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Post by ogre5530 on Jun 28, 2015 13:13:46 GMT -6
As we are attempting to turn the corner in our program we realize one major flaw in our kids is that we are not very resilient when facing adversity. What are things that you guys do in your program to help promote mental toughness. Anything you can offer would be very helpful and greatly appreciated!!
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Post by calkayne on Jun 28, 2015 20:05:20 GMT -6
Applaud effort equal to or more than results Ensure players finish the drill Face adversity in practice, physically difficult drills/situations (11 vs 8 in team for example) Build physical preparedness in the players systematically. In a method that they can see the results
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 18:45:09 GMT -6
As we are attempting to turn the corner in our program we realize one major flaw in our kids is that we are not very resilient when facing adversity. What are things that you guys do in your program to help promote mental toughness. Anything you can offer would be very helpful and greatly appreciated!! Raise expectations of your kids. Do not accept bull crap. Treat them like adults. Practice fast, with tempo, push them in work outs. Hold them accountable. All the stuff you see in games is a result of what is allowed/taught in practice.
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Post by groundchuck on Jul 1, 2015 19:05:26 GMT -6
We find that our toughest kids are the ones who show up in the wt room, work hard even when they don't want to, and keep working when it hurts. They carry that to the field with them. Its not a panacea but it sure helps. We reward those who work hard and meet program expectations.
On the field don't except good effort, execution, or teamwork. Except only great effort, etc. when great effort happens pint it out. When we do 1on1s even if a kid loses we applaud great effort.
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Post by lions23 on Jul 2, 2015 5:34:16 GMT -6
Find ways to compete in everything you do. Set benchmarks and rewards for weight room performance and attendance.
Keep score in scout team. We always give the scout a head start. ie Scout has 10 and first O has 15 1st and 10 plays. Each one that goes 4 or over is a point. Keep score in the classroom. Keep score 1 on 1.
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Post by blb on Jul 2, 2015 6:12:59 GMT -6
Off-Season workouts and Pre-Season practices.
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Post by funkfriss on Jul 2, 2015 11:38:12 GMT -6
Two things I like. First, find the ones that do not handle adversity well and force them into adverse situations in practice. For example, call them for a ghost foul and when he overreacts, point it out and correct it. "We can't have guys on the field that are going to react that way to adversity."
Second, find the guy(s) on your team that are the adversity cheerleaders and have them get very vocal during these times. Again, it starts in practice. Let them know that this is their role and have them practice it.
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Post by CBNIndian on Jul 2, 2015 13:12:46 GMT -6
We have "Competition Wednesday" in the summer. Different type of games team against team. Prowler push, hoop chase, farmer's walk(carring 2 kegs weighing 50-60 pounds each), any type of racing games and any other type of competition we can think of! Loser always has push up or up downs. Promote the winner but yet always promote character and effort even in a loss!
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Post by gibbs72 on Jul 2, 2015 15:48:34 GMT -6
2 things we did when our staff arrived at our current job to help us compete better:
(1) marine corp ==> 1 kid doesn't finish a drill, the entire position group conditions (2) SPARQ philosophy ==> "If you can measure it, you can improve it". We time, measure, etc almost every drill, lift, activity we do. Helped with accountability.
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mhs99
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Post by mhs99 on Jul 2, 2015 16:59:31 GMT -6
Point out when kids show physical and mental fortitude at practice and on film. Praise it, harp on it, make it the the centerpiece of your program. We are a traditional I-formation team in middle class, blue collar community. We play this up and the kids buy in 100%. We constantly talk about beating on people and wearing opponents out on both sides of the ball. That mentality trickles down to all levels of the program and is embraced by the community.
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Post by eaglemountie on Jul 2, 2015 19:26:42 GMT -6
Push them to their mental and physical limits in the weight room...
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Post by ogre5530 on Jul 2, 2015 22:05:15 GMT -6
Great stuff guys...thanks for sharing!
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Post by s73 on Jul 2, 2015 22:43:19 GMT -6
I believe that how the coaching staff handles itself in adverse situations has a lot to do w/ how kids react in adverse circumstances.
If you are thinking about what happened 4 plays ago, so are they IMO. If on the other hand, you take a "so what, let's move on" attitude, so will they.
I know in my career keeping my cool in tough situations usually leads to a calmer sideline. I've even gone so far as to call a timeout to "talk everybody down" and let them know "we're okay let's focus on the most important play, the NEXT one".
I believe that if I unravel so will they.
I'm reminded of Montana and more recently Tom Brady. Those guys are unflappable leaders and often times so are/were their teams.
JMO.
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Post by coachwoodall on Jul 14, 2015 11:03:59 GMT -6
This!
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Post by emptybackfield on Jul 14, 2015 11:15:28 GMT -6
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Post by fantom on Jul 14, 2015 11:17:39 GMT -6
I believe that how the coaching staff handles itself in adverse situations has a lot to do w/ how kids react in adverse circumstances. If you are thinking about what happened 4 plays ago, so are they IMO. If on the other hand, you take a "so what, let's move on" attitude, so will they. I know in my career keeping my cool in tough situations usually leads to a calmer sideline. I've even gone so far as to call a timeout to "talk everybody down" and let them know "we're okay let's focus on the most important play, the NEXT one". I believe that if I unravel so will they. I'm reminded of Montana and more recently Tom Brady. Those guys are unflappable leaders and often times so are/were their teams. JMO. I think that if you're a guy who tosses his hat (or visor for the passing game guys) at every penalty or bad play you'll have a hard time keeping the kids on an even keel.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2015 13:56:55 GMT -6
In situations of adversity, people do not raiser their level to meet the adversity, the fall to the level of their training. Ergo - in order to develop the mental toughness and all that, you have to put them in adverse situations. For example, we do finishers at the end of our workouts. Monday was plate paradise - which is sets of 12, 45 lb plate in your hands, front raises, up right row, over head squat, over head press, curls, diamond pushups...repeat 4 times (4 quarters). If ANYONE does a rep wrong, half @sses a rep, stops early, skips a rep, etc. - we start completely over. The kids did 48 front raises on Monday before we even got to up right rows...and then, someone half A$$ed up right rows and we started back with front raises. - there was a lot to this - first you have the obvious "do it right, or do it again" mentality. But even though everyone is tired, some guys are "too tired" to suck it up and do them right and it's easier for THEM to just quit and it ends up costing everyone else. It is then noted that instead of just doing 12 correctly, we did 48, etc. So the next time we do them, I expect a few to still linger in the selfish BS that happened, but it will be less because some of those kids who made us repeat will A) know they can do it, B) will suck it up and push through for the 3-4 reps so it doesn't cost everyone. How long did it take you to do this? I love it.
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Post by fantom on Jul 14, 2015 14:12:57 GMT -6
As we are attempting to turn the corner in our program we realize one major flaw in our kids is that we are not very resilient when facing adversity. What are things that you guys do in your program to help promote mental toughness. Anything you can offer would be very helpful and greatly appreciated!! One thing that I think helped was, on Offensive days, running 10 Prefect instead of sprints. Just what it sounds like: They have to run a play EXACTLY the way it should be run then sprint ten yards. Finish ten of them and you're done. No yelling and screaming. Just tell them what was wrong and run it again. Perfect means perfect. Somebody's in a bad stance? Run it again. Bad splits? Run it again. Eventually they get the idea that they have to do it right every time, even if they're tired or if somebody else is screwing up.
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Post by eaglemountie on Jul 14, 2015 14:46:29 GMT -6
As we are attempting to turn the corner in our program we realize one major flaw in our kids is that we are not very resilient when facing adversity. What are things that you guys do in your program to help promote mental toughness. Anything you can offer would be very helpful and greatly appreciated!! One thing that I think helped was, on Offensive days, running 10 Prefect instead of sprints. Just what it sounds like: They have to run a play EXACTLY the way it should be run then sprint ten yards. Finish ten of them and you're done. No yelling and screaming. Just tell them what was wrong and run it again. Perfect means perfect. Somebody's in a bad stance? Run it again. Bad splits? Run it again. Eventually they get the idea that they have to do it right every time, even if they're tired or if somebody else is screwing up. We use this same philosophy when it comes to running sprints. The only ones that count are the ones done with 100% effort by the entire team, all coaches have to give a thumbs up in approval... If not it doesn't count... 10 sprints can turn into 15 or 20 real quick...
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Post by natenator on Jul 14, 2015 15:52:27 GMT -6
Is beating the kids with a 2x4 an option?
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Post by coachphillip on Jul 14, 2015 15:53:55 GMT -6
My app won't allow me to post a Hacksaw Duggan picture.
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Post by fantom on Jul 14, 2015 19:06:53 GMT -6
Is beating the kids with a 2x4 an option? Stay away from the head.
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Post by 3rdandlong on Jul 14, 2015 19:33:13 GMT -6
We make them line up in their stretch lines at the end of practice everyday. Every once in a while a coach yells at them to get off and do it again. Sometimes they do it perfectly and the coach will still tell them to sprint off the field and do it again. Inevitably, the complaining begins which only makes this process longer. Finally, it's all okay. They are told the exact purpose of this afterward but during the process, you can see that something this small can be very valuable.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2015 6:07:33 GMT -6
How long did it take you to do this? I love it. It takes as long as it takes. Typically the finisher/plate paradise only takes about 10-15 minutes. But we were at it for a good 45 minutes on that day. Yesterday's PP went much much better. They only had to restart a few times. For me as a defensive coach and I guess for offensive coaches too. I need to know who is going to quit first. Yes it's hard, yes you're tired, etc, etc. - BUT...the real question is even when you are tired, when you're muscles are sore, even when it's hard who will suck it up and play that next play as best as they can play it? Because I know this...no matter how tired a defense is, if they give up the game winning TD with seconds left on the clock - every single player could find the energy to play that play over and would play it with the energy it takes to be successful and win the game. So...tired, as kids currently know it...that kind of tired, is a decision, they are not actually tired. Another example is our conditioning. Our kids run 110's. They have to make 20 110's in "time". Oline/Dline = 22 seconds, Big skill - 18 seconds, skill 16 seconds. IF everyone in the position group makes the time, then that position group does not have to do after practice conditioning throughout the year. If even 1 person misses by just 1 second, the entire position group has conditioning 3 times a week for the entire year. We tested on friday - the Dline made it, the LBs made it...the DBs...well 1 kid didn't make the time on one of them so the DBs will condition all season. What I find notable about the young man who missed that one 110...he missed the 12th one. He made the last 8 just like he had made the first 11. So the question is - why did he miss that one? I mean if he had missed the last one, OK...he's not quite in shape, I get it. But to miss the 12th one and then make all the rest? Well that does not compute...seems to me that for that rep, that kid made a decision to be lazy. He basically took a play off. I'm explaining this to the young man afterwards and he agreed. I looked at him, shook my head disappointedly and said "you know that means I cannot play you right?" he said "yea..." Totally anti-culture(bigger picture in mind) and I love it! Do you keep track of workouts? attendance? points for attendance? How many workouts over the summer/spring do kids have to attend?
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Post by coachd5085 on Jul 19, 2015 17:22:05 GMT -6
It takes as long as it takes. Typically the finisher/plate paradise only takes about 10-15 minutes. But we were at it for a good 45 minutes on that day. Yesterday's PP went much much better. They only had to restart a few times. For me as a defensive coach and I guess for offensive coaches too. I need to know who is going to quit first. Yes it's hard, yes you're tired, etc, etc. - BUT...the real question is even when you are tired, when you're muscles are sore, even when it's hard who will suck it up and play that next play as best as they can play it? Because I know this...no matter how tired a defense is, if they give up the game winning TD with seconds left on the clock - every single player could find the energy to play that play over and would play it with the energy it takes to be successful and win the game. So...tired, as kids currently know it...that kind of tired, is a decision, they are not actually tired. Another example is our conditioning. Our kids run 110's. They have to make 20 110's in "time". Oline/Dline = 22 seconds, Big skill - 18 seconds, skill 16 seconds. IF everyone in the position group makes the time, then that position group does not have to do after practice conditioning throughout the year. If even 1 person misses by just 1 second, the entire position group has conditioning 3 times a week for the entire year. We tested on friday - the Dline made it, the LBs made it...the DBs...well 1 kid didn't make the time on one of them so the DBs will condition all season. What I find notable about the young man who missed that one 110...he missed the 12th one. He made the last 8 just like he had made the first 11. So the question is - why did he miss that one? I mean if he had missed the last one, OK...he's not quite in shape, I get it. But to miss the 12th one and then make all the rest? Well that does not compute...seems to me that for that rep, that kid made a decision to be lazy. He basically took a play off. I'm explaining this to the young man afterwards and he agreed. I looked at him, shook my head disappointedly and said "you know that means I cannot play you right?" he said "yea..." Totally anti-culture(bigger picture in mind) and I love it! Do you keep track of workouts? attendance? points for attendance? How many workouts over the summer/spring do kids have to attend? @dcohio question. Did you have these types of systems in place at schools that were 3-5 the previous few seasons, or had 25-30 man rosters grades 9-12? Or is this something you have only done at the big schools were expectations were to play for a title.
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Post by CBNIndian on Jul 20, 2015 20:21:49 GMT -6
DCOHIO? Do you do something for the kids that do not miss any day days in the summer?
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Post by coachorm on Jul 20, 2015 22:21:18 GMT -6
Guys this is great stuff. dcohio as always you bring out some great stuff. Accountability and placing them in adverse situations is the key. I can't think of anything more really than what has been said but I will give some examples of things we do.
Today for instance was a defense day so the DC told our guys they had to create 10 turnovers during practice today or the team would do "extras" for every turnover we didn't create. We only hit 6 today so we had four extras.
At a team camp a week ago we had some issues with freshmen behavior on the bus so when we arrived we unloaded the bus and went straight to the practice field that just happened to have a sand volleyball pit. We did sprints and bearcrawls until they were tired and then we made them run 10 perfect ones on the offensive snap count. I don't know how many we actually ran but once they finally hit five we gave them some water and then came back to finish. Most guys said it wasn't the running that was hard, but the frustration of teammates repeatedly letting them down but knowing they had to pick that guy up and encourage him to get it down right.
Tomorrow is offense, more then likely I am going to tell my starting group during team we have to get 10 first downs in a row without turnovers in about 15-20 minutes. This will be fairly hard cause the DC is in charge of blowing the play dead since we can't go full contact and he usually makes us go all the way to 3rd or 4th down ever series unless we have a big pass. Really frustrates the offense but its good for them because it makes it more realistic vs the scout team guys and it makes those scout guys go harder when the DC says 4th and 3.
Like some others have said though putting them in adverse situations in practice allows you to correct when they react wrong and praise when they react right.
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Post by realdawg on Jul 21, 2015 6:07:17 GMT -6
Last year was our HC first year at our school. We had had 5 straight 10 win seasons. And last year we went 4-6. Now the talent level had dropped off considerably. But also, our team lacked leadership and mental toughness. To try to develop some mental toughness we adopted a running program called The Pyramid that I got from a buddy at another school. It is tough. Very tough and we pushed, encourage, fussed, yelled whatever to get our kids to do their very best. I really believe that this program has made our kids a little faster, we are in pretty good shape, and I think it has made us mentally tougher, at least mentally tougher in the types of things you can do this time of year. We will see if that translates to the field later
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Post by shotgunfivewide55 on Jul 21, 2015 15:26:11 GMT -6
coach, can you elaborate on this pyramid running program?
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Post by realdawg on Jul 22, 2015 7:39:30 GMT -6
Basically we divided our kids into 3 groups, DL, LB, and DB. The first week you go outside on the track and test them one group at a time in the 400, 300, 200, and 100 meters. Make them run for time and really push them to run each as hard as the can. After you run, rank and post their times by total time. Next week you run 4 400s for time. Again after you finish rank and post by total time. Next week 5 300s. Next week 6 200s. Next week 7 100s. After you have done that retest and start all over.
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