goes, the offense gets one play to score from the 5 yard line, they may run any play they want to use to score...if they score they move to the next line, the 10 yard line and have one play to score from there as also, this continues to the 15,the 20, the 25 and finally the 30 yard line...only one play to score from each line and if the offense fails to score from one of these lines the drill starts all over again from the 5 yard lines....normally we devote 10 to 15 minutes once a week or we tell the offense they have 7 tries starting from the the 5....during this time you might run only 7 plays, all from the 5 or multiple plays ranging from the 5 all the way back to the 30, you must score from the line you are on before you can move to the next line...if at any point the offense converts a td from the 30 the drill is over and either you go to another drill or go inside.....just to let you know i have only had one team in 21 years go all the way to the 30 and convert to stop the drill...they only did it twice and they had an offense that scored 706 points and averaged over 500 points a year for 3 seasons in a row
to put more pressure on both teams we added conditioning to the drill.....for the offense, if they failed to score from the 5 which they should do almost all the time they had to do 3 getups or up downs for not scoring.....two get ups from not scoring from the 10 and one get up for not scoring from the 15,20,25 and 30....it was just the opposite for the defense....if the offense scored from the 5 the defense did one get up, from the 10 one get up, the fifteen 2 get ups for allowing the score, 2 from allowng a 20 yard score and 3 getups for allowing a score from the 25 or 30 yards line
ususally we would keep score and one team or another would have to run a certain amount of 100 yard dashes at the end
we also put extra men on defense to make it harder on the offense....sometimes adding one or two men
we called this drill "easy street" and it was the favorite things my teams have ever done and i must add a great motivator...kids wanted to go to easy street everyday...hope that this helps
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Post by phantom on Feb 11, 2011 12:47:40 GMT -6
Defensively I think that one of the best things that we do is our 10 minute adjustment period.
We huddle the 1st defense on the 30 yard line (what yard line isn't important. That's just where we happen to be standing after STs) and the 2nd defense on the 40. The scout offense huddles in the middle. We have a book with the formations drawn up and we script the period. The offense huddles, gets the formation, and lines up in it against the 1st defense. The defense aligns, adjusts, and makes their calls. There may be a shift or motion but there's no play. When the defense is adjusted properly we blow the whistle and the offense turns around and aligns against the 2nd defense and repeats the process. When they're adjusted right the offense huddles and gets the next formation.
We get a lot done in a short time. We don't need a quality scout team since all they'll do is stand there.
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Post by 4under2deep on Feb 11, 2011 13:22:00 GMT -6
We now take the last 10 minutes of practice as a "clean up" period... Basically an indy period to fix the mistakes from TODAY!!
For example if our offensive line is having troble with their combination of the 2 technique frontside of our zone play thats what the offensive line is working.
If there is nothing glaring then it is position specific conditioning. I like it a lot
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Post by wingt74 on Feb 11, 2011 14:11:41 GMT -6
No before practice stretching...agree 100%.
#1 drill is our 5 on 4 drill.
3 linemen, 1 blocking back 1 running back with the ball.
D is 2 DLinemen, 1 LB, and one DB.
Basically, mini-full contact scrims...simple lead left or lead right to work on basic technique. Also gives us coaches a chance to review non-starters and starters to see if there is improvement or regression and a need to reevaluate starting positions.
Very fast paced. Usually set up cones in a 20 by 20. Set up a first down/touch down line.
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Post by bucksweepdotcom on Feb 11, 2011 18:14:10 GMT -6
One that I stumbled upon last season that helped tremendously with time was combining formation adjustment period with Pursuit. I would use my trash cans for the OL and I would play QB. Then I would use the 2nd team as skilled players. I would huddle up; direct an outside run or pass play. The defense had to recognize the formation and adjust (change any defense needed) and execute a rabbit pursuit. It was awesome. No formation adjustment problems all year and it was only because I didn't have time to do both. I do this too and I think it is one of the best things we do.
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Post by coachbdud on Feb 11, 2011 20:05:20 GMT -6
got this drill from a person in oregon second hand not that it mattered...fun drill and very addictive, taught how to score and finish...biggest problem and it is a good one to have is that players, coaches and manager love it so much you have to put a time limit or number of attempts on it....the biggest residual we got was that it helped our kids and coaches know what play to score by down and distance. the drill starts on the 5 yard line going in....we have our first string offense versus the best of the rest defense...our defensive coordinator is in charge of the defense and may run any blitz or coverage, front in our system to stop the offense...we put one coach on the goalline along with a manage on the other side...they serve as the official and indicate whether the offense scored or not..their word is final here is how the scoring goes, the offense gets one play to score from the 5 yard line, they may run any play they want to use to score...if they score they move to the next line, the 10 yard line and have one play to score from there as also, this continues to the 15,the 20, the 25 and finally the 30 yard line...only one play to score from each line and if the offense fails to score from one of these lines the drill starts all over again from the 5 yard lines....normally we devote 10 to 15 minutes once a week or we tell the offense they have 7 tries starting from the the 5....during this time you might run only 7 plays, all from the 5 or multiple plays ranging from the 5 all the way back to the 30, you must score from the line you are on before you can move to the next line...if at any point the offense converts a td from the 30 the drill is over and either you go to another drill or go inside.....just to let you know i have only had one team in 21 years go all the way to the 30 and convert to stop the drill...they only did it twice and they had an offense that scored 706 points and averaged over 500 points a year for 3 seasons in a row to put more pressure on both teams we added conditioning to the drill.....for the offense, if they failed to score from the 5 which they should do almost all the time they had to do 3 getups or up downs for not scoring.....two get ups from not scoring from the 10 and one get up for not scoring from the 15,20,25 and 30....it was just the opposite for the defense....if the offense scored from the 5 the defense did one get up, from the 10 one get up, the fifteen 2 get ups for allowing the score, 2 from allowng a 20 yard score and 3 getups for allowing a score from the 25 or 30 yards line ususally we would keep score and one team or another would have to run a certain amount of 100 yard dashes at the end we also put extra men on defense to make it harder on the offense....sometimes adding one or two men we called this drill "easy street" and it was the favorite things my teams have ever done and i must add a great motivator...kids wanted to go to easy street everyday...hope that this helps I LOVE it coach, consider this drill STOLEN
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Post by coachplaa on Feb 11, 2011 22:11:23 GMT -6
I love this stuff. Eating it up....
I have two, both for our defensive team time:
1) Anytime the ball hits the ground- incomplete pass or fumble, the entire defense treats it like a turnover and scores/escorts to the endzone. Also, as soon as the ball touches the ground, they all must start yelling, getting excited. Also, if the ball stops (and a kid falls on it), the rest of the team is pointing in the direction like its our ball. This may sound annoying, but we've stripped the ball in games as the whistle blows, and the referrees get sold on our enthusiasm. Happened twice last year that I remember. 2) When we are running our scout team offense vs our 1st team defense, we have an A scout huddle, and a B scout huddle. One is on the left hash, the other is on the right hash. They switch hashes each day for defensive time. Group A runs plays that are a little more challenging, like maybe 5-step drop, option, read plays, etc. Group B runs simpler stuff, like 3-step drop pass, dive, toss, etc. We have one scout team coach for each huddle. While one scout team is running the play versus our first defense, the other scout team is getting the play from a card, and ready to break as soon as the current play is over. This forces our defense to align quickly and get ready to defend next play. Great for our mental approach, alignment, assignment, conditioning, etc.
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Post by mariner42 on Feb 11, 2011 23:40:23 GMT -6
I love this stuff. Eating it up.... I have two, both for our defensive team time: 1) Anytime the ball hits the ground- incomplete pass or fumble, the entire defense treats it like a turnover and scores/escorts to the endzone. Also, as soon as the ball touches the ground, they all must start yelling, getting excited. Also, if the ball stops (and a kid falls on it), the rest of the team is pointing in the direction like its our ball. This may sound annoying, but we've stripped the ball in games as the whistle blows, and the referrees get sold on our enthusiasm. Happened twice last year that I remember. 2) When we are running our scout team offense vs our 1st team defense, we have an A scout huddle, and a B scout huddle. One is on the left hash, the other is on the right hash. They switch hashes each day for defensive time. Group A runs plays that are a little more challenging, like maybe 5-step drop, option, read plays, etc. Group B runs simpler stuff, like 3-step drop pass, dive, toss, etc. We have one scout team coach for each huddle. While one scout team is running the play versus our first defense, the other scout team is getting the play from a card, and ready to break as soon as the current play is over. This forces our defense to align quickly and get ready to defend next play. Great for our mental approach, alignment, assignment, conditioning, etc. Edit: to contribute something that I know Groundchuck liked: We are up-tempo Wing-T (huddle, but we get in/get out as fast as possible), so we like to condition via reps. We line up an even front D with cones, an odd front D with cones, and a bear front D with cones, all about 25 yards apart. QB is a play to call and they run it vs one front, sprint to the next, run it vs that front, sprint to the last, run it vs that front, then the offense jogs back around. Do this with as many offensive huddles as you can. We'll also time our guys running 4 plays in a row, as fast as possible from a huddle. So we'll do buck sweep, trap, wb counter, and waggle consecutively, hurrying into and out of the huddle. Best we did this year for 4 plays was like, 50 something seconds I wanna say. As they get better, we increase the total # of plays. The goal is to be able to run 8 plays by the end of the season without our guys crapping out. It's game-specific conditioning, assignment review, develops 'mental toughness', good, good drill. I think we best we did this year was 6 plays in a row. Now, when we want to hurry up at the end of the half, it's really not that big of a deal, plus the bad guys get SPENT.
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Post by gdf on Feb 12, 2011 6:01:15 GMT -6
Two things that we've done defensively:
1. Any time we do team D or 7 on 7, we have a turnover quota the D must meet. Fail to meet it = conditioning. We feel we've seen this impact our TO totals on Friday nights. Plus it makes these sessions more competitive.
2. I coach DB's and when we do Indy session and work footwork/technique we'll start on the goal line. Everyone spreads out and does the drill at the same time. We get through all our stuff much quicker this way. Typically we do it this way during game week once a majority of the teaching is done, and we're short on time.
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Post by jackedup on Feb 12, 2011 8:00:59 GMT -6
One of the things I heard at a clinic this January that I'm planning on instituting is to just use a nerf ball for Team Defense on Tuesdays. They don't actually hand off the ball. They just use it to simulate the snap and then everyone carries out the play without a ball.
Also, on Tuesday - their installation day - they do 7 on 7 without a ball as well. They just work the drops versus the routes. I think that is awesome because it saves so much time and the players don't focus on the ball as much as the routes they need to defend.
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Post by dacoachmo on Feb 12, 2011 8:29:31 GMT -6
We practice PAT and PUNT at the same time. We only have to split time with the WINGS and GUNNER.
We also PUNT back and forth...BUT I will start KICKING back and forth too!!!
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Post by airraider on Feb 12, 2011 9:12:42 GMT -6
I have been using the "A" Oklahoma drill for the last couple of years with good success. I got it from some link someone posted of a college who posted videos of their practice drills. Arizone State maybe?
I am about to post right now asking which site that was with all those drills.
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chuff
Sophomore Member
Posts: 136
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Post by chuff on Feb 12, 2011 16:47:44 GMT -6
Great thread! Mariner: when you do your timed plays, is it against your 3 cone fronts (air) or against scouts? If it is against scouts how do you ensure execution or is the purpose simply tempo? Thanks! And thanks to everyone else who has shared. With lower attention spans, I am always looking to be more efficient!
As for my own contribution, we sometimes have numbers problems so our scouts aren't always the best. We will run a play three times in a row (run the play, spot the ball, run it again) so that the scouts will cheat and our offense will get a better look.
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Post by blb on Feb 12, 2011 17:01:26 GMT -6
1. If kids are "gassed" for some reason, give them a break. Going half-speed doesn't do them any good.
2. Do not practice longer than you say you will. Somebody could get hurt on "Run it again, one more time". And if you can't get done what you planned to that day - it's your fault, not theirs; plus, there's always tomorrow.
3. If you get done what you set out to do before scheduled end of practice - let 'em go early. Does wonders for morale and again, nobody gets hurt unnecessarily.
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Post by M4 on Feb 12, 2011 17:24:08 GMT -6
To save time we have a team manager walk around with water bottles during practice giving players a squirt anytime there in between a rep of a drill etc. This eliminated the need for water breaks for practice and the players like it, we have injured players also serve in this role.
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Post by mariner42 on Feb 12, 2011 17:25:37 GMT -6
Great thread! Mariner: when you do your timed plays, is it against your 3 cone fronts (air) or against scouts? If it is against scouts how do you ensure execution or is the purpose simply tempo? Thanks! And thanks to everyone else who has shared. With lower attention spans, I am always looking to be more efficient! Cones.
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Post by touchdowng on Feb 12, 2011 19:00:25 GMT -6
Two things that REALLY helped up tempo our practices. 1. Use the clock on the scoreboard for EVERY period in practice and STICK with it. 2. Run your periods on offense as Indy Run/Combo Run/Group Run then Indy Pass/Combo Pass/then to TEAM. We split our QBs up and they "service" each area following their own Indy periods. It's very uptempo for them and THEY must establish the TEMPO for each combo and group period.
This was huge for QB leadership development
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Post by fbcoach33 on Feb 12, 2011 19:59:47 GMT -6
As something rather similiar to the first post....in team offense and 7-7 etc, we do not huddle and along with that wherever the play ends we start he next one and make our way up and down the field...it saves a ton of time vs walking back to a set start point....the other thing it does for our kids is it gives them a idea of how plays will be linked together.. we call the plays just as we would in a game...so if we complete the fade rt down to the 1, the next play would be something from our GL package...i have a manager check off the plays we run so we dont miss anything, we dont script, we just keep running plays,,we can run about 3 plays per minute...and by going no huddle the kids dont have time to question or complain to each other if something doesnt work we just run the next play instead..seems to help keep some neg energy away
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