Post by mikeg on Oct 8, 2013 17:59:14 GMT -6
I was looking for some insight from the youth coaches on this site.
To start, I've only been coaching youth football for 2 years now. I have coached over 15 years in another sport where I have coached high school and youth and have had athletes that have been state champions and have competed in Division I athletics through the years.
It has been an up and down season for our 4th grade team. This is our second year together and after much research, I decided that the single wing offense was the best for our small, fast team. As an assistant to the head coach, who is a friend of mine, my advice is taken seriously because of my coaching background and since we don't have any kids on the team, there is some drama that we don't have to deal with.
The beginning of the season was great (with the exception of some parents voicing concern that the single wing is a gimmick offense). We were 2-6 last year and we started our first two games with wins, rushing over 300 yards per game and our defense not giving up a touchdown. Week three we lost to a tough team, and the past two weeks, we were beaten by two teams that I felt that we were better than.
During the last two games, I saw a very undisciplined team asking to play certain positions, standing around during the plays, and walking to the line of scrimmage, among other things. Their mechanics were off and I felt that they didn't have any heart when playing. We would reset at practice where many of the coaches would yell the proverbial "block somebody" instead of instructing the kids.
This week, the Head Coach decided that the practice schedule would be practice Monday, fundraiser Tuesday, practice Wednesday, practice Thursday, team event Friday and game on Saturday. Keep in mind, he has the kids practicing for 2 hours, 3 nights a week and has the kids at the field up to 2 hours before game time to work on plays. In my coaching experience, this lack of intensity, hustle, motivation and drive is the first sign of burn-out or overload and I suggested that because we play a struggling team on Saturday, perhaps we should cut Thursday's practice, cut the team event on Friday and have a tight warm-up routine 30 minutes before game on Saturday. The kids are in 4th grade and need a break before the playoffs (two weeks away) to get recharged as they're not having fun and it seems like they don't want to be there.
While he pushed back A LOT, he decided that maybe I had some valid points and gave the boys Thursday and Friday off. Needless to say, there are many parents upset as they feel that "practice makes perfect" and "how can we expect the boys to get any better when we cut a practice?" They don't realize that we've been practicing 3 nights a week and getting worse. Right now, it's skill versus will with these kids and they are acting like they don't want to be there.
I have had to do this a couple of times in my coaching career and it has worked really well for the kids. As far as the push back, I told the Head Coach that sometimes you have to tell the parents "because I'm the coach and I said so." But I wanted to see if youth football is different when it comes to sport psychology and if I was off base on my thinking.
To start, I've only been coaching youth football for 2 years now. I have coached over 15 years in another sport where I have coached high school and youth and have had athletes that have been state champions and have competed in Division I athletics through the years.
It has been an up and down season for our 4th grade team. This is our second year together and after much research, I decided that the single wing offense was the best for our small, fast team. As an assistant to the head coach, who is a friend of mine, my advice is taken seriously because of my coaching background and since we don't have any kids on the team, there is some drama that we don't have to deal with.
The beginning of the season was great (with the exception of some parents voicing concern that the single wing is a gimmick offense). We were 2-6 last year and we started our first two games with wins, rushing over 300 yards per game and our defense not giving up a touchdown. Week three we lost to a tough team, and the past two weeks, we were beaten by two teams that I felt that we were better than.
During the last two games, I saw a very undisciplined team asking to play certain positions, standing around during the plays, and walking to the line of scrimmage, among other things. Their mechanics were off and I felt that they didn't have any heart when playing. We would reset at practice where many of the coaches would yell the proverbial "block somebody" instead of instructing the kids.
This week, the Head Coach decided that the practice schedule would be practice Monday, fundraiser Tuesday, practice Wednesday, practice Thursday, team event Friday and game on Saturday. Keep in mind, he has the kids practicing for 2 hours, 3 nights a week and has the kids at the field up to 2 hours before game time to work on plays. In my coaching experience, this lack of intensity, hustle, motivation and drive is the first sign of burn-out or overload and I suggested that because we play a struggling team on Saturday, perhaps we should cut Thursday's practice, cut the team event on Friday and have a tight warm-up routine 30 minutes before game on Saturday. The kids are in 4th grade and need a break before the playoffs (two weeks away) to get recharged as they're not having fun and it seems like they don't want to be there.
While he pushed back A LOT, he decided that maybe I had some valid points and gave the boys Thursday and Friday off. Needless to say, there are many parents upset as they feel that "practice makes perfect" and "how can we expect the boys to get any better when we cut a practice?" They don't realize that we've been practicing 3 nights a week and getting worse. Right now, it's skill versus will with these kids and they are acting like they don't want to be there.
I have had to do this a couple of times in my coaching career and it has worked really well for the kids. As far as the push back, I told the Head Coach that sometimes you have to tell the parents "because I'm the coach and I said so." But I wanted to see if youth football is different when it comes to sport psychology and if I was off base on my thinking.
