Getting kids to execute their technique

How long have you been practicing, a week or two? This stuff is not natural especially for younger players. It takes reps, reps, and more reps. That's why you have practice every day. 

One observation based on doing this for 45+ years is, especially on defense, after 4-5 plays, the kids just resort to sheer naked aggression and the techniques go out the window.

It's the old Mike Tyson line: "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth."

The really athletic kids, who are bigger and stronger, can get by on this, but the average kid will need many, many reps, and game experience before the lights go on.

One thing that has greatly improved the teaching over the years is the use of video to show the kids on film what their mistakes were.

I am a big believer of getting as many reps in of fundamental actions and movements (or of portions of those movements) in during indy time as possible. Coahc on the fly and keep reps going when you are talking, correct fast and keep getting them in. Choose the most fundamental movements/techniques and rep the heck out of them over, and over, and over again.

You want these movements, and the reads that elicit them, to become like breathing; they don't think about it, they just naturally do it. So keep in mind we are what we repeatedly DO. Keep making them DO those things. I would suggest watching a given player during a given practice, how much time is that player standing around? How much time do they spend watching others DO things? How much time are they waiting in line? Then consider how to make practice more efficient in regards to performing physical actions.

Its why I like indy time so much, I can have multiple players DO things at a time, often rapid fire. During team you spend more time placing the ball then players do actually performing football actions.

Just wanted to tell you all I seriously appreciate all of the replies! I love this community of coaches on here

I don’t know what your practices look like but scrap any and all “bag drills” that are designed to condition and work on “movement skills” and replace them with key reads and reactions. They will naturally learn their movement skills by doing this and rep their reads and reactions.

Lastly minimize the amount of players that can be placed in a bind. If his key takes him “here”, don’t be pissed when he isn’t “there” on a once in a blue moon scenario. His reads should be clear and concise; if he does this, you do that with as few if/thens as possible. The more if/thens the more of a bind they are in, and the slower they play.

This may be blasphemy on here but shock peek shed is hard to do and some kids will never be able to do it vs real competition.

Take a look at the ability of your players and ask yourself if they can actually execute what you’re asking.

I had to climb out of my own ego years ago because I could shock and shed in high school. I thought everyone should be able to do it but I was a D2 linebacker. I was trying to teach ol’noodle arms how to do it and in drills he looked great but when applying it to team drills looked like the dark side of my anus.

Good advice offered by several on here……hate to be that guy, but what does your weight room culture look like?

Also, remember it is about continued improvement…..there is no arrival. Sometimes, what you are doing is right, it just takes time. You are always on the journey.

Peace in nihilism brother.

Ah man I gotta disagree, I've had so many kids who can't change direction properly (look at their film from the year before) who become a step quicker lust by learning proper agility technique via cone drills.

Problem is, most coaches don't actually teach the technique required to perform the movements correctly. More often than not I see coaches just set up the cones and have players run around them in prescribed patterns. Nothing about eyes, hips, center of gravity, breaking off the correct foot. 

They often learn the movement skill wrong, or more accurately in a sub-optimal fashion, this makes them play slower than they should. 

To echo others:

Make sure you are asking them to do a technique they can do. This is a mistake I have made a lot. Still make it. This is where a lot of the “college” scheme breaks down - especially as you get to smaller and smaller high schools.

To give you an example: I will not coach a 3-technique. I think teaching a kid to throw hands at the guard, and squeeze a trap….. but you can’t get washed by a downblock…. Is very tough. Your asking a kid to see the movement of the guard, place his hands, and “feel” pressure from a player with better mechanical leverage than he has. I’d rather play him as a 2T and just teach him to play off the guard, or teach him to slant.

Does that mean a 3-tech is impossible to play: obviously not. It requires a really strong kid with great feet. I even have one now - he just plays RT for us and I try and sub him on defense at times. Nobody else could play it as his backup, so we don’t run it.

I’ve seen similar issues with LB keys. I can teach a kid to read a guard. Respond to 5 possible stimuli (Base, Pull, Pass, Out, Down). Can work that everyday May through November. Then it’s just tweaking footwork to find windows and anticipate blocks.

You know what I can’t teach? That same ILB to key RB and “low beam” a guard. Or to transition from Guard —> RB, make a push call and pickup the slot WR. Somehow, when I started talking about push alerts once they see pass, they forgot to even watch the guard and broke that skill they already had. And, more amazingly, when I don’t bother to teach the push alert they will actually play it out right without me saying anything (eventually) because they get so used to their regular pass drops they develop feel for the play.

I guess is where we differ then, because I believe movement in space and change of direction to very much be fundamental techniques. 

If my receiver breaks at 12yds, but his COD is off, he is drifting his route back to 14yds; thats the difference between a completion and a pick.

If my ILB cant properly open up his hips when transitioning from his drop to carry an inbreaking route, then their receiver breaks free for a TD.

There are a lot of things that we just chalk up to natural athleticism, or just being a football player that I think are important enough to coach and rep throughout the season. I think a lot of coaches let proper movement technique slack because they don't view it as being a skill that can be coached up. I disagree on that, and I find it to be a skill that is of extreme importance and carries over to lots of aspects. 

No, I teach COD with cones and bags. I teach in parts to build up to the whole; movements are the part that build to the whole of the pass drop. And I rep the parts throughout the season.

I have seen too many players whose cod is bad because they are never properly taught or repped in techniques as such. Teaching movement in space is important. Coaches simply tell players to drop at an angle and then if the receiver crosses to change direction and carry him, but they dont properly teach that part (or rep it) so its sloppy. 

I think you guys are talking about the same thing. I believe carookie is saying that he believes in using those drills to improvement the kinesthetic awareness of the athletes, and that those who find the drills “filler” may not actually coach the drill but just tell the athletes “shuffle around the cones in a zig zag pattern”.

You guys are saying you believe that it is better to teach the player how to move and control his body in less abstract, more football specific ways - such as a key read drill.

From what I am reading, he is saying he finds “agilities” useful and believes coaching basic body control abd movement skills through agility drills translates to better on the field performance. Others are saying that it does not, or that there are better methods to improve the athletes movement capabilities

I was speaking more to sprinting through the bags with high knees, doing bear crawls zigging and zagging through the bags, sprint and backpedals through the bags.

I firmly believe in using them to learn how to work downhill on fits, or using them to teach angles when changing direction. I also believe that you don’t need a bag drill to work on agility in space, in fact I believe it works against you if you have strict “change of direction” locations because they learn the drill not the skill.

10-15 minutes of bag drills in Indy doesn’t make you a better football player, IMO it makes you better at bag drills, especially at the cost of technique in other areas. Many practice plans are set up 15 min for Indy, 15 for group, 15 for team. 10 minutes of bag drills and no key reads, no block destruction, or tackling is a waste of time IMO.

movement in space, change of direction, etc.... is primarily off-season drilling, part of the strength and conditioning program. teach them how to run, move, react and change direction, etc.....

you can get somewhat better during the season, but if they aren't good at it to start the season, they're not gonna get that much better during the season. there's not enough time.

jmo