laarman
Probationary Member
Posts: 9
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Post by laarman on May 7, 2012 21:06:57 GMT -6
I am a first year head coach and a top priority is to get my kids to be scrappy- to battle their asses off every play. What are some things that you guys do to instill this mentality in your players?
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Post by coachwilliams2 on May 8, 2012 3:31:50 GMT -6
The identity of your program starts in the weightroom. Make them compete everyday. Be disciplined, fight through tough situations etc. There is no magic pill. Changing the culture of a program is very difficult.
In my opinion you don't need to be scrappy if you are sound and technique is perfect. They don't need to know how to scrap. They need to know how to win football games. Don't waste time fighting or playing tug of war...spend time teaching them the how and why of the techniques needed for them to be successful.
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Post by TMGPG on May 8, 2012 5:47:53 GMT -6
I second the weight room comment. If they get stronger they will think they are tougher. That is half the battle. And as Coach Williams pointed out, get them competing in the weight room with and against each other. The will push each other to get better a whole lot more than any coach will. Plus if you are not competing in the weight room; where are you competing? 7 on 7 once or twice a week? That is not enough. If you get a team that competes every day you will have a tougher team.
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Post by John Knight on May 8, 2012 6:11:32 GMT -6
If they won't bite as pups, they won't bite as dogs.- Ed Bolin
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Post by Coach Bennett on May 8, 2012 6:12:37 GMT -6
Wrestlers and rugby players generally seem to be a scrappy bunch.
Do you have either sports in your school to promote?
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Post by newhope on May 8, 2012 6:25:21 GMT -6
1. Weight room
2. Insist that they finish every drill
3. Insist that they finish every sprint full speed
4. We have a short competition period most days (every day the first few weeks) at practice for 5-10 minutes---"Find a Way to Win".....some type of relay, whatever, doesn't matter...they compete...winning line gets 2 sprints off at end of practice. (They never take the 2 off)
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Post by jlenwood on May 11, 2012 6:47:42 GMT -6
Make them compete at everything, that is what scrappy is. When a kid decides he is not gong to lose to someone else, that is the attitude you have to start cultivating. Three methods we have started have really made some noticeable changes in attitude:
1)In our weight room, everyone has a partner that they push. Nobody wants to be seen as a slacker or half a$$, so they all give full effort or the rest of the team calls them out.
2)In our agility or conditioning drills we do off season we never do one line. We always have everyone split into two teams and run 2 lines of the same drill, loser pays with push ups.
3)When we do straight line competitions, we make the kids carry a 45# plate. Now you start to see some sweat and pride show up. Nobody wants to be seen as the kid who can't carry the weight and finish the drill.
This is the first off-season we have started this (new HC) and the results have been very impressive.
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Post by lochness on May 11, 2012 17:26:57 GMT -6
Weight Room- everyone's already said it. That's #1 by far.
Pride- If they care about the team and about the hard work they've put in as individuals, they will fight.
Unity- If they care about and respect each other, they will do whatever it takes to maintain that respect and to not let their brothers down.
Those are the three values we work our a$$es off to put in place in our program. It sounds simple...and in a way it is. Get the kids in the weight room, and get them having fun together with you and your staff outside of football (paintball, pizza parties, sleep-over Madden Football tourneys in the gym, whatever it takes).
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Post by 44dlcoach on May 11, 2012 20:14:26 GMT -6
My kids have always looked a lot more competitive and played a lot harder when they knew what they were doing as well. When I was calling too much crap and they didn't know what they were doing, they looked timid and lazy.
Kids want to compete, and when they know what they are supposed to be doing they will do it hard. When they aren't sure they'll do it timid and look like crap, so I'd say establish what you're going to be and get really good at it, especially in the early stages of building the program.
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