|
|
Post by stone65 on Nov 10, 2014 17:31:46 GMT -6
We are fortunate enough to make the playoffs for the 3rd straight year. We are in week 2 of the playoffs and it seems that the kids are just going through the motions today at practice and really the last week as well. I know that the kids should be excited about making it this far, but only a few are showing they care.
Any suggestions to keep kids working hard?
|
|
|
|
Post by gators1422 on Nov 10, 2014 18:34:37 GMT -6
Today was the first day of playoff practice and I'm not sure how your guys aren't jacked. We work 11 months for these 4 weeks and they know the intensity level goes up at this time. We could see it today at practice. I feel like they should take their cue from the coaches.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2014 19:05:09 GMT -6
In our state most teams play Friday night games during the regular season. Then during the playoffs most games are on Saturdays. Most coaches push all their practices back a day during those weeks or give the players a Monday off.
The coaches that I know that add a practice during those weeks find that players and coaches wear out during the already intense playoffs. Take a look at your practice schedule and see if you have any excess in it.
|
|
|
|
Post by stone65 on Nov 10, 2014 21:17:59 GMT -6
I know we should be jacked. And we were the last couple of years. In fact, after we won the first round our guys were not all that excited. In one way I like that we expect to win, but you have to enjoy it sometime.
|
|
|
|
Post by fantom on Nov 11, 2014 9:45:24 GMT -6
We are fortunate enough to make the playoffs for the 3rd straight year. We are in week 2 of the playoffs and it seems that the kids are just going through the motions today at practice and really the last week as well. I know that the kids should be excited about making it this far, but only a few are showing they care. Any suggestions to keep kids working hard? When you say that they're going through the motions, what do you mean? Are they actually loafing or are they just practicing in a businesslike manner the same way that they did during the regular season? |
|
|
|
Post by kkfootball on Nov 11, 2014 10:26:02 GMT -6
Just because they aren't bouncing off the walls doesn't mean they aren't focused on this weeks game. It could mean they know what has gotten them to this point and are just going through practice. Now if they are going half speed or giving up on assignments, that's an issue.
|
|
|
|
Post by bluedevil4 on Nov 11, 2014 11:26:37 GMT -6
Our team is the most flat practice team I have ever seen. The amount of going through the motions drives us coaches insane. However, every game night, they come psyched, and they execute very good technique in the games. Some teams just role that way. Even our warm-ups in games are very flat and a lot of it consists of standing around between sessions with helmets off and sitting on the bench. That's what has worked for us though all season, and we are not about to change it.
By the end of the season, we use technique sessions more as warm-ups than anything. The actual dynamic warm-ups have been reduced to a couple exercises that takes maybe 60 seconds at most. As our O-line coach said: "If you're technique isn't sound by mid-season, it never will be." Our technique has become sound, so repping it now is just flat out boring to the kids. We use the abbreviated tech sessions to warm up, and the rest of the time is spent on gameplanning sessions. Our practices rarely top two hours at this point in the season as well. We start practice at 3:30 and are usually off the field by 5:15/5:20.
I agree with Center. Look for excess practice sessions and work to remove them. If you feel you need to do more, replace them with something fun, like relay races, or a game of 7-on-7. Anything fun that includes repping technique is a bonus.
Our OC put it perfectly. "We are 0-9 in practice, and 0-9 in the warmups. Fortunately, they only count the W-L column."
|
|
|
|
Post by coachwoodall on Nov 11, 2014 20:19:18 GMT -6
I agree with the above posts about curtailing back on practice; that is our plan starting around the beginning of region play. I'm assuming that you have the pulse of your team and are looking for something to 'kick it up a notch'.
One of the things that we do is bring up they young pups for the playoff run. They can help serve as scout team, but also can help in team/group periods to help with the rapid fire that can make things go much quicker/smoother. These guys are usually ones that we are looking to be contributors in the coming off season/regular season and help replace SR starters.
To make it mean something to them, other than the possibility of getting a ring/pat on the back/atta boy, is to have a segment of practice that is dedicated specifically to them. It might be a O vs. D scrimmage, O vs. D board drill/Okla, O vs. D drill we call spider, etc.... This is usually at the end of practice and the starters serve as de facto coaches and cheerleaders. I just call it "hooting' and hollering'". It is just a time to get the blood flowing and show the young pups some love, but at the same time as coaches we also get a chance to see which pups will bite and which won't.
|
|
|
|
Post by realdawg on Nov 12, 2014 10:19:28 GMT -6
I agree with bringing the young bucks up. In my experience playoff practices are some of the best we have had. The reason being is while we are doing team O or inside or whatever we will use the younger kids as the scouts and our d coaches will actually go over there and coach them since they are not having to handle jv practice. That keeps the scout intensity up which raises the intensity of the whole practice. They may not be running your scheme but squeezing a downblock is squeezing a downblock and reading a G is reading a G.
|
|
